13543/Exhibit A

Exhibit A
Date of Scene:	09 December 2022
Location:	<text>
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Jaina Hudson, Phoebe Beacon, Patience Alperen

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Jaina Hudson has posed:
Gotham Museum of Ancient Relics.
Today, 10:30pm.

Given the late hour, the main warehouse of the museum is plunged in complete darkness. Massive, yet stacked from wall to wall, and from floor to ceiling, with shelves, and shelves stacked from wall to wall, from floor to ceiling with- stuff.

Sadly, said stuff is mostly held in boxes, crates, and similar shipping containers that make it hard to for the uninitiated to assess their contents exactly. In fact, all that might give away their contents is the size of the crate, possibly its shape and texture, but most importantly, the alphanumeric code scribbled on them. Not that things like F/P/ND-0435-AB-002 means much to the uninitiated.

The place is, as said, unlit and silent, until the brief uncertain flash and subdued clacking sound of fluorescent tubes nestled into long metal fixtures dangling from the ceiling casts a cold, milky, utilitarian luminescence on the aisles, which come to life with all the energy of a reluctant awakening.

The clacking of soles breaks the quiet.

"Thank you for coming here tonight," begins the besuited gentleman, tall and bulky, with a mustache so impressive it'd give both Commissioner Gordon and J.Jonah Jameson a run for their money. "We have received a very important relic, and our donor insisted it be... well, mainly appraised for authenticity," the man takes a nervous hand to the nape of his neck, and scratches it. "but any input on its exact nature could be useful. It has been puzzling our experts."

"Only very very few people know of it," continues the man. "Our main donor and philantropist, Miss Jaina Hudson here, who practically bought it, donated it, and financed its study..." He gestures towards the woman of Indian ethnicity, who merely nods in acknowledgment with a benign smile. "...and very very few selected experts."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Behind Patience, a well put-topgether young woman is walking in, shoes tapping against the tile floor of the Antiquities Museum. Her dark eyes, behind a pair of blue plastic glasses look about the room, her fingers curling over a leather folder, a smart looking bag at her side. She had a dark gray sweater over a crisp white shirt, a matching gray skirt and lighter gray leggings against the Gotham cold. She had a couple of 'bits and bobs' in her bag to help tonight. Her braids were coiled up behind the back of her head in a neat bun. It was Important Work.

    Worth risking some anger from her 'other boss'.

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen had not expected such a call but then that is usually how the calls she gets tend to come to her. The Church, or one of its agents commonly, reaching out and well not expactly 'requesting' she lend her singular talents to achieve their desired ends. Usually it meant they had come across some demon or vampire coven they deemed dangerous enough to deploy The Magdalena to deal with.

Only tonight, the call was crpytic. An artifact of possible biblical significance had been presented. It is in need of authentication to prove it is real or otherwise and it had ties to Jesus of Nazareth. So. Patience was currently the best person suited to help establish such provenance.

Preparing, she chose not to go in full Magdalena regalia. It was an authentication, not an exorcism. Still she dressed up a little. A button up blouse and pressed dress pants. Over it a long and thick winter coat. That wasn't needed as much as it was a convenience. She wasn't wearing her armor, but she was carrying with her the fragment of the Spear of Destiny and assorted other items for defense. Just in case. The coat hid those things till such time as they might be needed.

Lastly a phonecall to Phoebe was made - and an invite to come along. Patience understood the nature of Christian relics. But what if it turned out to be otherwise? Phoebe had knowledge Patience does not.

Falling in along with the group letting the man and Jaina lead, she listens. "It must be considered noteworthy given the time. The Vatican does not often call in the middle of their night unless it is considered credible."

She smiles. "I'm Patience Alperen. As may have been surmised, I am here to represent The Church for the purpose of authentication of the, mmm, artifact? Relic?" Then she gestures, "And this is Phoebe Beacon. She has areas of knowledge beyond mine should they be required."

