Log:A Theft at Lucky Finds, Scene 1

A Theft at Lucky Finds 2019/06/28 	 Natasha Thunder Union Wade Zero Apparition Brainbox Carter Sponge Venus Flytrap

1

It's evening in the Artists' Quarter, and so much quieter than it usually is in the daytime (except in the northeasterly red light district). But even here on Pennyroyal Lane, some businesses are still open, notably the Elvis Presley Diner. The evening is warm, and many people prefer air-conditioned interiors this evening.

Lizzy is at the Elvis Presley diner, hanging out with a group of other students from the High School.

Wade is out jogging along the streets, ranging out from his apartment near the university. He's not in costume tonight. Instead, he's dressed for a workout. He checks his watch, just to see how well he's maintaining his pace.

Unsurprisingly, the diner was a popular hang out for high school students. Ryosei had driven there since he lived closer to the other side of the high school then this side. Plus, he had an invitation. Popularity is not exactly something he's used to as he heads to go into the diner after parking, with a duffel bag over his shoulder. The asian teen's only recent rise to fame was as an athletic student and he's moving to approach Lizzy and friends, after checking his phone to make sure of who he is supposed to be meeting anyways.

A disguised Norah steps out of one of the businesses still open at this hour- an art store that funds a small art collective who's painting Norah has grown fond of. A collective who just had one of their best works pilferred by a local mob boss with a thing for high class ladies which makes him buy art he can't understand.

Norah has plans on 'acquiring' that painting for her own, private collection instead. But for now, a few new pastels and charcoals along with a few tubes of acrylic will have to do.

SHe takes a deep breath and begins to head home, deciding to walk and enjoy the warm Summer evening.

Suddenly, metallic orange letters appear above Pennyroyal lane - reading "HELP!" A purple arrow points downward from the letters.

Lizzy and some of the other girls are ogling Wade through the diner window when letters and arrow appear.

The arrow is only there for a second or two - then abruptly it vanishes.

Wade furrows his brow when he sees the sign. But since he's already out and about...why not go check it out? He continues jogging in that direction, heading over to the shop that was indicated.

Norah doubletakes seeing the letters appear out of the night sky like that.

She pulls her small clutch to her side and then looks to her bag of newly acquired art supplies.

She sighs as she feels the small of her back to make sure her linegun is tucked there. Of course it is. She never leaves home without it.

She ducks into an alleyway and then shuffles herway up to a rooftop to tuck away her bags and swap into something a bit more heroic.

She'll be along after squeezing into her catsuit.

Noticing that the girls were looking at someone, Ryosei blinks as he looks up once he sees the massive sign, and peers a little. "Uh... 'cuse me. I left my wallet in my car. I'll be right back." He turns to head out the front door in a hurry, heading not for his car, but a side alleyway instead.

As the other girls ohh and ah over the display, Lizzy says she need to use the ladies'. She changes to Union in the back hall and ducks out through the kitchen, heading for the shop the arrow was pointing at.

As the heroes arrive, from various directions, at Lucky Finds, they find it locked up for the night, perhaps unsurprisingly. But there is light seeping through the shuttered windows.

Union sees another familiar face when she arrives outside the shop. "Zero, it's been awhile. Hello, Mr. Lockwood," she blushes.

Wade smiles as he sees the others arriving about the same time. "Umm...seems to be something going on inside. I'd rather not bust the door down. Any chance one of you can open it without breaking anything?"

Thunder approaches the shop by dropping down from a rooftop to the alleyway. Tilting his head at the shop, then turns to look at the other heroes. "I see I am not the only one who saw the giant help arrow?" He definitely hasn't met anyone here, at least that he can tell.

Once she wiggles into her catsuit, Zero arrives as well, curious about what could be happening at the Lucky Finds.

Seeing Wade & Union there she nods and waves cheerfully.

"What's happening?" She asks trying to figure out whats going on as she casually pulls a lockpick kit from her utility pouch.

Union says, "Seems like someone's in trouble and asking for help."

Union blushes

Wade nods. "The owner of the shop is a meta. And Natasha's friend." He smiles. "I'd like to check on her. Can any of you open the door without breaking it?" He sees Zero pull out the lockpicking kit, "Apparently so."

Zero nods "I can handle that." She says before crouching before the door and closing her eyes so she can rely on her ESP to get the tumblers in place and to get a peek inside the building before they go charging in.

