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Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 0/5 | Conditions: None | Location: BRANCH Penthouse

"Not bad. Not bad at all." Arsène let his eyes gaze over the penthouse and approved wholeheartedly. This wasn't just a safehouse to plan capers in. They could hang back and relax in a stylish environment as well. "Nobody minds if I put on some music?" he said, before turning the radio to a jazzy lounge station. Then, spotting the cocktail bar next to the kitchen, he grinned and got to work.

"I'm not so hot on the monorail aspect of it," he spoke while he combined beverages from the bar into a cocktail shaker. "They simply have to wait for us to do a second or third pass before they ambush us on the rail."

Arsène put down the shaker and poured himself a glass of Italian Surfer with a Russian Attitude. "Anyone fancy a drink?" he asked, tinkling some glasses above the bar as he did. "Then again, if we exercise caution... Yes, yes, I can see this working out."

He took a sip of his drink and lowered himself into a couch, comfortably resting his free arm on the backside, then idly swirled his drink as if lost in thought. "I put forward my support of the plan. I'm not an expert on high profile actions such as these, so I will defer to Expatriot."

Seconding Expatriot's plan.

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 22:27 on Sep 7, 2016

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Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 0/5 | Conditions: None | Location: BRANCH Penthouse

"Listen, listen." Arsène motioned his hands in a downward motion, as if to encourage calmness and clear reflection amongst the group. "You all know I would be the first to cheer for a heist. But that's not distraction material. BRANCH wants us to provide a distraction, yes? That means maximum noise, maximum attention, maximum chaos. We need to think bigger than stealing a robot. We need a state of emergency being called in. Optimally, instigate martial law."

Looking at Anarchy, he says: "We'll have time to steal the robot later on. But currently, we must turn this city into our playground and make the proverbial kids in the nonexistent sandbox understand that this is our dominion."

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 0/5 | Conditions: None | Location: BRANCH Penthouse

Arsène rested his right arm on his left hand, and theatrically pinched the bridge of his nose. "Anarchy, my dear, you're acting like a child. Literally. You are the worst performer. Did you really not envisage us seeing through this thin ruse of yours?"

He sat down next to her, and idly touched her stretched hand. "I will never beg, but I will ask politely. Please reconsider your stance like an adult. Think about it; if we go with Expatriot's plan, I could trap the room you're observing the situation from. We will heartily amuse ourselves together, ne penses-tu pas?"

quote:

<Deltasquid> PT is gonna lay it into anarchy
<Deltasquid> are you ready for this, takanago
<Deltasquid> are you ready for the rebuke
<Takanago> i might be but anarchy prob isnt
<Theantero> do it
<Theantero> DOO IIT
<Deltasquid> !r 2d6+1
<Krysmbot> Deltasquid, 8+1 = 9

On a hit, they hear you: They mark Curses!, clear a condition, or shift labels if they respond.

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Sep 8, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 0/5 | Conditions: None | Location: New Genesis streets

Arsène sat on a low rooftop near the bend In the tracks where, according to Expatriot, the monorail would slow fown enough to let them jump aboard. The building was a used cars salesman, so he felt safe with the knowledge that escape vehicles were at hand. But from his vantage point, he could use the gauss rifle he stole overnight to pick some heroes off on the train as it passed. Experimental stuff, though. He wasn't sure if it made a lot of collateral damage, or just a bit.

"Phantom Thief, ready and waiting." He called to Expatriot.

quote:

□ Bag of Tricks
You’re never content to be predictable in your line of work, and constantly stealing new experimental technology and equipment that complement your particular skillset. Whenever you steal some new kit, you can write it down as a new ability if this line is empty.
Experimental military grade coilgun
□ □ □
Treat the new piece of kit as any other ability. Whenever you use the kit in a cunning and risky way, roll +Trouble instead of +Freak to unleash your powers with it. When the third box is checked, the kit is broken, lost, or recovered from those you stole it from, and you can erase it from the line.

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 0/5 | Conditions: None | Location: New Genesis streets

Phantom Thief was lying prone on the rooftop, waiting for anything to happen. He had trapped parts of the rails, and some locations around where the monorail passed. Now, he waited for the go signal, all the while taking aim at pedestrians on the street below with his gauss rifle, pretending to be taking pot shots. He yawned.

Then, he saw a flash of light on the monorail in the distance as it approached. Was that... A laser? Omega's laser? Did we go hot? Did he miss Expatriot's signal as he dozed off?

He almost got up, but then remembered the plan and tensed up in a prone position. The approaching train was in his sights to the left, and if he turned to the right, he could scan the horizon for approaching heroes. Nothing in sight. Feeling uneasy in the stomach, he finally decided to break radio silence and get up to speed.

"Omega, did you just open fire? Have we gone hot, or have you gone insane? I'd like to remind you that the hostiles are the ones with the capes and the righteous indignation complex. Don't engage friendlies. Expatriot, give it to me straight?"

He tensed. Did something move on the train, towards Omega and Whisperwind? Was it a hero? He took careful aim and aligned the sights on whatever moved next.

quote:

<Deltasquid> actually gonna rebuke Omega
<Deltasquid> for shooting
<Deltasquid> since that's what he actually saw
<Yamifenrir> yeah you should prolly rebuke whisperwind
<Deltasquid> he thinks we went hot and is gonna get really trigger happy
<Yamifenrir> so he doesn't die to conditions before a single heroe arrive
<Yamifenrir> s
<Yamifenrir> lmao
...
<Deltasquid> !r 2d6+1
<Krysmbot> Deltasquid, 6+1 = 7

On a hit, they hear you: They mark Curses!, clear a condition, or shift labels if they respond.

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 1/5 | Conditions: None | Location: New Genesis streets

"You uh... You folks realise the train losing velocity, yes?" Phantom Thief's voice wavered slightly, but he reaffirmed his resolve and decided to take matters into his own hands. He was cold, he was soaked by the rain, the plan wasn't moving forward (it was actively slowing down, even) and they went hot way too early. It didn't matter if he lost the element of surprise now. Nothing mattered at this point.

"This is unbelievable. There's like, six of you on that train, and,"

He cocked a round into the railgun,

"None of you is even bothering to stop the conductor, which,"

He aimed for where the hydraulics system was supposed to be, going off Expatriot's blueprints yesterday,

"Is frankly ridiculous. Do I have to,"

quote:

<deltasquid> !r 2d6+2
<Krysmbot> deltasquid, 8+2 = 10
Unleashing my powers with the railgun, as per Bag of Tricks

"Do everything by myself today?"

The railgun trembled harder and harder as he squeezed the trigger, and he himself was slightly surprised when the round left the barrel with the sound of a thunderclap. He saw the projectile barely drop over the course of the hundreds of meters between him and his target, and strike the front car in the center, just below the floor. Lightning cracks gave it a blue hue as the magnetic power that had propelled the round discharged into the metal of the vehicle, licking the metal and pumping its electrical engine into overdrive. The car was now speeding up, and the brakes were broken.

"I, uh, may have miscalculated this."

The barrel of the railgun had gotten a dark hue, especially near the muzzle, and static electricity made it flicker slightly with every raindrop. He pressed the button on the grip to detach it, and took one of the spares from his bag. Still, he felt rather satisfied with himself.

"I have solved our conundrum. Expatriot, shall we move on to the next phase of the plan?"

This was time to be professional. It made him feel smug and above all these petty rivalries.

Marking off 1/3 uses from Bag of Tricks.

quote:

<Yamifenrir> delta, roll for execute plan
<deltasquid> !r 2d6+2
<Krysmbot> deltasquid, 3+2 = 5
Burned 2 plan.
Marking Curses!

Phantom Thief saw the monorail speed up. And up. And faster. And faster still.

The train raced past his position, nearly knocking him off balance by the strong wind currents.

"You uh... You guys hold on tight, okay?"

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 19:06 on Sep 12, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 2/5 | Conditions: None | Location: New Genesis streets

Phantom Thief saw the weird rainbow thing hop towards the train and leave. He sat motionless in the rain for a while before gingerly taking out his phone and connecting it to an electronic billboard on the roof which was broadcasting anarchy's hyperactive face.

"Hey Anarchy," he said as he browsed through his phone's documents, "not saying you should right now, but if there is a lull in the action at some point, could you play this? It's a word from our sponsors."

He uploaded 'PT_promo_reel.avi.mp4' onto the system and disconnected his phone. "Thanks!"

quote:

<deltasquid> Okay, rolling to provoke Anarchy.exe into playing my promo reel/marketing spiel at some point during the caper.
<deltasquid> r! 2d6+1
<Takanago> HEH
<deltasquid> !r 2d6+1
<Krysmbot> deltasquid, 3+1 = 4
<deltasquid> I oopsed
<Takanago> HEH
Marking curses!

Then, he retrieved his belongings on the roof which were resting against the wall of a higher building and droppee onto a container below. He guessed he could install some more explosives before commandeering an escape vehicle from the used cars salesman's parking lot. He was eyeing a nice Ford he saw earlier when going in.

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 17:37 on Sep 13, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 2/5 | Conditions: None | Location: New Genesis streets


Takanago posted:

"What is this?!" Anarchy sneers at the incoming filename. "Is this some kind of dumb virus, or does he just not know how to convert a freaking video?!"

Really?! '.avi.mp4'? What are you supposed to be, a gentlemen thief, or an incompetent grandma?!

"Pee-Tee, this is my moment. If you want to interrupt it with your dumb b-roll footage, it can wait." She discards the notification and, just to be safe, runs a malware scan on the dumb file. It's set to lowest priority.

"Sure, take your time. The best act of the night always comes at the end, right?" His voice was mildly teasing.

Phantom Thief eyed the different cars on the parking lot. Nissan, Toyota... Skoda? He rolled his eyes. This was no way to travel in style.

Then, he saw the Ford Mustang. It was tucked away in a corner, as if it was reserved for the discerning connoisseur to happen upon it. He smiled, for he knew he was just that connoisseur. It only had four seats, so a fifth passenger would have to sit on someone's lap, but what else could he do? Roll up in a minivan and have Anarchy mock him forever?

"Hey Expat," he called in. "I found ourselves a ride. How many passes do you intend to do with the monorail before bailing? I could drive counterclockwise and meet you guys halfway."

quote:

<Deltasquid> !r 2d6+1
<Krysmbot> Deltasquid, 9+1 = 10
<Deltasquid> bam!
<Deltasquid> just for clarity, this is for stealing car!
<Theantero> you kinda need to say that before you roll, but eh :V
Burning 1 plan!

He picked the door and sat at the driver's wheel. It smelled of leather. Then, he ignited the contacts manually under the steering wheel, closing his eyes as he did to savour the smell of gasoline and the rumbling of the engine. He felt ecstatic.

He was drawn out of his reverie when he reached for the gear stick and caught nothing but air. With an incredulous look, he stared down at the automatic transmission box.

"Right, this is America," He muttered under his breath, with the disdain of a man who took a bite of a chocolate chip cookie and discovered it had raisins. He slowly backed out of the parking space and pulled up on the street. The rain was making it hard to see, though, and he had to search the dashboard for a few instants to find the controls for the windscreen wipers. He was momentarily distracted by the balloons, small flags and inflatable tube man, the latter of which was feverishly flopping around in the wind. "Why must Americans insist on making everything so gaudy all the time?"

He got on the road and drove off.

quote:

Something around you is clearly off. What amateurish trick did someone try to pull on you?

Phantom Thief slammed the brakes a few intersections away. "Uh. Huh. I don't remember downtown being eastward." He then noticed the traffic signs had been sprayed blue and different text painted on. He raised an eyebrow, but he was somewhat alarmed. "Somebody is trying to confuse me? Good thing I remember this neighbourhood by heart, but still..." He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being shadowed as he did a U-turn and drove the correct way instead.