Jaina Hudson has posed:
"Item," the Mustachioed Man from the Museum simply explains. "As you might or might not have heard from the news, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame went up in flames a few years ago. Officially an electrical accident." A strange emphasis on 'officially'. "Not even I know the details, but... let's just say that what one hears on TV is not the whole story." Clack, clack, clack. Turn a corner. "You might have heard of the successful restoration of the bas-reliefs from the Cathedral's Porail du Judgement," The Judgement Gate. "And you may have seen the advertisement for our Museum's special exhibit, before they are re-installed in their original place..." Conveniently, the group happens to walk past a shelf where an advertisement flier for said exhibit happens to be taped to, so the Museum Contact can gesture at it.

"It seems like that there was a secret compartment behind one of those sculptures. It was hiding something. We are not sure -what- exactly it was. One thing that's for sure is that its manufacture date is compatible with the rest of the Cathedral, so that excludes a lot of options." Clack, clack, clack. Jaina frowns and listens with interest, as if she was hearing this story for the first time.

The man stops at a particular shelf. He pulls out a small crate, opens it, and-

Hay. The crate is full of hay.

The man pulls at it, frantically. "What? I could swear it was in her-"

"Are you looking for this?"

A curvaceous woman with white hair in a rather showy white and pink bunny costume, perched at the top of the shelf (hence pretty close to the ceiling), holds up a cubical stone block which- well, 'glorified brick' could be one way to put it. The front is, as said, a bas-relief within a circular frame, representing a knight fleeing from a rabbit. The other faces are blank, if rough.

"...The artifact!", exclaims the man, pointing up. "Give it back!"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Well... I don't you know a Cheshire Cat do you?" Phoebe questions the pink-and-white bunny, and she pushes up on her glasses a moment, looking to Patience and then she makes a call on her own.

    An eight-sided star appears in a circle on her left hand as Phoebe raises it up into the air, and makes a sweeping motion -- she's trying to catch the rabbit with a shield, and send her off the shelf towards the floor, the similarly-decorated rose-gold magical shield appearing to the side and following Phoebe's hand movements!

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen watched as the crate was opened revealed to now be empty.

Then the apparent thief is above them and making taunts.

Frowning as she sees the bas relief, it isn't something she'd expected but without further investigation she couldn't truly say either way.

SHe glances to Phoebe who is now casting.. something. It wasn't a techique Patience knew, but she trusts her friend. Stepping back to get a better view, Patience looks to the curator, "Can you seal the exits? Immediately?" It was going to take some effort to stop this person if they can clamber up stacked crates so easily. Among other things.

Jaina Hudson has posed:
"We haven't spoken in a while," the White Rabbit replies, and immediately launches backwards, spinning in the air and dodging the shield aimed at her with peak human athletic skills (or perhaps even a bit better? It's hard to tell). She quickly lands on her hands on a second set of crates, before pushing herself off to another ceiling-high shelf, interposing a couple of them between herself and the rest of the group.

At least now people know what they are dealing with.

The curator, meanwhile stares at the shield in abject horror. "Please don't do anything that would manage the Artifacts!", he exclaims, while the White Rabbit is off into her own corner, fiddling with the brick. "Hey, look. This thing has... interesting characters on the back. Runes?" She squints. And then grins, while swiping her finger all over the back of the brick, as if it was some sort of smartphone screen. "Sorry, ancient tongues are not my forte. It's all Greek to me."

"Jeremy should have sealed the exits already-", begins the curator, with concern. Cut to a securty guard slumped on the floor, with a bunny-themed tranq dart sticking out of his neck.

"-I will rush for the emergency lockdown button," the curator reprises. "You keep her busy!"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "... that cat is the only thing I've ever liked about Wonderland." Phoebe mutters to herself, and she ducks and rolls. She brings her hand to her left temple, and swipes out towards Patience, opening up her one-way 'talking' to the Magdaline.

    <It may be easier to let her out so that we don't have an issue with the custodian.> she 'thinks' to Patience, her shield catching nothing, but she gives a sound of dissatisfaction, and then she launches herself upwards, wind sending papers scattering as she begins to stalk the tops of the shelves.

    "I can read it if you turn it over, Rabbit." she calls out.

