Log:A Theft at Lucky Finds, Scene 3

A Theft at Lucky Finds 2019/07/12 	 Amy Natasha Union Wade Zero

3

The fight at Lucky Finds was roughly speaking a tie. Three of the villains (Carter, Apparition and Venus Flytrap) got away with one box of assorted (and sometimes magical) antiques and Natasha's horde. Brainbox failed to retreat and surrendered. Sponge also surrendered - the knockback she was taking made it impossible for her to reach her escape route. The crate of antiques Brainbox was escaping with was recovered."

Natasha was rescued and taken to the hospital because of her broken wing. 

Amy rushes, distraught, into the hospital room. Oh no! Poor Natasha! This is all my fault! If only I still had my powers...

Natasha is lying spread out on a hospital bed, her splinted wing extended. Her head is resting flat on the bed. She seems downcast, as she has never been before. Her eyes only lazily track her visitors, and she makes no effort to communicate.

Wade returns to the room shortly after Amy shows up. He knocks on the door and waves. "Hey there. How's Natasha holding up?"

Union has stayed with Natasha since bringing her to the hospital, in case the villains try to kidnap her again.

Amy says, "I don't know! The doctor says she should be fine but I've never seen her like this! Normally she's all full of life and flying about everywhere but I guess maybe getting hurt has changed that or maybe it's because they took her treasure!"

Natasha winces at the mention of her treasure.

Luckily for Union, when she was drawn away with her real life duties she was replaced by a handfull of mysterious candy stripers- well more specifically one woman pretending to be 3-4 different candy stripers.

A knock comes at the door before it opens slowly revealing Zero in another similar disguise. "I brought treats and shiny things." She announces as she enters the room.

Union says, "I suspect that taking Natasha's treasure is going to turn out to be their big mistake."

Amy kneels down next to Natasha and scritches behind her eats carefully. "I never should have kept all that stuff after I lost my powers! I just didn't think! And Natasha was there to guard it so I thought it would be safe!"

Natasha opens an eye wide at the mention of treats and shiny things.

Wade leans against the wall. "What was taken, exactly? I wasn't sure."

Amy says, "Me neither, exactly, because they made such a mess, but they broke into the cabinet where Sorciere told me I should keep some stuff because it was magic, and they took Natasha's nest which was mostly gold - Natasha said she got that from Amelia - and they took some other valuable stuff too which I don't think it magic but maybe I'm wrong, too, but Sorciere said I kept finding magic stuff because of my luck, and I even do now a bit even though I'm not nearly so lucky any more, so maybe there's more magic stuff since Sorciere last visited!"

Zero plays at Candystripers while the heroes chat. She doens't have much to add yet but she's here to listen.

Union sits next to Natasha and leans in close. "I have a treasure of my own. Would you like to see it?"

Natasha narrows her eye to a slit again on finding the shiny things are not her treasure, not anything close to it. The opens it again as Union sits next to her. But she doesn't respond.

Wade's attention is drawn to Zero. Perhaps it's because he's wary of VENOM agents disguising themselves. Or it's because there's an attractive blonde candystriper. He turns back to Amy after a moment, "Any idea how we might track what was stolen?"

Amy says, "Normally, I'd say ask Natasha! She's got a very good nose *and* she can smell magic so she's perfect for tracking magic stuff! What do you say, Natasha? If we find those magic things then we'll probably find your treasure too!"

Zero reaches out with her mind, touching Union's gently with a familiar pressure. If Union looks to her she'll wink and once connected as, .o0(Did the Brainbox give up anything once he was taken into custody?)

Union takes a penny on a chain from around her neck. The penny shines as if newly minted, despite her wearing it against her skin for months. "I found it on my birthday last year, just lying on the ground, and just as shiny, even though the date says it's over 15 years old. Would you be willing to hang onto it for me while your here?"

Natasha shows some life, finally, at Amy's suggestion. She lifts her head, and starts to rise. Then stops, looking at the penny Union proffers. She sighs heavily, filling the room with a dark fog, and sinks back down onto the bed.

. o O (I don't think so), Union responds

Union says, "I could pay you..."

(That's a shame. He put up a heck of a fight in that alleyway. I was hoping it'd help turn the investigation a little.) She replies as she dotes on the small things around NAtasha's room- purposefully staying out of the center of anyone's attention, or trying to but she is a very attractive blonde which makes that diffuclt.

Wade tilts his head, looking at Natasha, "I know you can speak. Why don't you want to get up to get your treasure back?"

Amy scritches Natasha's head again. "There's no reason to be like that! It's not your fault - you're a good guarddragon! The best! You were outnumbered five to one - it's nothing to be ashamed of."

. o O (I san't in the alleyway when he was taken, I was helping Victory)

Natasha looks at Wade. Then speaks, as if with great effort. "I want it back. But I am ashamed."

Wade smiles. "So...you had your stuff taken away. That's not the end of this. It's not too late to make things right, Natasha. And we can certainly help you do so."

Amy nods. "Wade's right. And you haven't lost your treasure - not yet. If you get it back, then you defended it. Right?"