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 22:46 on Sep 14, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 2/5 | Conditions: None | Location: New Genesis streets

quote:

<Deltasquid> okay then
<Deltasquid> rolling to abscond from Roman Behemoth
<Deltasquid> just flooring it and driving right away
<Deltasquid> !r 2d6+2
<Krysmbot> Deltasquid, 5+2 = 7
<Yamifenrir> Congratz! You got away
<Yamifenrir> ... and ran into the turkish behemoth
<Deltasquid> Byzantine Behemoth has a better ring to it
<Yamifenrir> make sure to tell him

Phantom Thief saw Roman Behemoth charge at him from the darkness and instinctively floored it. The tires' screeching resonated in the streets and the engine roared dangerously loudly before he was pressed into the seat from the acceleration.

"Sacre bleu, I don't exactly have the equipment to deal with this threat!" He yelled to himself. "But if I can just abscond out from under this dark dome, they should lose track of me, I think." The plan did not seem ideal.

And it wasn't. The streets all looked the same, no matter which way he drove, and he always spotted Roman Behemoth hiding behind a corner or appearing right behind him. Eventually, after passing by the park thrice, Phantom Thief got frustrated to the point that he'd rather directly engage whoever was causing these illusions. He made a sharp turn at the park entrance and drove in. He didn't have a lot of time to cruise around before Behemoth caught up with him, so he hoped he could find the magician and take him out quickly. He unholstered the tazer gun from his shoulder holster and lowered his window.

Choosing to add 1 plan to the caper.

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 3/5 | Conditions: None | Location: New Genesis park

Phantom Thief relaxed as the illusion broke off. He holstered his taser gun again, noticing Expatriot in the distance, just as Breaking Point and Netherwrath landed next to him. He opened the doors and said:

"Strap in, girls! We're picking up Expatriot and then I'm outta here, because that contraption called Roman Behemoth is right behind me!"

Letting Netherwrath ride shotgun and Breaking Point go wherever (Can't she fly with us?) he then charged right for Afterthought and Expatriot. He could see it. This was his time to shine. He'd pull a sharp drift to go around Expatriot on the ground, swatting afterthought away with the car's side, then come to a grinding halt and throw the doors of sweet mechanical salvation open. He was thinking of a one-liner like "Get up, trooper!" or "Rise and shine!" or even a badass "Just doin' my job, miss." when he realized you can't exactly drift well on the grass and mud of a park on a rainy day, especially not when a Behemoth jumped out of the bushes.

quote:

<Deltasquid> if I wanna slam the getaway vehicle into Afterthought and open the doors for expatriot
<Deltasquid> that'd be a Directly Engage, right?
<Yamifenrir> yes
<Deltasquid> !r 2d6
<Krysmbot> Deltasquid, 5 = 5
<Deltasquid> whelp
<Takanago> nice

So instead, all Phantom Thief managed to yell was "Oh zut alo-...!!"

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 4/5 | Conditions: None | Location: New Genesis park

"Très bien! Nice shot, Expatriot!"

Roman Behemoth narrowly missed the escape vehicle, and Phantom Thief deftly got the car back under control, then floored it. He threw a quick glance over his shoulder to see who was where, and-

Did Netherwrath get out? At least Expatriot was in here. Where was Omega? In the dashboard? Huh? He got confused but didn't press the matter. Breaking Point was flying around, probably, he didn't need to look for her. Or maybe she got on the backseat by now. Whoever was present better hold on to their butts!!

"Are Anarchy and Whisperwind still on the train? I don't think I can fetch them, sorry, boss."

quote:

<Deltasquid> anyway, rolling to abscond with the team:
<Deltasquid> !r 2d6+2
<Krysmbot> Deltasquid, 7+2 = 9

Some projectile of sorts narrowly missed the car, and at an intersection, various teenage heroes appeared from the front and right. Phantom Thief made a hard veer to the left, skidding tires all the while, the smell of burnt rubber creeping up into the car. He was glad the roads were wet and cold now; a tire might have exploded on a sunny summer day from the friction of his reckless driving. Some kid with a cape on a hoverboard almost slammed into the car, then a few regular old police cars chased them.

He gave Expatriot a manic grim. "Don't you just feel so alive when everyone is trying to get you?" He said before driving into a parking lot at full speed to dodge a police roadblock that had hastily been erected in front of them.

Finally, a few strong superheroes appeared at the far end of the boulevard he was now speeding on. "Ah, merde! Those guys are real adult professionals, all golden age style! I must take a detour, or we will encounter them in an open fight!"

He saw a roadblock in front of an access tunnel that read something along the lines of "Warning: constructions in progress". He crashed through the planks and into the tunnel. Some fast superheroes, along with Roman Behemoth (Still there??) chased them down the tunnel. It was dark, but at least it was wide down here. He weaved and dodged in between the pillars supporting the tunnel during the repairs form whatever calamity or disuse had weathered them, and yelled: "Expatriot, shoot the support beams with the gauss rifle! Utterly dismantle this place and bury them in the rubble!"

quote:

<Deltasquid> then, to provoke her into blowing up the tunnel with the gauss rifle
<Deltasquid> !r 2d6+1
<Krysmbot> Deltasquid, 3+1 = 4
<Deltasquid> lol
<Yamifenrir> eh, she'll probably agree anyway
<Yamifenrir> it's a sensible plan
<Deltasquid> actually it should be +2 because I hold influence over her but eh
<Deltasquid> she can get mad at me and impose a condition on me for being so uppity

He revved up the engine, pushing it to its absolute limit. It was now smoking underneath the hood, and he knew it was all going to go up in flamed with a terrible "pop!" noise before they could shake these heroes off. If they stopped here, they were done for. All he could hope was to close the tunnel behind them and drive the car into the maze underneath the city, and hopefully out again before it got totaled.

He gripped the steering wheel, the engine was hitting red degrees, bits and pieces of the chassis dropped from the car like a mechanical piñata, heroes fired all sorts of beams and energy at them, he could feel his heart pounding under his chest, in his throat, as if it were about to burst out, and he muttered under his breath: "I could have spent today at home, drinking wine and watching an Italian movie."

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 4/5 | Conditions: None | Location: New Genesis Tunnel of Love

Phantom Thief sighed in relief as the tunnels collapsed behind them, and apparently no heroes had outrun the debris. He eased on the pedals of the car, making sure to gradually descend into a comfortable cruising speed.

"That was quite something! Look, boss. My hands are shaking from the excitement." He pressed his head against the seat and exhaled loudly. "What a rush!"

They drove in silence for a few beats. He cleared his throat, and wondered: "Say, Ex-patriot. I was wondering if-"

The eurobeats music was suddenly replaced by a harsh, shrill noise that might as well have come from a construction yard, but passed as music these days. Phantom Thief scrambled to change the channel, and when he deemed this to somehow not work, lowered the volume to the absolute maximum minimum. (I'm stupid.)

"Aha, sorry about that. I'm not entirely certain what just happened. I was wondering if-"

The volume went up again. This was when he realized Omega was somehow influencing the radio, forcing her lack of taste onto everyone as some macabre torture for whatever reasons her sickly alien mind had conjured this time. He slammed the dashboard with his fist: "Cease your headache-inducing noise, you xenofreak!"

To his surprise, the radio was silenced a few seconds afterwards.

"Huh, that worked. Okay."

He made a wide, controlled turn left at the T-bone at the end of the tunnel. He wasn't sure where this was going, but it was wider and higher than the previous one, so probably it was a main access tunnel of sorts. It'd probably lead somewhere, eventually.

Phantom Thief sheepishly looked to his side, but as always, Expatriot's mask hid her eyes and mouth. It was so difficult to know what she was thinking. It slightly upset him.

"I was wondering if... You know, I came across an Italian place on Sunrise Boulevard that looked positively exquisite. I was wondering if you'd care to try it out with me later this week?"

He shot a quick glance at her, but the mask still made it impossible to know whether she was interested or not.

Feeling he had to add something to sweeten the deal, and maybe to precise that this was kind of sorta a date, maybe, he added: "My treat, of course."

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 18:33 on Sep 21, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 0/5 | Conditions: None | Location: New Genesis Tunnel of Love Despair

quote:

<Deltasquid> going to chew out Expatriot a bit for making PT feel gross for hitting on a technically 4 year-old
<Deltasquid> !r 2d6+1
<Krysmbot> Deltasquid, 4+1 = 5
<Deltasquid> lol
<KittyEmpress> owned
Marking curses! and leveling.

He didn't know why, but Expatriot's sidestepping of his offer for dinner struck a particular heartstring. "Oh. I had momentarily... Forgotten about that. Forgive me."

He slowly pulled the car over at group of ladders next to a defunct elevator towards the surface, then got out. Slouching forward, his arm through the now open window, he leaned on the door and spoke to Expatriot: "Listen, I know my proposition just now was poorly timed. But I think we've had a rough day and we pulled off a fairly difficult job, all things considering. We can unwind now and then, you know?" He did a small jiggly movement with his free hand, showing a disarming, open palm. "We don't have to be all business, all the time. Just my two francs."

He walked over to the trunk and opened it. He looked at Whisperwind and sighed: "Women, am I right?" Then, looking at Anarchy: "I didn't know you had a type, though." He winked and gave a teasing smile.

"Anyway, this is my stop. I estimate the manhole above us is located near the Westside Mall. I'll change into civvie clothes in a bathroom there. Whisperwind, you want to go grab some drinks?"

A good Cognac sounded like heaven now. And some downtime to just do guy stuff and not think about evil for a while. This mall had an arcade, if he recalled.

With one hand on the ladder to the surface already, he remembered something and asked Expatriot: "That reminds me, will we celebrate this at the penthouse later? If so, I'm bringing Camembert and Côte du Rhone."

And then he climbed up.

He had a lot of thoughts to process. Expatriot hadn't straight up said "no", which should have comforted him, but... the disgust in her voice. Was it the timing of his offer? Did she really consider herself just four years old? Or was she just so repulsed by him personally?

The thought disturbed him, so he simply stopped thinking about it. Instead, he reaffirmed his resolve. He wanted to be a Gentleman thief, and he had the "thief" part down, but his archetype was woefully incomplete. He realized he had, for a lack of better word, failed to "train" his gentleman skills. He'd start right now, until he got it down just right.

Picking the Rogue move A Dame to Kill For, with Theantero's permission.

quote:

□ A Dame to Kill For
When you manipulate the affections of someone, roll +Trouble. On a hit, they are smitten (or otherwise admiring) of you. On a 10+, take Influence on them. On a 7-9, they choose one.
- Give you Influence on them.
- Mark a condition.
- Give themselves to you and make themselves vulnerable.

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 0/5 | Conditions: None | Location: New Genesis Tunnel of Love Despair

Of course Whisperwind declined the invitation. It was to be expected, and it was rather uncouth of Phantom Thief to even suggest it in the first place. He resigned to drinking alone that night.

"That's okay, I understand. We ca-"

Naturally, Omega interrupted their conversation, small as it was, to insult him again.

"Seriously, Omega, if you-..."

It dawned upon him that she said she wanted to go with him. On a date.

"Wait, my offer to Whisperwind wasn't..."

He stared at her. She was serious. She was seriously, right here, practically begging for a date. Of course Whisperwind made fun of her. By all rights, Phantom Thief himself should have blown her off right there and then. It'd feel really good to shoot her down in turn after Expatriot had. And yet...

The thought of dating such a heartless shrew had never even occurred to him. Was this a prank? Or some sort of social experiment for her home planet?

He was too tired to care either way. He had no energy to protest nor make fun of her, so he simply said: "Okay, fine, you know what? Why not. Please follow me to the street, miss."

At the surface, Phantom Thief cautiously lifted the manhole and noticed there wasn't anyone in particular in this alley. As he had thought, they were just a street away from Westside Mall. He climbed out and quickly changed by removing his long black coat, shirt and red gloves, turning them into small balls and putting them on his belt, then turning a particular bead with a tiny vest symbol on it, back to his autumn jacket.

