14572/A Bone to Pick

A Bone to Pick
Date of Scene:	07 April 2023
Location:	Buckland Estate, upstate New York
Synopsis:	When the Grasping Paw, an international gang known for dealing with Antiquities and Prehistoric Fossils holds an auction, a number of heroes show up. Andi/Mania showed their Xenomorphic Prowess Vivian and Harper had quite the charged date. Kate got to punch out bad guys without needing the kevlar body suit. Divine and Cindy spent Emma's money Everyone was awesome, and no one died!
Cast of Characters:	Bunny Macleod, Andi Benton, Vivian Vision, Harper Row, Kate Kane, Divine, Cindy Moon

---

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    There's just something about the mystique of fossils that draws people together, the remains of a bygone era (provided you don't travel to the South Pole or certain parts of Central Africa, or Loch Ness very often), mineralized bones and teeth, massive skulls of late Ceratops-variety dinosaurs, the long bodies of Quetzalcoatlsaurus, and of course the central piece of tonight's auction: a Tyranosaurus Skeleton called 'Carla'. A near adult, intimidating at eleven feet tall and nearly forty feet long, this fossil was mounted in the grand foyer of the Buckland Estate, being used specifically by the Grasping Paw for their black market sales.

    The grand foyer was set with apetizers and drinks, bar service like you would find in the fabled halls of the rich and fabulous in Gotham City, the old-moneyed families of New York City and the delicate balance of old world sophistication with crime as the secret ingredient you'd find in the nicer parts of Vegas.

    The main man, Yun Lian Li, is walking around in a black tuxedo with a tie-less, Oriental Collar on his jacket, mustache waxed as he greets guests by name that he knows.

    The clientelle are generally armed; mostly hand-guns. A few swords. His own guards have automatic weapons -- though there's some whispers that it's not for the 'shoppers' who are coming to bid on rare finds -- like the rainbow colored fire-opallized skull of a raptor, its teeth glimmering as if with Hell's flames itself, set with lights within to truly show its color -- there's word, in hushed corners, that there are live specimines to be sold off for private zoos... or culinary experimenters.

    Of course this was a highly private, invite-only occasion, but wherever there's whispers in the dark, there's almost always someone to hear them.

    Which is how a pink-haired teenager ended up being locked up in a carrying cage in the back room of the mansion, where the cold air was keeping everything there down, and the occasional rattle of chains occurs.

    "... Gabby and Tommy are going to be *so* pissed..."

Andi Benton has posed:
he dark. Yes, about that.

In the dark there is a girl. She's half here on impulse, the weird deal she'd overheard those two guys talking about in that alley didn't seem real. They were rich but sleazy, taking a cigarette outside of a fine antiques store across the street from the record place where Andi works. She was up on the fire escape overhead, smoking and trying to enjoy a semblance of a lunch break.

Now here she was, looking down at the tops of the same guys' heads while she hides in a dark corner on the ceiling, her symbiote blending her in with the surroundings. She feels it stirring, impatient, bored. <<Wait, okay? We don't even know if there's anything really crooked going on here or anything. Gawd.>> she thiks to it as a tendril of darkness slips down and steals a few appetizers and a flute of champagne.

Vivian Vision has posed:
Vivian Vision is something of a self taught expert when it comes to criminal doings. With access to data from social media websites, police and federal crime information, not to mention several super team resources it's merely a matter of applying the knowledge and working out the appropriate action to take. Sometimes that's alerting the police, calling in favours from other supergroups, or going herself.

Not that going herself means going alone. When you're dating a Gotham vigilante who loves dinosaurs it's generally considered a smart move to let them know. Communication is key to a happy relationship!

Getting inside was easy enough when you can not only project holographs which are able to fool Human senses. But literally walk through walls.

Vivian herself is using her holographic systems to blend herself and Harper seamlessly into the party. For Viv an organic skin tone, blonde hair, and the illusion of a dress from JvD fashion expensive enough it doesn't have a price tag. If you need to ask you can't afford it. "So far it's pretty much what we expected," she broadcasts on an encrypted GIRL channel. "Given the value of the goods."