Natasha raises her head again, looking at Wade and Amy. Then stands up on her hind legs. She's unsteady, and her good wing shifts about trying to balance her splinted one. But she seems to have recovered something of her pride. She nods, decisively.

Union says, "It sounds to me like you still have your greatest treasure - your friends. I'd like to be one, if that's alright."

Natasha teeters over to Union then drops to the easier four legs, and has a sniff. Presumably this is meant to be friendly.

Union offers her hand to be sniffed, like she would with a cat or dog (not that Natasha is either of those!)

Amy grins. "That's better! How long until you feel like you'll be able to track the treasure?"

Natasha, having had a sniff of Unions hand, answers Amy's question by hopping to the floor.

The Candystriper finally speaks aloud. "Lots of people come in here, victims of situations beyond their control. But after that, the choice is yours. You can live as the victim or you can take your power back." She says before pausing to consider the ramifications of her next sentence, "I can probably check the usual hidey-holes though. See if anyone has tried to sell anything we know about. All I remember is the dragon statue that fell while the 'Bot tried to make a break for it." She gives up her disguise and considers likely places she'd go to sell something pilfered in this town.

Amy says, "Oh, now? Are you sure you're well enough?"

Union says, "Would you like to borrow my legs?"

Natasha climbs up onto Union's shoulder, since she offered - being very carefully not to stick any claws in.

Zero smiles, happy to see the little dragon won't be broken so easily.

She steps into an adjacent bathroom with her cart and swaps back into her Zero gear.

Lucky Finds looks much as you left it. The police have come and gone, leaving the mess of the robbery and the fight.

Wade looks around. "I don't really know where to start. Natasha, can you find a trail to follow?"

Zero retraces the steps she took during the battle, looking for clues as she goes- trying to see if there was something critical she missed when she was trying not to die & fight off the metahuman burglar-bunch.

Union says, "Venus would probably be the easiest to track, as she neither flies nor becomes intangible."

The first trail Natasha picks up is the most obvious - and of little use. She tracks Carter to where, across the street, he transformed his legs into rockets and took to the sky, still carrying a crate. Natasha sniffs upward at the air in frustration.

Carrying Natasha to the corner, Union says, "This where Venus was - until she ran away, through that door."

Natasha sniffs, picking up the scent of Venus. No treasure on her, but her trail should be easy enough to follow...

Wade isn't a detective, but he follows along, looking for clues nonetheless.

Zero follows along, electing to take the rooftops & highroads wherever possible so she can give the team on the ground a heads up via mind link with Union as they begin to follow Venus' trail.

Natasha perks up rather more now she's on the hunt. She follows Venus's scent out through the splintered remains od the door to the back room, out the back door, double back behind the back door the less obvious way down the alley....

Union goes where Natasha says the trail goes.

A couple of turns later, Natasha stop, sniffs about, and is about to scratch her way through the wall of the building, when it occurs to her that this might not be welcome. <> she thinks.

Wade is passing by an open book, listing hte catalogue of goods. "Interesting. It's not the most recent page." He waves Amy over, "What on this particular page is missing?"

Union says, "Can you tell where she touched the wall?"

Amy glances down the list. "Oh - it must be this crystal ball thing! Everything else I'd have noticed - let me check!" She hurries into the main room.

Natasha has a careful sniff of the wall. <&lt;I can smell her shape, here, like a shadow of her on the wall.>>

"Yeah, it's not here!" Amy shouts back.

Wade nods. "Okay, so what does it do, Amy?"

Union reaches out to touch the wall.

Zero moves to touch the wall where Natasha indicates, confident that her danger sense will warn her of any traps about to spring.

Amy shrugs. "I dunno, I didn't even know it was magic, I mean, if it is!" She goes back to look in the book. "Huh, but there was a lot of weird stuff in that lot...."

Zero senses no danger. It just seems to be a wall.

Zero closes her eyes and releis on her sixth sense to peer through the material.

Wade nods. "I think we need to assume that it is. Let's go catch up to the others." He heads out to see what the other three are up to in the alley.

On the other side of the building is a store - an arts supply store, you're pretty sure. There are a few people moving about inside.

Zero hangs her head as she 'feels' the other side of the wall. "There are a couple of people in there." She says with her fingers splayed out against the wall. "This is... an art supply store. So why would they go from here to there- through this wall..." she says aloud as she tries to put the peices together.

Union says, "Shall we go look at the other side?"

Wade hears Zero's comment as he gets close to the others. "Could be that one of their secret identities is connected to the shop? Or they were in a hurry. Walking through a wall deters pursuers, like moving through a river deters dogs chasing you."

"Its got to be something." Zero says as she stands up, turning her head to the others. "Its the direction the Ghost-guy went too after he and Brainbox split up."

Union says, "So let's follow around the walls and see if Natasha can pick up the scent again."

Wade nods in agreement with Union. "Sounds good."

Union leads the way, moving along the wall, away from Lucky Finds.

(Agreed.) Zero says over the mind link as she follows. Her head is bowed down slightly as if she isn't looking where she's going at all. She manages some how.