"If we're going to celebrate at the safehouse tonight, I think we have, say," He checked his swiss watch, "three hours to go?"

He had trouble thinking of things to do. What common ground did they even have? He decided he'd play it safe first with an activity that was universally enjoyed (getting boozed together) and then maybe something more specific and personalized.

"I propose we go for a drink at the Île de Paris bar on the third floor, then the arcade on the fourth floor? They have some good games there." He gave this some thought. "They involve spaceships. I suppose you like spaceships?"

And then, with a hint of mischief in his voice, he said: "Also, if we play really well, we can indefinitely hog the booth for ourselves and upset the kids who are waiting for their turns."

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Sep 21, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 1/5 | Conditions: None | Location: Westside Mall

Phantom Thief was a bit confused as to why Omega was so blustered by him changing jackets. "This isn't exactly a ritual. I just changed into less conspicuous clothes so we wouldn't attract even more superhero attention to ourselves. On that subject, are you going to waltz in with your..."

"Alien form" seemed a bit too harsh, come to think of it. Still not entirely sure of her intentions, he decided to settle on "Non-disguise form? I think you ought to change to your human form to mingle there, you know?"

He tucked away his gloves (small and light enough to stuff in his pockets; he didn't need to turn these into beads like his coat!) and said: "Very well, let us begin. The mall isn't very far from here." He felt freer now he was back in his civilian outfit. He kept the mask on, out of general caution when being around his coworkers, but the mental mask was slipping a little bit. When he spoke, he was a bit softer now, less theatrical. He felt like Arsène again.

They walked out of the alley, onto Sunshine Boulevard, and walked down the road which was getting more and more crowded as they approached the mall. A lot of teenage and college-aged girls were there, of course, but he also saw a group of skateboarders practicing their tricks on the stairs and rails at the entrance (A felony in New Genesis!), as well as young parents with small children, and an elderly couple that was sitting on a bench, enjoying waffles together.

The mall itself was like the rest of the city in a smaller format: clean, white, polished, with a few meticulously planned plants which guarded the sides of the ground level floor. A single fountain had been placed in the middle of the mall: it was perfectly circular, with multiple rings in the middle, and the water simply flowed from the centre to the edge before being pumped back up. Clearly, the architect who designed the mall must have curried enough favour from the City Council to be granted such artistic liberty.

The walls of the mall were some sort of glass, mostly. Anyone on the inside could see the sky (gray), the nearby buildings (Grey and blocky) and Sunshine Boulevard (Grey and long, except during a sunset, when it was orange-ish for about 5 minutes.) At least it meant there was plenty of natural light on good days, except now it was a grey, bleak and rainy day, so the mall reflected that in its windows, which mirrored the outside world in this light.

They took the escalators. Arsène felt he needed to break the ice with some small talk, but he'd been trying hard to come up with a conversation subject ever since they got on the boulevard. He supposed he could ask her about her homeland, but it felt a bit gauche to him. Like asking an Algerian girl about Algeria, as if that were the only thing that defined her. Still, he was curious, and this would give him some time to think of more personal questions. "So, Omega... I was wondering how old you were, and then a thought struck me. The planet you are from is part of an interplanetary alliance or federation of sorts, yes? How do you define age in your society? Depending on how long it takes for the planet of birth to revolve around the sun, or do you have some sort of standardized units of time?"

Île de Paris was a bar on the third floor. Phantom Thief liked it because it specialized in foreign liquors, and also the bartender didn't ask any awkward questions. His name was Claude. He understood.

When they walked in, he gave them a small nod. His pencil mustache was on point today, as always. His hair was parted and oiled, the way it was popular in the 1920's. A true man's man, Arsène thought. They simply didn't make them like that any more.
The bar was comfortably dark; wood and leather dominated the interior, which had a strong "house in the woods" feel to it.

He told Omega: "In this kind of bar, you generally take a liquor. If there are any tastes that you find particularly repulsive or enjoyable, I can help you choose a drink." Arsène wasn't sure if he offered this help because she was an alien, or because she was American. Probably a bit of both.

He himself ordered a Braastad Cognac; it had a balanced taste that reminded him of wood and spice, and wasn't too fruity or flowery. He didn't like fruit or flowers in any of his alcoholic drinks, except in some wines. He didn't consider himself a true connoisseur yet, but he had read a lot of blogs on the subject, and it had become kind of a hobby for him.

(OOC: Yami told me I could mark off the want "Perform an impossible stunt" on account of the cool driving in the park. So, 1 curses! from that.)

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 09:37 on Sep 22, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 1/5 | Conditions: None | Location: Bar Île de Paris

"If you like sweet drinks, then I'd suggest this." Arsène pointed at a drink on the menu called "Genièvre au Chocolat."

"They gave it a French name, but it's actually Dutch. Jenever. Like gin, I suppose, but this particular one is chocolate flavoured."

He noticed K'Lyathi was staring at him. He thought she looked rather smitten, and smirked.

He had forgotten to mention liquors make you particularly drunk particularly fast. And they were drinking on an empty stomach. Still, it wouldn't be a problem, right?
The conversation meandered around a few topics, during which Arsène tried to learn more about K'Lyathi. He ordered a chocolate Genièvre for her, and said:

"I have to admit I was taken a bit aback by your enthusiasm. You didn't strike me as the sort of person to go drinking." He smiled and circled the rim of his glass with his index finger. He was subtly trying to gauge what she intended to do (Question 1). He still wasn't entirely convinced that she wanted to go drinking with him in good faith, without any ulterior motives. "You just wanted to be somewhere Whisperwind wasn't, right?" He chuckled. "You two really do not get along. Like cats and dogs, is the expression in English, I believe?"

They talked about Whisperwind for a bit, before drifting on to the team and BRANCH in general. He wondered why she agreed to join BRANCH in the first place if she believed herself to be superior to everybody else. He quickly added: "Which is entirely understandable, for the record. You are quite..." He looked down in his glass. "You are extremely intelligent. And resourceful, as I understand it." He looked her right in the eyes. "So purely out of curiosity. Why bother? Why did you take the risk of having an entire team of Whisperwinds you'd be forced to work with?"

After listening to her, he said: "As for myself, I joined BRANCH because I believed I would find..." It was difficult to say he really wanted friends. It would have been even dumber to say he wanted to find love. Did he really? He gave it some thought and concluded that he just wanted to have fun. He wanted to have friends to get drunk with, to laugh at how stupid the forces of 'justice' were, he wanted beautiful, dangerous dames to kiss, he wanted the thrill of coordinating the biggest heist on this side of the Mississippi.

"Because I wanted to find some people who'd appreciate my talents."

On the subject of getting drunk, their glasses were empty! He ordered a Martini for himself, and a sweet cranberry gin tonic for K'Lyathi.

He looked at her and thought that she looked kind of cute in the right light. She had a permanent scowl on her lips and eyes, but this gave her a sort of bossy look that he found surprisingly attractive.

Claude brought the drinks.

Arsène was still feeling rather upset. This hadn't been a particularly good week. First Judas, then Expatriot who turned him down. He didn't know why the latter upset him so much, or why he kept thinking about her while he was nominally on a date with Omega. And he had hoped he could drown his problems with a friend right now, but instead he was forced to make some small talk with a person he barely knew, and barely trusted. At least she was attractive, he thought with a wry smile.

"Man... We've been a team with the others for what, a week now? And it already feels like so much has happened. The first caper went totally sideways," and with a hint of regret punctuating his voice, he added "Because of my trust in Little Judas." He sighed. "I still don't understand. Was he a mole planted by some heroes, or just an opportunist without any morals whatsoever?" He hoped they'd be able to take him out before he harmed BRANCH or his squad even more. He stared at the table while taking quiet sips from his martini. Then, he blurted out: "What are parent-children relationships like for your people?" He might have subconsciously been thinking about his own parents when he saw young mothers walking their children to the arcade or pizza restaurant in the mall. "For us, they're... Complicated. Everyone wants to be free from their parents, or at least they think so. But when they're allowed to just do whatever, and never hear from their dad or mom..." His mouth smiled as always, but his eyes didn't. "It feels a bit lonely."

He was trying to figure out what she cared about most right now. (Question 2!)

They talked a bit about what they hoped from the future and from BRANCH. His glass was empty by the end of this topic, so he ordered a spiced rum for himself and limoncello for K'Lyathi. He was by now getting into the late stages of tipsiness, and feeling quite a bit better than at the start of the conversation.

He observed K'Lyathi again. She was positively pretty, in her own way. Her eyelashes had a certain elegance to them, when she squinted in disgust at the world and they covered her hazel brown eyes. When she was frustrated or annoyed and tapped her fingernails on the table, she played a cute rhythm. Whenever somebody at another table talked loudly, or she overheard somebody saying something stupid behind her, she raised her nose and rolled her eyes like a diva, with a little sigh to punctuate just how much she disapproved. She had a regal way of acting, a certain air of royalty that said she hadn't been born in the purple, but she may very well have been if fate had decided so.

He started testing the waters.

He hoped she couldn't see him blushing underneath his mask. If she could, he'd just blame the alcohol anyway. Her hand was on the table, so he carefully touched her fingers with his own while he talked.

quote:

<Deltasquid> Rolling to manipulate the affections of K'Lyathi
<Deltasquid> sure hope I don't fail this now!!
<Deltasquid> !r 2d6+2
<Krysmbot> Deltasquid, 11+2 = 13
<Deltasquid> OH YES
<Deltasquid> SMITTEN, BABY

On a hit, they are smitten (or otherwise admiring) of you. On a 10+, take Influence on them.

She seemed responsive enough, so he upped the ante a bit more. He laughed and said: "Are you sure you're not royalty? You have to understand It comes with some big perks, here on earth. You're supposed to treat an empress very well." He affectionately stroked her fingers with his thumb as he explained. "Recognize them for how great they are. Cater to their wishes. Make sure they always feel comfortable and respected." He gently brought her hand to his lips, and gave her a small kiss on the back of her hand, playful enough to laugh it away if she took offense, but sincere enough to imply more kisses may be in for her if she played along with him.

"I don't know how much you've heard about dates..." She seemed completely clueless during the whole thing, but he knew she'd never admit it. That was okay, as long as she tried to follow the spirit of the activity. "But it's a long-standing tradition to up the physical intimacy over the course of it. The further you get before the end of the date, the better the date went." This was true. "And," he tentatively said, "Whisperwind and I have never made out during a date." This was technically true.

He was wondering how he could get her to make out with him, without hurting her feelings. (Question 3) He knew a relationship between two vastly different people would be very difficult and probably not work out in this stage of their lives. It was better not to give her the wrong idea if he could.

And yet, he thought as he finished his third drink, she was absolutely gorgeous. The thought of kissing her hands and neck made him feel giddy, the thought of giving her massages made him all gooey in his stomach. There was something intensely exotic, exciting and seductive about her bossy behavior. He wanted to feel her pillowy lips against his, wanted to know whether she'd overpower him during an intense bout of French kissing. He felt weird; deep down, these were curiosities that he'd never let influence him. They were too different and she was too hostile to make a relationship work that was more intimate than rivals with benefits. But in his current state of mind, he couldn't care about all that.

It was funny. He'd always expected these kinds of days would end with him and Whisperwind getting drunk on a riverbank somewhere, not boozing it up with an alien in a mall.

Marking off the "Get drunk or high with a peer" want if Yami agrees.

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 10:20 on Sep 23, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 2/5 | Conditions: None | Location: Bar Île de Paris -> Arcade
1 curses! added because K'Lyathi is clearly drunk there, you guys.

Arsène was rather surprised. K'Lyathi had been the asking begging party for this date, she was clearly lovestruck, and now she was making demands before he may kiss her? He was not following her long-term strategy, but then again, it was hard to focus on most trains of thought right now as his vision blurred and self-control faded ever slightly.

The idea of challenging Whisperwind in a relationship contest was amusing to him, just enough that he was down for agreeing to this bargain of sorts.