Union says to Thunder, "I haven't seen you around before. I'm Union."

Frowning, Thunder nods and holds up a hand for a moment. "... the owner would not happen to be pretty large, would they?" He looks to the others, then to Union. "I am called Thunder. I just started doing the hero thing this month after getting a bit more accustomed to my powers."

Zero opens the lock without problem, but gets the sense that opening the door any wider might be a problem.

Wade shakes his head, "She's...not terribly large. Smaller than I am, for sure."

Union says, "Um, before we go in, I think we should link up. What do you think, Zero?"

Thunder looks at Union carefully, "Link... up? What do you mean?"

Wade looks to Zero, "Did you get it?"

"I think thats a good call Union. Because... that is not the owner. Unless they just transitioned into a big robot." Zero answers, stopping short of opening the door so they can sync up 'Union-style'.

Zero answers Wade, "I got it- but if I open this door I'm 99% sure we'll be noticed by the android. So we need to be ready- hopefully its a companion droid looking to chat. But I can't tell that." She smirks.

Union says, "It's like a radio, only in your head. It also helps us work together and watch each other's backs, like a team. Are you up for it?"

Wade grins and touches a button on the bracer on his arm, and an energy shield appears on his forearm. "I'm set." He considers Union's suggestion as well...and nods slowly. "Alright, I'm okay with it as well."

Thunder looks concerned a bit, then hums. "I... do not know. I have something that protects my mind. If they let you in, I suppose it will be fine?" He looks to the others, "May I go first? I know it sounds a bit odd, but I am a lot tougher than I look. Plus, I can probably go on equal strength with the robot."

Once everyone is ready, Zero looks to Thunder and nods. She thinks to him over the Union-band:

.o0(We go on 3.)

(3.)(2.)

(1.)

Then she opens the door letting Thunder take the lead.

Union reaches out with her mind (as Zero taught her), and connects with the others.

Union becomes aware, just after forming the mind link, of another mind forcing itself into the connection....

Zero accepts the link with a rapturous mental sigh. .o0(Ah. So much better than talking. Ok Ready when you boys are.)

Union adds We're not alone in here!

Zero pauses and speaks aloud. "I sense them too."

Frowning, Thunder comments. .oo(Great... so not a good idea?)oo.

Zero nods before she drops the link. They'll have to do this sans-Union acting as their combat router. She speaks aloud.

"Well- we've lost the element of surprise. So I say we move now before things turn against us any more." She says aloud, hand still on the door.

Wade nods to Zero. "Ready when you are." He also drops off of the mind link reflexively, once he realizes someone else is listening in.

"I say we stick to the plan. Let Muscles go first, then we'll back him up. THen we can figure out who's eavesdropping on us." Zero says as she looks to the others. "Alright... here we go. 3...2...1..." Then she swings the door open, letting THunder lead the charge.

The old-fashioned door chime tinkles cheerfully to announce your presence.

Inside the door of the cluttered antiques shop stands a 7' tall, broadly built humanoid robot. It has flashlights mounted on it, in various directions, and turns toward the opening door with hydraulic noises.

Carter - A humanoid robot built for power, of unpainted metal.

Thunder waits for the door to open, then moves in quickly, leaping forward and punching the robot.

There's a loud clang as Thunder punches the robot. Not clear if that hurt the robot any more than it did Thunder, but it topples over onto its back.

Thunder glances to the side briefly, but refocuses on the most obvious threat the robot. Over the Union link, he comments, .oO(Figure near corner. Drawing it's attention hopefully.)Oo. He drops into a martial artist stance after his leaping punch, standard looking karate or aikido perhaps.

WHen the robot topples, what looks like a sort of metal-wire cage is exposed lying on the floor behind it - in which is a small dragon, injured and unconscious.

Union leaps through the door and drops a knee strike on the prone robot.

ANother loud clang resounds through the room.

Union sends,, o O (Which corner?)

Zero waits for the others and then rolls into the storefront quietly. With closed eyes she'll manuever herself into a position behind the robot while its down- especially once she sees the cage & who's inside

She makes a break for Natasha's cage while appearing to keep eyes on the woman in the green dress. Luckily her hood conceals where she is actually looking- or in this case /not/ looking (at least not with her eyes).