Checking the wall on the far side of the store, Natasha gets excited. <&lt;I smell Venus Flytrap and the ghostly one and my treasure!>>. The smell, alas, leads to another wall. <>

Wade looks at the new building. "Think they stayed in this building? Or continued further in this direction?

Zero moves her hand to her linegun as they move as if she's expecting trouble.

This building proves to be a second-hand paper-book store.

Natasha tracks them on once more to a closed-down barber's.

Zero continues trying to feel ahead of their path to make sure they aren't ambushed.

At the far side of the barber's, Natasha sniffs about a lot more than usual. <>

Wade follows along. He's relatively wary, just in case they come across one of their targets.

Union tries to keep her attention on her surroundings, but with Wade so close...

Natasha is sure her treasure must be in the barber's still! She starts biting and clawing her way through the wall.

Union says, "Um...maybe we could try the door?"

Natasha stops clawing. Her sense of embarrassment is evident over the mind link.

Natasha hurries round to the door!

Union says, "It's ok. We know you're anxious and excited."

Wade nods as he picks up on Natasha's insistence. "So, inside, then? Yeah, let's take a look." He turns on his shield and heads over toward the door.

Natasha waits for someone to open the door.

Union says, ". o O (Zero? Can you open the door without breaking things?)"

(Of course.) Zero says as she slides out her lockpick kit. The lock clicks open easily.

Wade smiles as he watches Zero unlock the door. "Deft hands. Well done."

"Why thank you." Zero says as she pulls the door open with a dazzling smile.

The door doesn't budge.

Wade chuckles. "Bolted?"

Now its Zero's turn to be embarassed. At least her hood hides most of her face but her lips pout as she closes her eyes so she can peer into & beyond the physical barrier before them.

Zero realises that the door has been sewn to its frame with wire.

"WHat... the... hell?" Zero says aloud. "This door is totally 'wired shut'." She keeps her eyes closed as she steps back from the building and begins peering at the other entrances to see if she might find another way in.

Natasha is getting agitated.

Wade raises a brow. "That's curious. But I suppose that matches Venus's powers, right?"

Zero nods to Wade's comment. (Well now I'm certain this is the place. Even the windows are boarded up.) Zero says. (I can see if there is another way in around the back, but I doubt it considering Venus is the gatekeeper.)

Wade nods. "So...let's break it open, then." He isn't on the link. "Venus didn't stick around. So, we're likely dealing with just automated traps, I'm guessing. Should I give it a go? Or someone else?" He preps to take a crack at the door.

Zero steps towards the door, prepping to assist Wade- mostly so she can feel for any traps before they're triggered thanks to her precognition. The only problem with it is she has to be in danger herself. Its not perfect- but as far as she knows, its all they've got. "We'll do it together on 3." She says to Wade.

There are indeed a couple of makeshift traps - tripwires and something heavy above the door here - but Zero can easily sense them..

Wade takes a deep breath. "We might have some difficulty. It opens outward."

Wade rubs his chin, "A window would be a better bet."

Natasha sighs at the silly humans taking too long. She shows her claws as a suggested solution.

Wade nods to Natasha. "That would work. Better than bashing it."

"I'll back your play either way." Zero says befor elooking to Natasha and her claws. .o0(It might work, but it means we won't know if there are any traps or anything on the other side. I don't exactly have the nails to help.) She says both aloud and over mind link simultaneously as if it were old hat.

Natasha thinks, <>

"That's not a bad idea!" Zero says readily as she moves to take Natasha from Union.

Natasha shreds a hole through the door wherever she's held - with teeth, claws of all four feet, and even her tail! She has lots of sharp surfaces! before long a hole is cut in the door, big enough for humans, and inside the tough wire-stitching, thus circumventing that problem.

Natasha gets really excited when she sniffs the air inside. She struggles to be put down, then bounds on into the dark of the boarded-up building, hopping over the trip wire.

Wade slips inside as well, being careful to avoid the tripwire. He keeps his shield on, which produces at least a partial light source.

Zero is about ot step through when her Danger Sense is triggered- stopping her mid-stride and mid-stoop. "Woah- this door is boobytrapped for sure." She says, pointing down to the tripwire and then up to the ceiling at what is trigggered by it so the otehrs can be aware and avoid it.

The trap, however, was evidently hastily assembled. This is not looking like a prepared hideout.

Union steps through, avoiding the traps thanks to Zero's warning.

From the darkness ahead, there are sounds of twanging, like metal wires springing loose

Wade follows after Natasha, watching his step as he goes.

As the heroes progress, the dim light of Wade's shield shows Natasha, delighted, diving into a pile of gold like Scrooge McDuck.

Zero activates her infrared lenses and begins to alternate between her artifical sense of sight & her ESP every few seconds to make sure they aren't in any real danger. "So we've foudn their stash. But if this is where they are keeping the goods- why isn't any one guarding it?" She asks aloud, quietly- only barely audible enough to be heard by the others.

Zero gets her answer just as she asks the question. A call is going out from the police station - it seems that a couple of metas, one of them ghostly, are in course of breaking some other metas out of the holding cells...