"Haha, wait, I have to do you a favor before you're willing to receive all of my attention?" He kissed her hand again. "That's so... So... Diva! I like it."

He got up and said: "I must go wash my hands. You know where Whisperwind and Anarchy are now, right? You can lead the way when we go."

While passing the bar on his way to the bathroom, he told Claude to put it on his tab. On the way back, before going to the arcade, he sat down next to K'Lyathi instead of in front of her. "Your human form is absolutely gorgeous, but... I have to admit I'm a bit excited at the thought of kissing you in your true form. Not in public, though." He went for a kiss on her cheek, and then, hopefully, she'd agree to seal the deal in this dark, cosy corner of the bar, where nobody would pay much attention to two lovers. Ah, comme l'amour est beau!

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 3/5 | Conditions: None | Location: Bar Île de Paris -> Arcade

Arsène offered no resistance as K'Lyathi dragged him to the back of the bar, and was too intoxicated and concentrated on not tripping or falling over to notice the nanobots she had released in the bar. With a rush of happiness that overtook his (dulled and drunk) senses, he pressed his lips against the alien's, and they spent a few beats enjoying each other's embrace. They had barely met a week ago, and now he was already making out with this exotic and gorgeous teammate of his. He was excitedly wondering what other beautiful dames the future at BRANCH held for him. Life was good, at least in their little bubble of intimacy.

Marking 1 curses! for resolving his "make out with a peer" want.

Yet somewhere deep down, momentarily suppressed by the alcohol, was a hint of concern that he had agreed to a commitment to K'Lyathi that he shouldn't have. But that was a problem he'd resolve later.

When she finally let go of his head, he had to catch his breath. With a stupid grin on his face, he said: "That was fun. This wasn't your first kiss, was it?" He kissed her again on the forehead.

He checked the clock above the bar, and noticed it was getting late. "Oh dear, we engaged in conversation a lot longer than I thought. Perhaps we can pester Whisperwind and Anarchy at the celebration of our caper instead? We should get some snacks and wine on our way to the safehouse."

Then he noticed he had a voice message from Zemeriah. "Oh, looks like our benefactor has a reward for us. We shouldn't be late, or the others might have picked the best loot already."

We can head to the next scene if Yami wants to move it along.

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -1 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +2 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 4/5 | Conditions: None | Location: Bar Île de Paris -> Arcade BRANCH office

quote:

Cling to the safety that others can bring when you are vulnerable, nursing your wounds and indignities until vengeance is yours. Describe to whom you seek succor from, and how they can give it to you. Give them Influence over you, and either clear a condition or mark Curses!

Long story short, Phantom Thief was tired from the caper and had a rather bruised ego from Expatriot and Whisperwind's refusal to hang out with him. To his surprise, K'Lyathi had been a rather warm companion for his end of day boozing. Marking 1 curses!

On the television in the bar, the channel changed to the 9 o' clock news.

quote:

21:36 Deltasquid anyway, I'm rolling for end of caper heat
21:36 Deltasquid !r 2d6+4
21:37 Krysmbot Deltasquid, 7+4 = 11

On a hit, you made the headlines: Hold 1 Infamy. On a 10+, take +1 forward, because your name means something.

Phantom Thief smiled as he put on his coat to leave. "It seems we have made quite the impression on New Genesis. Yours truly has been caught on tape by a few reporters here, making the daring escape in our getaway vehicle! Look, the news ticker even mentioned me by name!"

And then, they went to the BRANCH office for their reward.

Phantom Thief gazed upon the pile of random assorted crap strewn about the table. He looked at Zeremiah and said: "Hero central stocks such a large, random assortment of goods? Are they confiscated evidence of sorts, or are they all compulsive hoarders?" Perhaps he shouldn't make fun of that, he thought while remembering the trophies in his own room.

He rummaged through the stash for a bit, fishing out a pair of gloves. They were a deep purple colour that he liked very much. The fingers, however, had a special, black webbing between them. "Are these for decoration?" he said while he tried one of them. Zeremiah told him they could temporarily nullify superpowers if the wearer made physical contact. "Now that is nifty!" It would allow him to more or less even the odds in close quarters. "I am definitely choosing these, then. I suppose you wouldn't heist a pair of such gloves every other week for me?" He was only half-joking. These were seriously cool, and he wasn't even upset Expatriot had kept his railgun any more.

quote:

□ Bag of Tricks
You’re never content to be predictable in your line of work, and constantly stealing new experimental technology and equipment that complement your particular skillset. Whenever you steal some new kit, you can write it down as a new ability if this line is empty.
Superpower disruption gloves
□ □ □
Treat the new piece of kit as any other ability. Whenever you use the kit in a cunning and risky way, roll +Trouble instead of +Freak to unleash your powers with it. When the third box is checked, the kit is broken, lost, or recovered from those you stole it from, and you can erase it from the line.

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Sep 25, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -2 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 4/5 | Conditions: None | Location: Breakfast table

Arsène's door opened. He walked out with slow, methodical, some would say robotic, movements and stood in the doorway to the kitchen for a few seconds before saying. "Bonjour."

His eyes had a distinct red shine to them. He was wearing a velvety purple pyjama with a Fleurs-De-Lis pattern, and holding a bottle of red wine in his left hand, which he carefully placed on the table on Expatriot's side. "I'm not drinking any," he flatly stated. Then, he filled a plate with Expatriot's cooking and slowly worked on chomping it down. His stomach felt upset, poisoned even, and his head was hurting with every pulse of his heartbeat. He could barely taste her cooking on his dry tongue, but he was extremely grateful that it felt and tasted greasy and fatty. This meal would hit the spot.

He got up to pour himself a glass of tap water, which he downed in one go, and filled a second one before going back to his seat next to Whisperwind. He gently poked him in the ribs and whispered, with an exhausted yet satisfied smile: "Call me Captain Kirk."

He took a few more spoonfuls while texting his parents. They hadn't exactly asked him why he hadn't come home tonight, but he nevertheless felt the need to keep them up to date.

"I slept over at a friend's place. We had an enjoyable evening but it was too late for the last bus home."

Minutes later, his mother answered:

"Ok"

He sighed and wondered if his father was too busy with something to even answer, when it suddenly hit him that yes, his band had to play at an event in New Genesis later this month. Practice was probably in full swing.

Where were they playing again? Oh, right, he remembered! It was a fundraiser for some new project by Diamond Dust!

He thought about this for a few seconds, then cautiously tried to plant the idea for their next caper in everyone's minds.

"I heard Diamond Dust is holding a fundraising event this month. Did anybody happen to hear the details of that?"

They still had a few weeks to decide before it transpired. But it'd be nice to have them reflect on it for a while, because he just realized he'd be expected to be present, and that he'd be able to sneak the rest in unnoticed at this masked ball. He would have rolled his eyes at the thought alone if they hadn't hurt so much.

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -2 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 4/5 | Conditions: None | Location: Penthouse

Phantom Thief listened attentively as Expatriot made her case, and shook his head ever so slightly when she mentioned she had a buyer lined up.

"Expatriot, if I may," he said, and he got up from his seat to reach into his pockets, "Your plan hinges on the goodwill of a career criminal to pay us for our job. And it sounds like any publicity would hinder this job rather than help it. I think we should be making a name for ourselves, and go from A to Z all by ourselves."

He pulled out a few flyers and slid them on the table for everyone to see. They read:

"PROTECT OUR NATIONAL FORESTS

NEW GENESIS FUNDRAISER

Special guest: The one, the only, the superhero DIAMOND DUST"

It had an image of Diamond Dust fighting wildfires in California. "No mention of his proteges getting soundly defeated by us, however. Maybe we should remind the world of his incompetence?"

Phantom Thief flipped a flyer on its back and pointed at some small letters. "Half of the fundraiser goes to Diamond Dust's private marketing enterprise. That is to say," he said with a hint of reproach in his voice, "It goes towards building Diamond Dust merchandise or licensing tv-shows."

"My parents are both invited as special guests, because my father's band will be playing that night. Of course, they can bring their families, so I more or less have to be present as well. The good news is that I have insider info from the organisation of the event, through my father."

Phantom Thief produced some contracts, non-disclosure agreements, the musical programme, and some e-mails. "Tomorrow night, around 6 PM, there will be a reception at Diamond Dust's economic headquarters, on the penthouse levels. Because yes, he has the money to convert three stories into an elaborate apartment with dance hall and concert room. The idea is that everybody should be thankful of New Genesis heroes' contribution to society, and something about "all of us being heroes". This means it's a masked ball." He raised a finger and the corner of his mouth. "The perfect cover for slipping in while disguised as random, masked nobodies, before we change to our real uniforms and steal the show.

Because a show it will be. The entire event is being televised and broadcasted. Around 8PM, multiple speakers will take the floor to discuss environmental issues and how Heroes can help fight them. Diamond Dust himself will hold the main speech where he will plead for the attendees and viewers' contributions to his fund. During the entire night, people will be able to donate money to his cause, and at the end of the event, a billboard will light up to show the final amount gathered."

"Now," Phantom Thief punctuated this word with exceptional gravitas, as if to wake up those who had fallen asleep, "This is where we get to the interesting part. Several companies and organisations have already pledged a certain amount beforehand, more or less as a feel-good measure to inflate the figures should the donators' turnout happen to be low. This means that there will be at least 600,000 dollars gathered by the end of the night. However, I know the organisation decided to switch the LED display as a last minute arrangement, and swapped it for a 7-figure sign. I believe they expect to break the 1-million mark."

"The money, however, does not go straight to Diamond Dust's fund. Rather, the collected donations go to a separate bank account during the event, after which the total amount will be displayed and then transferred to their final recipients. As I mentioned, half of it to Diamond Dust's marketing company, and another half -supposedly- to the environmental fund.

I have no problem taking money from a fake 'hero' like that." Phantom Thief pronounced the word sound as if it were a particularly severe insult. "To give himself a fat half of the cut is probably a little-known fact that the donators would be interested to hear. I propose we steal it for ourselves like this:

We get insider access to the event, under the cover of masks for the event. No, not our real, villainous masks, but generic Venetian masks until we get the caper going into full action.
Secondly, one of our techies - I was thinking Anarchy - Changes the credentials of the bank accounts the donations will be slushed to by hacking into their system.
Thirdly, we steal the show just as the final amount is being tallied. I'm thinking about turning off the lights, blaring some sort of theme song on the radios, and yours truly will appear on stage to announce how we are taking the money for ourselves. We will call out Diamond Dust's greed and deception of the public, and publicly condemn him to a fine that happens to coincide with the funds raised.
And then we bail, hopefully causing some panic and material damage on our way out. I thought Netherwrath would enjoy that last part. This should cause enough chaos to ensure nobody pays much attention to the funds. We will convert them to some cryptocurrency and send them to a phony account somewhere in, say, Switzerland. This should erase our traces. Then, sometime later, we will simply cash it in at an ATM or somesuch."

Phantom Thief theatrically bowed to the assembly, to thank them for their attention.

"I would like to reiterate the advantages of this caper over Expatriot's. Firstly, we do not rely on a mysterious benefactor to pay us. What we grab is what we get. Secondly, it will be higher profile scheme that will increase our infamy tenfold compared to Expatriot's. Thirdly, we will even have the public opinion on our side and deal a blow to Diamond Dust's reputation. He couldn't protect his kids against us, and he couldn't even protect his finances. He will have not much left after that, I am afraid.

And of course, as with Expatriot's plan, you're in a rich man's penthouse. Grab some paintings or gold cutlery on your way out, if you so desire."

Phantom Thief made no notice of the huge downside this plan would have, hoping none would think too hard about the fact that they'd tackle a full-on, honest to God, adult superhero. He was sure they could more or less distract him during the smash and grab, but Diamond Dust wouldn't let such an aggressive invasion of his property slide. And yet, the thought was thrilling to Phantom Thief. It wasn't even about the money itself (though more money was always good), it was about taking Diamond Dust's pride as a trophy. There was something about heroes' aggressive public relations and marketing that hit a sore spot for him. Shouldn't they be working on doing good instead of looking good? He wanted to remind Diamond Dust of the virtue of asceticism.