The woman in the corner gestures toward the person who clearly saw her, and gleaming strands shoot from her fingers.

Zero finds herself wrapped in the same sort of wires that make up Natasha's cage!

Venus Flytrap - A curvy blonde woman in a low-cut green dress.

Zero is caught in the wiring. She struggles against it but maintains her composure- though this is exactly the kind of thing that can get her killed. She stiffles the panic nonetheless, but she feels it bubbling right beneath the surface.

''Brainbox - A brain in fluid in a floating, transparent box. ''

Wade sees the attack come from the woman in the corner...and he at least recognizes her. He runs over and tries to get a quick strike in before she can respond. He doesn't go all out, since he's not sure how tough she is.

It appears that Venus Flytrap's costume is made of the same quasi-metallic material as her cages. That doesn't seems to hurt her. "My, not very gentlemanly of you!" she says.

Wade manages to cleanly punch Venus Flytrap, only to realize he's going to need to hit significantly harder. He mutters to himself. "Figures."

"Venus usually runs with someone named.... Ghost? Spectre? Casper? Something like that- so keep your eyes peeled." Zero says from the confines of Venus' threads.

Union says, "Casper? Like a mattress?"

The clunky robot gets to its feet. Hydraulics are heard as it shoots a fist out at Thunder.

The robot(?) says in a near monotone,||Hah. Take that|| (Imagine Stephen Hawking, but an octave lower and rather more threatening.)

"Something Ghosty." Zero answers Union.

Thunder, looking to Venus, is just in time to end up punched by the robot and ends up flying back out into the street. He starts to move to get up, calling back, "You punch like a kid!"

Brainbox comes floating out of the back room. <> he says, telepathically, as he attempts to establish mental contact with Wade....

Wade glances over toward Brainbox, "Were you trying to affect me with something? I...barely felt that."

Brainbox is rather surprised by the strength of Wade's mind! Not that it show much, unless you're good at reading pulsing brains.

Union punches the robot.

The robot looks at Union. ||You're asking for it.||

Union says, "in Union there is strength."

A ghostly figure comes down through the ceiling, looks about, then goes over by Wade. He floats there, as if waiting for something.

''Apparition - A man of slender but athletic build - who is chalk white. ''

"Looks like the Box is our eavesdropper too- so all we have to do is...." Zero says as she shimmies against her restraints, attempting to break out of them so she can get Natasha to safety and start taking names from unconscious robots, women with imppecable taste & brains in boxes.

Zero groans and then grits her teeth trying to burst free from the material.

Zero was trained under a number of skillful masters growing up, so she's been flexing the material over and over again looking for a weakspot to exploit while the others fight.

Finding it she flexes just so and the bindings snap apart setting her free.

SHe reaches for her line gun right away and sets her eyes on Venus.

Venus decides to entangle Wade - after all, he has attacked her!

Wade sees the attack coming and brings his shield down in the way, leaning in close so the strands have nowhere do go but backward toward Venus...

Venus FLytrap is rather surprised to find herself in a metalic cocoon of her own making!

The door from the basement opens, and a new figure walks out. She looks about the room trying to work out what's happening.

''Sponge - A sponge in the shape of a woman. With eyes.''

With more hydraulic sounds, Carter slaps Union with the back if its hand.

Union easily ducks under the robot's swing

Thunder leaps forward, through the doorway no less, and brings a foot back. Once in range, his foot lashes out in a very hard, fast strike at the robot.

Thunder says, "Thunder leaps forward, through the doorway no less, and brings a foot back. Once in range, his foot lashes out in a very hard, fast strike at the robot."

Thunder drops into a crouch after his flying kick. "Hey! Leave her alone, big guy! I'm the one you'll have to worry about before this is done!" He rises slowly, watching the robot as his hands move to a karate stance again. Thunder looks more focused on the robot than anything else.

The brain turns its attention to Thunder....

Sponge waves (really waves - they're sort of floppy) her arms at Zero. An odd light-bending effect takes place.

Luckily for Zero Sponge's power hits the wires Zero escaped from rather than Zero herself. The wires fall to the floor, sapped of their remaining life.

Union thinks it might be time to open that box. She punches Brainbox' box.

The glasslike box doesn't seem at all harmed - what's it made of, questonite? - but that doesn't stop the brain getting battered inside, colliding with first one side then, as it hits the wall, the other.