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen glances toward Phoebe, "Not even the magic mushrooms and tea?"

Following after the thief, she gets the message from Phoebe. "Okay. That was unexpected." Just one more thing tonight on the growing list. A nod, however to Phoebe. "I've no other ideas. I can't very well drive her out with Holy Water" she notes with a bit of sarcasm. This whole situation was getting more bothersome by the minute.

Circling around while Phoebe works from the top of the crates, maybe they'll be able to intercept this rabbit girl?

As she nears the curator, she relays the suggestion, "Maybe just let her leave. We can follow her. I don't think we can promise the safety of the rest of the artifacts if we end up in a fight in here.."

Jaina Hudson has posed:
"But why would-"

A gust of fire suddenly shoots out from the cube. Deep purple, it luckily (or purposedly?) hits right in the middle of an empty aisle. Unfortunately (or purposedly?) right in front of the curator, who stops just short from the point of impact. It is a well known fact that one should not just rush into mysterious deep purple flames generated by ancient artifacts sealed away for who knows how many centuries.

The flame twists, turns, and eventually coalesces into the shape of... a...

...giant...fire...rabbit?

The curator just looks up in shocks. "...the artifacts!", he exclaims, looking around and finally turning to the two heroines in panic. "Do not let it destroy the artifacts!"

"...Whoopsie daisy..." Exclaims the White Rabbit, who sticks her tongue out in mock regret. Did... did she really do that by accident? Or was she lying when she said she didn't understand ancient runes?

Point is, as soon as people turn to look at the fire elemental creature she's unsealed from what was likely its holding place, that is enough distraction for her to just... jump behind her current pile of crate and simply disappear.

Jaina, meanwhile, shrieks. "...I'll let you deal with this!", she exclaims, and darts for the closest exit.

At least, one thing is clear by now: the monster is nowhere close to religious in nature; that's one identification issue resoved. But it also explains why the people might have sealed it away the way they did -- the Cathedral was likely where the most knowledgeable and trustworthy people with the right skillset for containing such a creature could be found at the time. And, probably to prevent its release, no specific details would have been written down about it; only vague hints.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "... a giant fire rabbit?" Phoebe asks as she skids to a stop on the top of a shelf, her eyes going wide. "Well, ain't that... not thematic for the season?" she breathes out, and she looks to Patience for a moment with an expression of 'this is going to be difficult'.

    What would any of her mentors have done?

    Well, saying Hassenpfepper backwards probably won't work. She's fresh out of cheat codes. And she doesn't think a grapple is going to handle this as she brings her hands up and unleashes her shields again, the eight-point stars in their magic circles spinning as she tries to catch the flame rabbit before it can spread around!

    "Any ideas?" she calls out to Patience.

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen looks at the rabbit. "Well that is certainly not what I was asked here to evaluate." She glances to Phoebe.

She is already reaching into her overcoat to take out the length of divine spear shaft she posseses. Eyes never leaving this fire demon. rabbit. thing. She pulls a vial of Holy Water and begins to pour it along the length of ancient wood. The amulet she wears begins to glow pale blue like the heart of a glacier and the water starts to freeze - forming into a full sized spear of purest (and holy) ice. If it's a fire based creature this seems the best method to approach.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "... good answer." Phoebe whispers back, and then she spreads her hands out, curling her fingers just so.

TThe eight-pointed stars begin to spring to life around the rabbit as Phoebe begins to chant in Middle Egyptian - a holding spell to keep the bunny at pay so Patience can take it out!

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen nods to Phobe. "I'll owe you for this." It wasn't what either of them had been pitched but whose fault that is may never be truly known. For now it was time to make this thing go away.

As Phoebe binds the demon rabbit in place, Patience steps forward with the consecrated ice spear. Focusing, she drives the silver-blue ice tip into the flaming creature. The hiss and sizzle of fire and ice meeting fills the air as the spearhead sinks deep inside before Patience snaps the ice shaft off to leave it deeply impaled.

Jumping back, she glances quickly to Phoebe then back to watch as the once-bound fire demon is banished in a flash of that same purple flame.