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 10:13 on Sep 30, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -2 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 4/5 | Conditions: None | Location: Penthouse

Phantom Thief finished scanning Omega's note and quickly stashed it in his pocket. He gave a sly smile and put his hands up in a disarming motion. "Hey Boss, if you say you trust the man to pay for the contraband, I'll believe you. You simply asked if we had other ideas, and I gave you the plan I had been brooding on for the past few weeks, that is all."

He was admittedly feeling rather stabbed in the back by Whisperwind and Omega, but he knew he couldn't hold it against them. He would, however, be mightily upset if this caper went wrong.

"Both options are on the table, and I will fully support the one we decide to go with."

It was important to have the moral high ground, he knew.

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -2 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 4/5 | Conditions: None | Location: Penthouse

Phantom Thief shook Expatriot's hand when she reached it out to him, then quickly became irritated at the shenanigans around him. He rubbed his temples and sighed: "Can we move on with the planning?"

He looked at Expatriot and said: "You know my skills. I can get you in and out of the zone of operations, and also commandeer an escape vehicle if desired. Just tell me where I have to be at which point during the caper."

He gave her a thumbs up.

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -2 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 4/5 | Conditions: None | Location: Mansion of Elegance

Phantom Thief was trailing behind Expatriot when they scaled the cliff, cursing his fairly average body all the while. He was not built for such physically straining entrances, but she was right; this was the least defensible spot in the mansion. Nevertheless, he wished he'd brought some electric gear with him to simply zip upwards. Instead, he had to slowly climb the rope like he did in gym class, until he reached the top of the edge where the hook had grappled around some steel tables near the pool.

By the time he was over the edge, Expatriot had already disabled one of the guards, although it was certainly not the cleanest takedown Phantom Thief had ever witnessed. He gathered the zipcord again and said, slightly out of breath from the climbing: "You could have waited a few more instances. We could have neutralised him without harming the security pass."

Then, kneeling down next to her and inspecting the pass, he shook his head and whispered: "It's too damaged to copy its contents on the blank forgeries I have. We should look for another route in."

quote:

00:06 Deltasquid so let's go and case that joint, PT!
00:06 Deltasquid !r 2d6+3
00:06 Krysmbot Deltasquid, 7+3 = 10

- What here is useful/valuable to me?
- What is the best way in/way past?


Of course, Phantom Thief kept an eye out for any routes that would specifically pass through a safe or art room. He knew these kind of nouveau riches, for he himself was part of them; they always had an art room. It was difficult to be a discerning art connoisseur without feeling the need to tell the world about it. He just hoped it wouldn't be postmodern art.

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -2 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 4/5 | Conditions: None | Location: All over the map! | Infamy: 1

Ah yes, Phantom Thief could see the way this was going to unfold just like that. With a quick hop on the table there he could reach the roof, then slide past the... SAM missiles? Huh. And then through an access hatch, into the attic, down into the art collection, and then a small detour towards the crown jewel of the place (He'd figure that out when he found it, and then he'd go on to move on with the caper. It wouldn't take long if he kept up the pace. It was just darting in and out for the detour, and he'd be right on schedule.

quote:

00:11 Deltasquid so let's roll to cook up a scheme
00:12 Deltasquid rolling + trouble
00:12 Deltasquid !r 2d6+3
00:12 Krysmbot Deltasquid, 8+3 = 11
00:12 Terrorsol way to scheme
00:12 Deltasquid yes

1 Plan added.

That is, if he left right now.

Phantom Thief turned just in time to see the first spray of sticky gel being blasted onto Expatriot's boots, and made a combat roll behind a Greeco-Roman statue to break visual contact with the drone. He briefly considered engaging it, but he had the nagging impression that it would be too much trouble for too little reward. Expat would have to get out of this mess by herself, he had important errands to run, and the heat was already rising on this caper.

It was go time.

quote:

00:13 Deltasquid and, of course, rolling to abscond
00:13 Deltasquid !r 2d6+3
00:13 Krysmbot Deltasquid, 9+3 = 12
00:13 Deltasquid sorry, expatriot
00:13 Deltasquid PT is outta here
00:17 Terrorsol way to abscond
00:18 Deltasquid he's slippery

Adding another plan to the pool.

Phantom Thief threw a quick glance at Expatriot and yelled: "Engaging it would consume too much time, work yourself free and I shall open the doors from the inside!"

With that, he darted forward with uncanny speed, making an agile leap from the table on the terrace onto the low roof, then crouching in between two missile holes and unscrewing a grate with his silent drill. He slipped inside and landed in a dark room that was illuminated by the blue LEDs of the many electronics inside. Some sort of server room had been installed beneath the roof, with an access console and many cables and hardware strewn about. He smiled. Their poor ventilation system had been his ticket in, and now he'd offer straight access to the techies. He quickly turned on the console and slammed a USB stick in that had the Phantom Thief's logo on it (A red rose with white velvet and a mask in front of it).

He opened the team's channel and said: "Omega, Anarchy! I found myself in a server room of sorts and gave us direct access to their databases. I don't know what kind of stuff is in here, but I manually inserted a virus into the system. We shouldn't need outside access any more to break into their system. By the way, there's a certain amount of lasers and ground-to-air missiles present on the roof. I thought that would be interesting in case we'd need to hold off airborne heroes, non?"

The dirty secret to hacking things, Phantom Thief had discovered a long time ago, was that no amount of firewalls, proxies or cyberwarfare protections in the world would help you if a guy with a USB-stick and bluetooth could bypass them on foot.

Then, he carefully opened the door, and when he saw nobody was in the hallway, he quickly darted through, let himself hang from a balcony and dexterously dropped into the art collection the floor below. There, he swiped some paintings, turning them into small balls and into the pouches in his jacket's interior.

It was getting rather heavy from trying to force a previously-Ming-vase-now-Ming-sphere into his pocket, when he noticed that all the lightweight, small valuables seemed to be... Missing. No necklaces, diamonds, chains or bracelets. He frowned and called K'Lyathi in private: "Hello, beautiful. Say, I was wondering; would your nanobots have picked up Whisperwind's whereabouts recently? I have the nagging feeling we're going for the same prize, and I'd rather beat him to it if I could."

He hoped he was wrong about his gut feeling, but he couldn't let Whisperwind steal that thing when the Master Thief was here. Who did Whisperwind think he was? He was merely the student that PT so graciously imparted knowledge with. It was highly uncouth of him to try and snag the wealth of the mark before his mentor could have picks. Despite himself, he got the irksome feeling that Whisperwind was out specifically to upset him for fraternizing with K'Lyathi.

They'd need to talk about this. Opening the doors for Expatriot could wait.

OOC: PT wants to beat WW at finding the thing.

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Oct 17, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -2 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 4/5 | Conditions: None | Location: Going down to find The Thing | Infamy: 1

Phantom Thief gave K'Lyathi a coy smile, remembered she couldn't see him, and said: "Merci, ma belle. I'll move in as fast as possible."

He moved from the art collection to the lounge and heard footsteps down the hall. Hiding behind a couch, he waited from the strangers to pass into another room, then he darted into the main hallway and towards a small door at the far end of the mansion, which turned out to be a stairwell leading down. This one did not have the modern, classy accents of the rest of the house, but revealed the solid concrete and steel with which the house was actually built. He peeked over the edge of the stairs, saw the coast was clear, and went down.

Phantom Thief couldn't help but notice this was going particularly well. Most of the guards so far had been preoccupied to the point where Phantom Thief wondered if he should even bother hiding. They were quickly and nervously waltzing around the mansion, apparently unaware of the breached perimeter. Maybe they had bigger fish to fry?

He chuckled. As if! No, they were simply swooping in under the security's radar, as should be.

Phantom Thief passed a door labeled "Garage", and was surprised the stairs still descended another level. He continued, and saw the final door was marked "DANGER: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY"

Figuring he was authorized on the grounds that he pretty drat wanted to, Phantom Thief double checked the door for any alarms, locks or traps, then went in.

He had to do a double take at what he saw inside.

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 10:15 on Oct 22, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -2 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 4/5 | Conditions: None | Location: Regrouping | Infamy: 1

A sterile, white room.
The perfect lighting, a complete set-up to sublimely illuminate the furthest wall in the room.
This was the treasure.

Phantom Thief slowly walked towards it, double checking to make sure there were no alarms. There weren't. His hands trembled as he reached out to it. He had to let Whisperwind know. This was more than a treasure, now. This was...

"Hey, Whisperwind, mon copain. What the gently caress is this poo poo, bordel de merde?"

The painting hanging here was entirely white, barely more than a blank canvas, really. It had two lines criss-crossing at perfectly straight angles at approximately 3/5th of the work of "art" in both directions. It wasn't even divided along the golden means or anything of the sort. Presumably, the artist had received awards for its audacity. Phantom Thief could imagine the reviews: beautiful in its simplicity, yet daring in its execution".

He mentally pinched his nose, swallowed his pride and pocketed the painting worth several millions.

Then, Expatriot pinged him. "There is no upper limit to the dimensions of the object I can shrink, no. But they keep their weight, so the larger they are, the more difficult they will be to move afterwards. Why, did you plan to shrink all of the vehicles and carry several thousand kilograms of steel in your pocket?"

He left the room, somewhat soured by the whole anticlimax, and made his way to the rest of the team.

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -2 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 4/5 | Conditions: None | Location: garage -> basement | Infamy: 1

Phantom Thief gave Whisperwind a thumbs up and blinked when he teleported away. The surreal effect of watching someone vanish always muddied the mind of onlookers, even if they were expecting it. P.T. shook his head and focused on the task at hand.

When he entered the garage, he threw a look at Expatriot and yelled: "Sorry about leaving you to your devices! I will proceed to shrink your target of opportunity, then leave you for a few more instants!"

He ran up to the mini-jet and raised an eyebrow while holding both of his hands against its cold, metal frame. Concentrating a bit, he carefully reduced it in size until it shrank to the dimensions of roughly a large apple, and made the concrete crack under the pressure beneath it. It was now a perfect chrome spehre with a small jet icon identifying it. He remenisced about how neat this ability was. Not the shrinking, but the fact that it came with automatic labeling of the shrunken items. It had a certain neat tidiness.

P.T. figured BP should be able to carry this, although dropping it on someone's toes would flatten them to a few nanometers at most. He vowed to not be anywhere underneath her while she would be carrying it.

quote:

13:21 Deltasquid sounds good
13:22 Deltasquid rolling to case that joint! heart of the dice, show me the way into Omega's secret basement! This is not innuendo!
13:22 Deltasquid !r 2d6+3
13:22 Krysmbot Deltasquid, 6+3 = 9
13:22 Yamifenrir it's totally innuendo
13:23 Deltasquid "what is the best way in"
13:23 Deltasquid that is my question
13:23 Deltasquid and then in my post I'll act upon that knowledge
13:24 Yamifenrir There's a hidden door that you need to activate via a hidden button at the base of one of the support pillars in the garage
13:24 Yamifenrir find that, and you can just waltz right in

As he contemplated the orb's weight, his eyes drifted along one of the cracks in the concrete until he saw a cracked tile at the base of one of the support pillars. Hidden underneath it was a small glass cover protecting an inconspicuous button, which had a screw of some sorts that needed to be loosened before the hatch could be flipped. Curious about this button, Phantom Thief reached for his tools and undid the safety mechanism, then pressed the button which gave a loud "click" sound.

He'd expected a door or gate to open in the garage, but none of the sort happened. Instead, he could hear a mechanism unlocking in the floor below him, approximately where the white painting had been hanging instants before.

Phantom Thief considered telling his teammates, but then decided against it. He had a minute or two before they had to leave, which was just enough time to double back to the room below and check out what changed.