<> rages the brain, in painfully loud telepathy.

Thunder looks over towards Wade, "What's El Gigante doing here?"

Union pulls out a dollar bill. "This is legal tender for all debts, public and private."

The white ghostly figure tries to punch into Wade's chest!

Wade manages to dodge out the way before the ghostly hand reaches his heart...

Having failed to soldify his fist inside Wade, Apparition phases it out again.

Zero sees Wade's smooth shield manuever and smiles sensing that its time for a teamup.

She lets her grapnel head hang low after unspooling it about an arms length, then she begins spinning it around as someone emerges from the basement.

She's about to suggest a teamup when suddenly Sponge comes at her! Its a subtle shift but its just enough to get the light-warping beam to strike what was left of the living wires holding her.

SHe's grateful, but now instead of teaming up against Venus Flytrap she has to deal with Sponge first.

With stunning grace she pivots and performs an aerial cartwheel backwards, timing the swinging of her grapnel line to intersect with her feet as she is at the height of the maneuver.

The with a sudden whip of her feet she sends the grapnel head straight for Sponge.

"That's not nice Soggybottoms!" She says indignantly.

She's fighting much more defensively than usual because these tight confines are working against her usual acrobatic fighting style.

The grappling line snags Sponge easily enough - but then her body just yields as it tightens about her. It's unclear if that hurt her at all.

Sponge opens her mouth noiselessly, perhaps in silent protest at the insult.

Zero sticks the landing though her hood does come down, revealing her curly blonde hair and a very pretty face hidden behind a hightech domino mask.

She keeps her body moving but still finds the time to stick her tongue out at Sponge.

Wade ignores Apparition for the moment, and whips his arm around, throwing his energy shield. He attempts to bounce it off of Brainbox, and hit Sponge with the rebound.

The energy shield strikes both targets and then dissipates...only to reform on his forearm.

Brainbox gets rattled about again, but the nerf-woman hardly seems to notice.

Venus wills the wires entangling her away again - they retract into her.

The liquid Brainbox is in bubbles as he fumes. <> The order doesn't stop him from trying to fry Union's mind, though.

Sponge once again tries to drain - something - from the one who called her Soggybottom.

Union reels as the blast rips through her mind. The worst of the pain fades after just a few seconds.

Luckily, Sponge doesn't seem quite fast enough on the aim to tag her adversary.

The "robot" says, ||Sure thing, boss.|| It bends down to pick up Natasha's cage, together with a crate sitting nearby filled with assorted objects.

"Don't let them out of here with that cage!" Zero shouts as she swings her grapnel line as a modified rope dart.

Thunder steps up towars the robot, and... goes for grabbing it instead as he shows that all those muscles aren't just for show at all!

Carter doesn't drop either Natasha's cage or the crate. That doesn't stop a few interesting items from falling out of the crate....

Union throws one more punch at Brainbox.

The blow, sadly, ins't hard enough to bash the brain agains the side this time.

IN response to some had gestures made by Sponge, Apparition sinks down through the floor.

Zero doesn't like that one bit, but seeing as she's not making a lot of headway with Sponge she decides to switch dance partners.

She switches her attention to Carter, hoping to keep it off its feet by wrapping her swinglines around its robotic ankles and yanking with all her might at a critical moment in its gait & using its own weight to cause damage to it.

Wade takes aim at Brainbox once more - but while his back is turned Venus Flytrap catches him off guard in a web of metal threads....

Brainbox too decides to leave the fight at this point, or try to. He withdraws into the back room, telekinetically slamming the door behind him.

Sponge still seems to be very upset with the one who insulted her, and keeps up an unrelenting assault....

Sponge misses Zero - and Carter, though that was a near miss!

Zero's timing is flawless- she manages to yank Carter off his feet and duck under Sponge's blast all in one elegant manuever.

Union says, ". o O (Thunder, cut off the robot's hand - save the dragon!)"

Carter sweeps the fallen items back into the crate, and walks straight out of the store, past the heroes.

Thunder instead of listening to the heroes, moves to make a grab at Thunder as he tries to go past him, "No you don't!"

Thunder grabs hold of Carter, using his strength to stop the robot from moving any more steps as he shifts to get in front of the robot. It's obvious that Thunder is proving to be a pretty good immovable object! He tries to get the robot to release Natasha, but is having no luck at all with that.