When he reached the bottom of the stairwell, he found that the wall had indeed turned to the side, revealing a hidden room behind this first one. He smirked. The other painting had been a decoy after all. The real treasure was here.

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 15:28 on Nov 7, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -2 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 4/5 | Conditions: None | Location: garage -> basement | Infamy: 1

Phantom Thief wondered aloud about the meaning of this underground hospital, and why it'd be so secret. "I can but muse on the ramifications of our discovery, Bee-Pee. It seems we have intruded upon a testing laboratory of sorts, outfitted like a hospital would be."

He briskly walked towards some vats and machines, trying to understand what nefarious schemes could be cooked up with such equipment. To his disappointment, stealing the lot of it would be too much of a hassle. So, he tried to pinpoint the most important or valuable object in the room to whomever was exploiting this facility.

quote:

23:06 Deltasquid Phantom Thief gonna assess the situation here
23:06 Deltasquid !r 2d6+1
23:06 Krysmbot Deltasquid, 7+1 = 8
23:06 Deltasquid nice

Asking the question: What here can I use to fulfill my greatest desire: Steal from someone you know you shouldn’t?

More specifically, which thing in this room could PT steal to really, really throw a spanner in the works? He was in a particularly capricious mood today. He had a haul of goodies and the ease of the caper so far was stoking his hubris. It was time for the coup de grace, a theft so egregious he would draw the ire of a very dangerous person, judging by the many secrets in this home. And, he thought with delight, licking his lips at the idea, he would stay just out of reach and prove who was the greater villain here.

He was getting giddy.

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -2 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 5/5! | Conditions: None | Location: basement | Infamy: 1

Phantom Thief felt his stomach slightly turn when the tubes with human prisoners were revealed. Standing next to BP as she liberated Prisma, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the superheroine. As they gently lifted her out of her tube together, he let his hand slowly caress her cheek, and whispered:

"To capture and hurt such a wonderful and radiant woman... It truly sickens the heart! We may ostensibly be opponents, but I cannot condone the killing of such beauty. Trust me, we are getting you out of here."

And he kissed her forehead.

quote:

10:40 Deltasquid Phantom Thief tries to steal Prisma's heart
10:40 Deltasquid !r 2d6+3
10:40 Krysmbot Deltasquid, 12+3 = 15
10:40 Deltasquid holy cow!

As per A Dame to Kill For, PT gains influence on Prisma.

He then let BP release the other prisoners as he tracked the target of the tubes. They seemed to collect inside a vial at the far end of a machine in the room. "Huh," he thought, and he reached inside to carefully decouple the vial from the machine.

"I don't know what this is, but the owner probably really wants it."

When he had safely secured it, he placed a rose where the vial had been before, with a small note: "Beauty may never be tarnished by an ugly heart." He then turned the vial into a small ball and pocketed it. His team wouldn't have to know about this trophy.

He returned to BP and joined her on the comms.

quote:

10:40 Deltasquid and then he will also rebuke Expat
10:41 Deltasquid !r 2d6+1
10:41 Krysmbot Deltasquid, 6+1 = 7

On a hit, they hear you: They mark Curses!, clear a condition, or shift labels if they respond.

"Hey boss, I presume it's one of 'those' days? Keep focused. BP and I are finished in the basement and awaiting further instructions. We will join you shortly."

PT has fulfilled his Want to □ Steal from someone you know you shouldn’t. Marking 1 Curses! and advancing. The 4 new wants are bolded:


quote:

□ Mastermind your own caper
□ Get a new costume
□ Kiss a superhero
□ Get a new villain name
□ Steal from someone you know you shouldn’t
□ Earn the respect of a villain you admire
□ Betray a peer when they most need you
□ Make out with a peer
□ Take down a hero all on your own
□ Knock out a peer
□ Pull off a ridiculous stunt
□ Steal something impossible
□ Save a peer’s life
□ Start a fight between your peers
□ Show up an adult villain
□ Vacation in an incredible place (or time)
□ Get drunk or high with a peer
□ Try out being a superhero
□ Hijack a fantastical vehicle
□ Reject someone who underestimates you

Phantom Thief figured the time was now right to update his fanbase about the Caper. He took a selfie in the basement and tweeted:

"Striking back at the rich tax evaders. #phantomthief #skeletonsinthecloset #weirdshit "

Within seconds, a follower retweeted it, and the Phantom Thief hashtag was picking up in popularity. He smiled. He knew he could always rely on the masses, the Have-Nots who were more than eager to take the Haves down a peg.

Level up! Taking the following move from The Radical:

quote:

□ The Following
You have sympathizers or fans among the public that you can take advantage of. Whenever you want to exploit your followers, roll +Infamy. On a 10, choose two. On a 7-9, choose one.
- They provide you material benefit. Gain a temporary Asset for this caper.
- They sell out one of the heroes that are protecting them, or some juicy intel.
- They provide you moral or restorative support. Clear a condition.

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 00:23 on Dec 14, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -2 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 0/5 | Conditions: None | Location: basement of DOOM | Infamy: 1

Phantom Thief saw BP-X rise in front of his very eyes, a threatening shadow of his good friend BP, although somehow even colder than she was. BP was mostly robotic, but she clearly had a spark of life inside her. This thing did not. The uncanny valley effect was real, and he shivered.

BP's explosions rocked the basement and created an opening for the two of them, prompting PT to dash for the exit. Before leaving, he grabbed a handful of beads from his pocket, and threw them in BP-X's general direction.

quote:

00:37 Deltasquid PT tries to distract SA-X Point
00:37 Deltasquid !r 2d6+3
00:37 Krysmbot Deltasquid, 9+3 = 12
00:37 Deltasquid aww yee

PT chooses:
- You get an opportunity.
- You confuse them for some time.
- You avoid further entanglement.


The beads poof all at once, some of them spewing smoke and gas in every direction, filling the basement with a veritable screen. Others turned into flares or hologramic emitters mimicking BP, hopefully confusing any infrared sights and giving them both a chance for a clear escape between the decoys. PT then leapt behind Naomi, into the garage, and followed her while throwing an EMP tripmine behind him. He heard the satisfying clicking noise of the device activating, and then sprinted for the inner courtyard. He saw Expat on the roof there, and gave her a sly smile. "Oh, we were exfiltrating already? But it was just getting so very interesting." He shrugged theatrically. "Let us be on our way, then. Before that nanomonster sees through my ruse and intercepts us."

Which reminded him. He opened a private channel with K'Lyathi and asked:

"Bonjour, ma belle. Say, would you happen to know what caused that swarm of nanomachines in the basement to create a doppelganger of BP? You don't happen to... Be picking a fight with her, are you?"

He was slightly hoping this was a catfight gone bad. The alternative was a lot scarier.

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 00:55 on Dec 14, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -2 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 0/5 | Conditions: Insecure | Location: Killdozer's backseat of dreams, miracles and sparkles | Infamy: 1

quote:

01:48 Deltasquid Phantom Thief stops and gloats about his masterplan to Prisma, burning 1 plan in the process and taking +1 due to Influence
01:48 Deltasquid !r 2d6+2
01:48 Krysmbot Deltasquid, 6+2 = 8
01:49 Theantero The only thing WW has ever done is talk poo poo and already he's getting complaints. Imagine if he was even more of a twat :V
01:49 Yamifenrir oh
01:49 Yamifenrir you don't burn plan delta
01:49 Deltasquid nice

Phantom Thief looked at BP-X in abject terror through the rear window, stammering out a few incomplete words before turning to Expat: "Mon Dieu, step on it, boss!"

He was thrown into the backseat due to sudden acceleration, and landed comfortably close to Prisma, at least from his point of view. Her eyes were still fixated on the menace outside, however, and Phantom Thief was less than amused at the lack of attention his smooth operating this caper had resulted in. He gave a small chuckle, hoping Prisma would turn her gaze to his fair visage instead. She did not.

"You may be wondering what advantages I hope to gain from this incursion. A perfectly reasonable reaction."

She glanced his way, then back at the monster tangling with Netherwrath outside. Her eyes widened.

This wasn't working. Phantom Thief had to up the ante if he wanted to leave a lasting impression.

Sliding his fingers across his hair as he did, PT threw his head back in a theatrical manner and laughed, though it did not come across as all that genuine. "Ha! Ha! Ha."

"Well, you see," he resumed to no one in particular, "I am currently studying the behavior of superheroes such as youself to blend in!"

Finally, Prisma turned her full attention to Phantom Thief, although the raised eyebrow implied she was getting confused rather than amazed. He shook his head and redoubled his efforts, encouraged by her admittedly lukewarm reaction.

"Do not feign surprise! I am known as the master of shadows, the dark coil of our deepest desires, the gentleman thief of all walks of life! It is only natural that I would seek to emulate heroes! But why, you ask?"

Prisma was not in a position to be asking anything, although her eyes certainly had an air of "please stop".

"Do you know what the greatest prize is that a man can seize? It is neither gold, nor diamond, nor compound interest on the loans he gives out. No, it is something far greater."

Phantom Thief got up from the seat, and raised a hand towards the sky. This required manually cranking down a window first, but Arsène was not the type of man to be easily deterred by such trivialties.

"Something far nobler! You see, what a man truly desires is fame. The cheers of the crowds as he raises his hand to greet them, the silence in palaces as he graces them with his presence! The heartthrobs of women across the world as he throws them a kiss and a wink! That is the greatest treasure a man can receive, and yet, it has so far eluded the villainous and righteous alike!"

PT did not realize he was raising his voice to the point that Prisma was recoiling at every sentence. He noticed her struggling, however, and graciously buckled her seatbelt to prevent her from accidentally hurting herself.

"So what I want to become... is a superhero!"

Even his villainous compatriots had to do a double take at that line.

"I want another alter ego! An alter-alter ego, as it were! I want to be known as the greatest force of good this city has ever seen, a champion of the just who saves the day when victory seems impossible. The entire criminal underworld could reign supreme on this planet, and the masses would cry out for the only man who could stop these injustices, while other, lesser heroes faltered at every step of the way!"

"And then," Phantom Thief said with delicate attention to every word, "The hero would reveal the mask. And underneath would be..."

His nose was practically touching Prisma's now. He stared her right in the eyes, and she was sweating bullets.

"Oh, you're too hot? Hold on." Arsène opened another window, again taking 15 seconds to roll it open, cursing the archaic mechanism all the time. When it was open, and wind filled the back of the truck, sending his cape flapping menacingly around the interior of the truck and Prisma's hair into her eyes and nose, he paused a few seconds. "Where was I? Oh, right, I remember!"

He stood, again, in the arm-stretched-towards-the-sky pose, this time with his cape pestering every occupant of the vehicle with its spastic fluttering, and yelled:

"AND UNDERNEATH THE MASK WOULD BE... ANOTHER MASK! ON LIVE TELEVISION, THE MIGHTY HERO REVEALS HIMSELF TO BE NONE OTHER THAN PHANTOM THIEF, MASTER HEISTER EXTRAORDINAIRE! OH, THE EMOTION! OH, SUCH TRAGEDY! LEADER OF THE WORST VILLAINOUS ORGANISATIONS OF THEIR TIME, WHILE DOUBLE TIMING AS THE OBJECT OF THEIR AFFECTION, THEIR IDOL! THEIR HEARTS WOULD WEEP AT THE REVEAL!"

It was good that he was yelling, because the traffic and wind blowing through the windows almost drowned out the sound of his monologue. He felt the need to reword it, to make the ramifications really sink in for Prisma.

"THE ONE THEY MOST HATED AND MOST LOVED, ONE AND THE SAME! SUCH A NEFARIOUS SCHEME THAT THE WORLD'S ETHOS WOULD NEVER RECOVER! THE PHANTOM THIEF HAD SNATCHED THEIR VERY AFFECTIONS AND GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT! NOT EVEN THEIR EMOTIONS WERE SAFE FROM THE MASTER HEISTER! THE ENTIRE WORLD GOT PLAYED LIKE A FIDDLE, AND WORST OF ALL, HE GOT AWAY WITH IT! CAN YOU IMAGINE A MORE HUMILIATING DEFEAT OF THE FORCES OF GOOD?"

Prisma was thrashing about and crying now. Phantom Thief smiled. "Yes! Yes! Weep and despair, Prisma! I saw the way you looked at me when we carried you out of the basement! Those eyes spoke more than you ever could! I had robbed your heart! I had pierced through the veil of justice in your very soul and touched you where no other man can! YOU BELIEVED ME! YOU FELL FOR MY WORDS, HOOK, LINE AND SINKER!"

Phantom Thief raised both hands towards the roof of the vehicle, and hammed it up to an absolute haram degree.

"YOU WERE BUT A STEPPING STONE IN MY MASTER PLAN, YOUR HEART WRENCHED AS SOON AS I STUDIED YOUR DEMEANOR! I HAVE MADE YOUR CUTE, WILY WAYS MINE AND SHALL USE THEM TO ROB THE HEARTS OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN ACROSS THE WORLD, AND THERE IS NOTHING, NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT NOW!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!"

The vehicle hit an imperfection on the road and Phantom Thief was knocked on his rear end. Prisma's mouth was still shut, but the jerky movements of her face and belly made it abundantly clear that sh was roaring with laughter. Arsène suddenly felt very silly about himself. How could she laugh at his perfect master scheme? Had he overlooked a crucial detail? Was his plan doomed to fail by machinations beyond his control? Or was his poignant prose lost to her due to a moment of inaptitude at the very end?

Why was this cute girl making fun of him, drat it?

Marking insecure.

Flashforward

quote:

Signor Splendid adjusted his top hat and venetian mask before stepping onto the stage where the President awaited him.

The middle aged face was practically beaming with pride. "Signor Splendid, if I may..." He began.

Signor Splendid gave him a little wave. "You may." He smiled. A girl in the audience fainted.

"In the name of the United States of America, and hereby joined by the Pan-Asian Federation and United Nations, I would like to humbly bestow upon you the highest honour every reached out to an American hero. You have shown yourself to be a great success story of Italian-American integration, and a role model for all of us, young and less young alike. Please accept our gift to you, the keys to the city of Washington DC."

Signor Splendid threw his cape over his shoulder, and replied. "Si, of course. I would be honoured to accept."

The audience cheered. Journalists, photographers and other members of press were practically fighting to take the hottest scoop of the millennium and be the first to write about Signor Splendid's feelings on the matter, who so far had been a mystery wrapped in an elusive enigma concerning his origins and desires.

"Signor Splendid, if I may! Could you give a few words to the press?"

"Ma of course."

A big grin appeared under the venetian mask. His facade was cracking, that much he knew. He trepidated in anticipation and excitement and finally decided he could no longer hide it. He threw off the mask, which soared through the ballroom and landed in a bowl of punch somewhere.

"You were expecting the real Signor Splendid, but it was I, PHANTOM THIEF!"

Screams suddenly filled the room, and a veritable brawl began as the crowd hurridly tried to leave. The doors were locked. They had to option but to hang their heads in shame if they did not want to witness the scene."

"There never was any real Hero Association since I took over! No villain assocation, either! It was all an illusion! Smoke and mirrors to make you believe you were in constant danger and rescued by me!"

The president fell to his knees. "How could I be so blind!?" he cried out.

Phantom Thief roared with laughter.

"My accent isn't even Italian! I am French!"

A child on the front row, holding a Signor Splendid toy, was crying inconsolably.

"You have been had! All of you!"

A newschannel broadcast on the wall revealed the UN Security Council were holding a panicked meeting. The newsticker mentioned something about "disbanding" and also "Fools, the lot of us".

"You loved a villain! I stole your love! Your hearts!"

And with that, Phantom Thief rushed off the stage as SWAT teams crashed into the palace, their African American chief furiously shaking his fist at the escaping cambrioleur.

The only trace found on the premises afterwards was a rose with a small note attached. It read: "After due consideration, being a villain was more fun anyway!"

Want: Try out being a superhero Fulfilled!

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 03:03 on Dec 16, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -2 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 1/5 | Conditions: Insecure | Location: Killdozer's backseat of dreams, miracles and sparkles | Infamy: 1

Phantom Thief was biting his lower lip from the stress. It felt terrible to see that skyscraper slowly collapse, BP-X thrashing about and the apparently inevitable deaths all of this would cause, problems that were way out of his league considering his limited repertoire of suitable abilities.

"Boss, I'm still by your side. Tell me if there's anything I can do to cooperate."

He searched his many pockets, pouches and bandoliers for a gadget that'd be useful in this situation. Zilch, nada.

"Is this Overcompensator kitted with some manner of armements? I could lay down suppressive fire, maybe...?"

He saw the skyscraper slowly topple and Netherwrath jump towards it.

He closed his eyes.

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -2 | Dan: 0 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 1/5 | Conditions: Insecure | Location: Killdozer's backseat of dreams, miracles and sparkles | Infamy: 1

"One shot to completely disintegrate the opponent, without hitting Netherwrath. Sure, no pressure."

quote:

23:35 Deltasquid hold on, gonna blast the poo poo out of that BP-X now
23:35 Deltasquid (watch PT flunk this roll)
23:36 Deltasquid okay so just a +1 then
23:36 Deltasquid I can do this
23:36 Deltasquid PT can do this
23:37 Deltasquid !r 2d6+1
23:37 Krysmbot Deltasquid, 6+1 = 7
23:37 Deltasquid whew

Unsure of which round would be best suited for the task (all sounded suitably destructive), Phantom Thief opted for "Ionized Disruptor Scatterrounds" on the sole basis that they sounded the most dangerous to electronics and the least dangerous to humans in case of a misfire. At worst, their corpses would be burnt to a crisp and their identities could be checked by analyzing their teeth.

He carefully loaded the shell into the artillery gun and switched between the various vision modes, settling on infrared to see through the smoke and rubble particles of the ravaged cityscape, then to normal sights once he had BP-X in his crosshairs. He licked his lips and squeezed the trigger.

The Overcompensator rocked slightly from the blast, and with a deep "BLOOP" sound, the shell was launched. A few meters out of the gun, the stabilizer fins slid out of the shell and manual control was turned on. Phantom Thief knew that failure after this point would be due to human errors on his part.

With trembling hands, he guided the missile in a wide arc, reducing the chances of accidentally jerking into the ground or an obstacle on street level, and carefully nudged the trajectory with tiny taps on the joystick. At the halfway point, it started its descent towards BP-X and Netherwrath from a shallow angle, and he knew seconds before impact that he had pulled it off. Barring intervention by a third party, it would either be a direct hit or slam into the ground near BP-X' feet. He relaxed and the video feed with the missile was abruptly cut off. The point of view was switched back to a camera on the Overcompensator's gun now.

PT marveled at the explosion: A single blue flash filled the entire street, covering it in a monochrome white and cyan spectacle for a brief second. Then, multiple electrical sparks arced through the street, hitting lamps, cars and phone booths which all exploded into even more sparks, causing a chain reaction throughout all electricity sources around the point of impact.

He was grinning from ear to ear, but made sure to load a second round immediately. Then, holding his breath, he waited until the smoke cleared, so he could see how much of BP-X was left.

However, an alarming smoke trail from the point of impact could be traced back to the Overcompensator's gun. He hoped that nobody or nothing would angrily follow it.

Taking "Avoid their blows" for the directly engage option.

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Dec 18, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -3 | Dan: +1 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 1/5 | Conditions: Insecure | Location: Secret Base -> Hangin' with WW | Infamy: 2

Phantom Thief turned off the weapon controls and stowed away the joystick, back into its slot on the side. He then slouched back in the leather seat as Expatriot drove them back to base.

"Thanks," he replied to her encouraging words. "You did well, too. Do you think BP is really done for?" he threw out there nonchalantly. He did not feel that connected with the robot girl, but the idea of losing members during a caper was not a thought he had seriously entertained thus far. "That's somewhat messed up."

He overheard Expat discussing the medical bills for the heroes, and softly suggested: "I got quite the haul in art from the mansion. I don't think the caper will be a net loss for us, all things considered. We won't starve, at the very least."

When they arrived at the secret bunker, Phantom Thief initially thought not mentioning it would be best, but Expatriot began about it herself. "Ah, I can understand that... I prefer to reside at home, too, rather than the safehouse." There was a brief silence. He felt bad for Expatriot. Everyone had pulled out the stops during the caper, turned up the heat to 11 and then dumped her with all the resulting fallout. He rolled his shoulders. "Anyhow, it's been quite a night. I'm dropping my things at the safehouse and going home. My presence is requested at a fundraiser in approximately 14 hours. I'll have to look the part and try not to fall asleep while a few superheroes pat each other on the back." He mimicked putting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger.

"We'll be in touch, okay?"

On his way out, he made sure nothing was left on the Overcompensator's backseat. He was pleased to find it empty. So Prisma had decided to keep the rose he had snuck into her hands during the getaway. And his phone number.

----

Phantom Thief ran into Whisperwind at the safehouse, and gave him a tired smile. "Good morning, Monsieur Souffle-Vent. I'll gladly take you up on that offer." Before following him, Phantom Thief stashed his fat loot under his bed and made a mental note to pawn it off tomorrow, after he'd napped.

"You, being honest? That's one for the history books!" PTjoked when WW mentioned showing him something cool. When the bounty was revealed, he burst out laughing. "Oh no! This is absolutely terrible!" He walked up to the nightmarish car and its screaming colourscheme, and crouched to inspect the rims. They were pearlescent. "I never thought your taste in cars would be so... Loud?" He smiled like an idiot while he inspected the car from every angle. "The more I observe it, the worse it becomes."

He gave Whisperwind a fist bump. "Magnificent. Now, how about that bottle?"

They spent a good time discussing heists, both their own and famous ones from history, while enjoying their beverages. After a while, Phantom Thief felt he really needed to get home. His parents were probably going to be up soon. On his way out, though, he stopped and turned to WW. "Ah, actually, I wanted to mention that uh... Something not very chill happened during the caper tonight? Not to be 'that guy', but I think we should maybe have stuck to the plan a little better. I know, I know. Everyone went off to do their own errands. Still, Expatriot seemed rather miffed about it. I think we might even have hurt her feelings with those parting shots as everyone took turns specifically going against her wishes. Yes, I know. Imagine that. I think maybe, to be professional villains, worthy of... Y... Ygd... Of the organisation, we ought to be above petty squabbles like those tonight."

Shifting WW's trouble down and superior up.

With that out of the way, have a good rest, friend. We'll talk soon, but now, I need to catch some beauty sleep. Otherwise, I might lose my second superpower, and we don't want that, do we?" He winked, and left.

-----

quote:

00:19 Deltasquid PT rolls heat to see if he gets tv time or not
00:19 Deltasquid !r 2d6+3
00:19 Krysmbot Deltasquid, 6+3 = 9
00:19 Deltasquid heh
00:19 Deltasquid >: )

Gaining 1 infamy, but it turns out Prisma has a boyfriend, and he's NOT happy to find out she disappeared the night the Phantom Thief took selfies during one of his escapades. And that silhouette in the background of those pictures? He'd recognize her anywhere, any time.

PT strikes out on a caper of his own and brings freak down while taking danger up a notch. Compared to super strength, nanoswarms and teleportation abilities, he felt quite underpowered and ordinary. He was quite a good shot, though. Maybe he'd have to practise his marksmanship to be closer to Expatriot's level.

Arsène got home in his civilian clothes just as his dad walked down the driveway to take his car to work. He nodded at his son. "Had a fun party last night?"

"It was okay. I'm home a bit late because-"

"That's good. Tell me all about it later, I'm already running late."

He drove off.

Arsène entered his house, went to his room and placed the stolen vial in a drawer. He'd check out its significance later. Now, he simply crashed face-first into his pillow. He woke up 4 hours later, and only then did his mom notice he was home.

That night, at Diamond Dust's fundraiser, he spent the entire evening imagining how Netherwrath would have wrecked the fancy dinner tables by suplexing a hero into them as Expatriot barked commands over the com, and nobody would have heeded them. Instead, he had to tough it out, and pull out a fake smile every time some socialite was introduced to him by his parents. He wanted to be anywhere but here, so very dearly. Out of pure boredom, he snuck off halfway through the event and broke into the organiser's private lounge, where he found a laptop. He managed to hack into it with a few programs on his trusty USB key and quickly transferred some funds from the fundraiser to a mule account somewhere in Ukraine. Then he removed his traces as best as he could, though he wasn't on Anarchy's level for this kind of stuff. All in all, he was certain the mysteriously disappeared funds would be handwaved away as rounding errors or unaccounted expenses for some city official's bribe at a high-end restaurant.

The next morning, at the safehouse, there were 6 envelopes at the breakfast table, each of them with a teammember's name on it. Inside of them, each person found 500 dollars and a small note with a rose-patterned header, reading:

quote:

Christmas came early this year. Special thanks to Diamond Dust's fundraiser, which we unanimously decided not to rob blind.

~P.T.

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 08:20 on Dec 19, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -3 | Dan: +1 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 1/5 | Conditions: Insecure | Location: Plane Home | Infamy: 2

Phantom Thief was sitting next to Whisperwind in the plane, rather misty-eyed at the thought of being back in France. Oh, how he'd love to walk down the Champs Elysées again, to have a croisscant and coffee in a small tavern on a Sunday morning. He smiled.

He turned to Zeremiah: "I'm not exactly sure what was going on in that basement. These three heroes were hooked up to a machine with..."

He wasn't sure whether he needed to tell the team about the vial. He settled on talking to Zeremiah about it in private, later.

"With tubes and other implements. I can make you a small sketch if you'd like, though I don't have a clue as to its purpose. Perhaps trying to unlock new powers in people? Study superheroes? Syphon their superpowers? I didn't exactly turn the machine on to verify."

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -3 | Dan: +1 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 1/5 | Conditions: Insecure | Location: BRANCH, Paris branch | Infamy: 2

Phantom Thief walked up to Breaking Point, and greeted her cordially. "Bee-Pee! I'm glad to see you have arrived in good health. Here's how we traditionally welcome people in France," he said while leaning in for a kiss on her cheek. "You look great! I suppose you don't suffer our jetlag, haha."

quote:

14:51 Deltasquid Phantom Thief tries to tug BP's heartstrings
14:51 Deltasquid !r 2d6+3
14:51 Krysmbot Deltasquid, 5+3 = 8

Breaking Point can either give PT influence over her (letting him change her labels), mark a condition, or give herself to him and make herself vulnerable.

He turned to the entire team. "Whew! France! Welcome to the greatest country in the world, mes amis! What shall we do first? Personally, I am craving some decent bread and cheese in particular!"

It's true, New Genesis had the kind of sad, industrial bread that was so common outside of Europe. The thought of chomping down on a crunchy bread that didn't taste of sugar was tantalising.

"Perhaps we can go to Strasbourg as wel? It's absolutely wonderful this time of the year!"

An attentive onlooker might have noticed that Phantom Thief was no longer walking around the safehouse.

He was skipping.

---

Phantom Thief descended the stairs to the holding cells below. There wasn't much; just a short hallway with 3 large, bullet-proof glass cells built into the walls. Prisma was locked up in a rather nice one, that had a wooden floor with a rug, a couch, and a small bathroom giving some privacy.

She was sitting on her bed and looked up when Phantom Thief approached. "Sorry about the rough treatment the others may be giving you. Villains aren't always that delicate, though I do my best to polish their rough edges. He smiled affably at her. "Care for some wine?"

Phantom Thief opened the door to the cell and shut it behind him, which he had to clumsily do with one foot, as his hands were full with the wine bottle and glasses. He then sat on the couch and poured a drink for both of them.

"What even happened to you, back in New Genesis? I would have missed you if I hadn't combed the place for valuables."

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 15:19 on Dec 22, 2016

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -3 | Dan: +1 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 1/5 | Conditions: Insecure | Location: BRANCH, Paris branch | Infamy: 2

Phantom Thief comically rubbed his hand over the spot where BP had struck him. "Ouch, there! Just because I tell everybody they look great, doesn't mean it's not true. I just tend to pick great-looking people as friends, is all. Every word comes straight from my heart." He held his hand over his heart as he made this bold claim. "Anyhow, I'm going to see if our prisoner has any juicy intel I can pry out of her. I'll see you soon."

---

"Hmm. What a bizarre tale. Do you think you could recognize the replacement doctor if you saw him again? The prospect of getting abducted when I get a vaccin is not a riveting one."

Phantom Thief thought about how to approach this. He was getting quite a lot of "conspiracy" flags from her tale, and was interested in seeing how deep the rabbit hole goes, once they'd return to New Genesis.

He was torn out of his thoughts by her sudden accusation. "A villain, moi? Well... It's a rather long story and I'd rather spare you the details. But in short...

Not everyone is born equal. My superpower is rather useless in a straight up fight, and suited for schemes that require more finesse than busting heads and ruining buildings. I tried to use my abilities as best as I could to do good, but it has always been an uphill battle. I'm fairly mundane, for most part. So, I started righting little wrongs. Authority figures that went out of line, or money changing hands for the wrong reasons."

He thought back at stealing the exams for his classmates, and robbing the charity that was misappropriating its funds.

"Unfortunately, I caught the attention of heroes who tracked me down ever since. True, what I did were technically crimes, but I never intended to hurt the weak or downtrodden. And what I saw... It made me lose... Lose faith, you could say? There are so many superheroes who do it for the wrong reasons. Who went after me because they thought it'd look good on camera and their merchandise would sell better. Because they thought it was wrong that I stole from corrupt politicians or capitalists who became rich on the labour of others."

He took a sip from his wine, and nonchalantly motioned towards his friends upstairs with his thumb. "But the villain association, they took me in unconditionally. They don't care how or why I do what I believe I must. As long as they get their cut, they're happy. So in between the hypocrisy of some heroes, and the lack of comprehension amongst non-superpowered people, the only ones who could truly understand me were the mismatched outcasts amongst villains. Hence."

Phantom Thief sat in silence for a few seconds, then remembered Prisma might laugh at his monologue again. Was it too honest? Too idealistic? He felt he needed to make a joke to dampen the seriousness of what he'd just said.

"Also, swiping shiny stuff and being chased is thrilling! A lot more exciting than being a goodie two-shoes. Haha!" He winked at her.

Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -3 | Dan: +1 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 1/5 | Conditions: | Location: BRANCH, Paris branch | Infamy: 2

PT is no longer insecure due to Prisma's kind words.

"Ah, why, how could I ever refuse such a request? I'll be sure to swing by every now and then. I'm sorry I can't let you out of this cell, though. Paris is wonderful by night. Speaking of, I should go scope out some targets in the City of Light." Phantom Thief got up from the couch, and winked at Prisma as he closed the door.

----

Phantom Thief walked around the Latin quarter in Paris, keeping his eyes peeled for some targets of opportunity. To his surprise, a new book store had opened in town, and while unremarkable taken out of context, he distinctly remembered the two neighbouring houses to have shared a wall, without any bookstore in between them. Was he misremembering the street lay-out, or did a new building appear between them, somehow? He rubbed his eyes out to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but there it was.

Arthur's Arcane Accessories and Tomes.

Phantom Thief walked past the store a few times to glimpse inside through the window. He could see broomsticks and dusty old books.

"Huh."

quote:

21:55 Deltasquid PT is casing the joint
21:55 Deltasquid !r 2d6+3
21:55 Krysmbot Deltasquid, 7+3 = 10

- Who or what here is not what they seem?
- Who owns this place?/Whose payroll is this person on?


A strange house indeed. Phantom Thief finally concluded it was worth looking into. He sat down on a bench in the park nearby and went on the internet, hoping simply googling the address or name would satisfy his curiosity.

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Deltasquid
Apr 10, 2013

awww...
you guys made me ink!


THUNDERDOME

Fre: -3 | Dan: +1 | Tro: +3 | Sup: +1 | Men: +1
Curses! 1/5 | Conditions: | Location: BRANCH, Paris branch | Infamy: 2

"Well, well, well. A store for superheroes, huh? I wonder whether I could help myself to some goodies later on. Or perhaps remember this place for our next caper. I wonder if they have flying broomsticks?"

He thought about this for some seconds. "Yep, that sounds like a good way to get people off our trail. Nobody expects an escape vehicle to crash into a bookstore and the occupants to scatter on broomsticks, flying carpets and teleportation spells."

He marked the location down on his physical tourist map, and pinned it on his smartphone maps app. Then, he looked forward to visiting the city a bit.

----

Her name was Marie-Elise. Arsène had met her in front of the university of Sorbonne, as he was skulking around the art faculty. That's where she saw him eyeing some B-grade exhibit in a hallway, which he had been judging as a possible bounty and she had been judging as a possible work of art. From the corner of his eye, he noticed her multi-coloured scarf, which had once been fashionable to somebody's grandmother, and thus had seen a resurgence in popularity this year. Her face was partially obscured by a beret and an expensive set of sunglasses, but his attention was drawn to the elegant mole above her thin lips, and her dark, curly hair. She was pretty.

She hadn't looked at him.
She had asked him if he had a light.

To the French, this was basically a mating display.

They had stood outside in the cold weather in silence, staring at the empty afternoon street as she drew from her cigarette. When she was done, she thanked him, and asked if he would be interested in having a cup of coffee that evening. He had said he was busy. She had nodded - Arsène was still following dating protocol to a T - and she had asked if he was busy on Saturday. He had said he could make time.

It was now Saturday evening, and they were sipping cappuccinos at a rooftop café near the Champs Elysées. The illuminated Eiffel tower was visible in the distance.

Arsène told her about his many travels, mostly the various museums he had visited around the world. (He did not mention what had happened to the exhibits he liked.) She, in turn, told about her studies at the art academy, and the prize her avant-garde short film was poised to earn in Cannes. She was proud, and rightly so.

Arsène looked at the Eiffel tower and sighed with the right amount of lassitude. "Isn't it beautiful? La France truly has the most gorgeous monuments in the world."
She blew some smoke in the air. "What about the Statue of Liberty?"
"Frenchmen designed and made that."
"It's not in France, though."
"True. Maybe it ought to be?"

She smiled briefly. "What are you suggesting? Bringing one of those small souvenirs of Lady Liberty and putting it at Montmartre?"
He laughed. "Why not the real thing? I heard people have tried to steal the Eiffel to-"

It dawned upon him.

He looked at his watch. It was 8:34 PM.

"Oh zut alors! I'm late for my rendez-vous!"

Marie-Elise put out her cigarette as he stood up and called a garçon for the bill. "What? You are leaving so suddenly?"
"I'm dreadfully sorry, my dear!"
"Will I see you again?"
Arsène didn't even wait for the garçon to put the bill on the table, but pressed a Euro note in his hands which covered the tab and then some. "Maybe."

He rushed down the stairs of the café, onto the street, and hopped on his (stolen) rental bike. Pedaling as fast as he could, he made his way to Branch HQ in Paris.

------

A panting, exhausted Phantom Thief crashed through the door and joined the caper discussion.
"I am - gasp - so very sorry - wheeze - for the delay."
He made his way to a seat and broke into a coughing fit.

He poured himself a glass of water and listened to the discussion in silence to catch up with the topic. When he finished his third glass, he made a nonchalant wave with his hand in Expatriot's direction, and weakly added: "I agree with Expat. Sounds like a plan."

Phantom Thief backs Expat's caper.

Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 00:18 on Jan 7, 2017

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