Harper Row has posed:
    Harper double-checks herself, patting herself down. What she's wearing, compared to the projection provided by Vivian, is quite a bit different. She'd never buy this sort of dress for herself, or the ankle-twisting footwear that's so elegant that it really shows off the calves. Harper should stop fussing with herself, but she's juggling being here in plain sight (so to speak) with her usual M.O. of being on a higher stealthier vantage. She's practically vibrating, and whispers to Vivian, "...Did you know the Donklodippitybippitydus was able to stay submerged the entire time it took a nap? All it had to do is kept its tail nostrils above the waterline..." Her are alight with a weird frantic dorky zeal.

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate Kane's not exactly an expert on dinosaur fossils. She knows fossils are bones, really old bones, and dinosaurs are also very old, and therefore, it makes sense dinosaurs are fossils.

Yes, Kate did recently get an alert email from the JLA about how space bugs are infesting dinosaurs in Antarctica, but it was definitely phrased like _those_ dinosaurs are alive.

This wonderfully self deprecating inner monolog is what's going through Kate's head as she does her best to fit in as a buyer. Which is to say she's shown up as Kate Kane, billionaire heiress, party girl, and generally financially unwise gadabout. Because of course Kate Kane breaks up her dull life of charity balls and dating actresses and models to buy a goddamn dinosaur.

It's taking an /awful/ lot of self control not to let slip out the occasional remark about how this or that fossil simply doesn't match her decor, or her suit, or... she stops short of being tempted to bemoan one not matching her bike.

She casually adjusts her slim tie with one hand, alert eyes darting around, sweeping alertly without trying to look like she's looking around alertly.

Of course, with Kate here /as/ Kate, she's not really prepared to handle the criminal element directly.

But that's also why she's being so alertly non-alert... because Kate's here to keep an eye on a particular protege... is she here because Kate tracks Harper's phone and put two and two together?

No, of course not. She's here because she was just going to stalk Harper wherever she was.

Divine has posed:
Some of these people on the inside are, honestly, here by accident. One of which is the half-Kryptonian known as Divine. Why is she here? It's Emma's fault. Strings were pulled, bribes were paid, and admission for two was secured. She knew this was not a good place to be, but she's not worried. Goons with assault weapons don't scare her.

Divine is milling about the floor, looking at the pieces up for sale with her date. She's dressed the part, wearing a halter-style evening gown that drops to nearly the floor. The dress itself is black and shimmery, with silvery spots woven through it to look like stars twinkling in the night sky. Both sides are slit incredibly daringly, nearly all the way to her hips and showing off a lot of leg. Her shoes are also far from sensible, black pumps that nearly push her to seven feet tall. Her hair is an excessively artful mess of spikes and wisps. Her makeup is severe, black eyeliner with glittery touches, glossy black lipstick, and even her nails are painted and shine like onys.

She smiles down at her date, sliding an arm around her shoulders. "We've got this," she whispers. "Don't worry, I'm always going to be with you."

Cindy Moon has posed:
Divine's date is one Cindy Moon. The Korean woman has added three inches with a pair of heels, but she is not dressed nearly as elegantly as the Kryptclonian. She has on pair of tailored olive-green slacks that flare gently at the ankles and fit more snuggly around her hips. A white button down shirt is worn beneath a matching half cut suit jacket of the same color to her slacks. A rather pleasant black tie is worn, but not knotted to her neck, where two buttons have been left undon.

Silk black hair is pulled back into a pair of braids around her temples, dangling over the rest of her pin straight locks. With a nice pair of glasses worn low on the bridge of her nose in matching tone makeup to her suit with flared white wings at the outter corners of her eyes in Egyptian curls.

She walks easily on the heels, but still looks uncomfortable in them. Smiling up at the taller woman, "Oh yes, I am the very definition of super spy." She murmurs, loud enough that only a kryptonian might hear her.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    You can almost hear the soft strains of the Jurassic Park theme being played beneath the murmur of people in the foyer, business suits to traditional garb strolling through, five thousand dolalr dress with thousand dollar shoes. There is no lack of drip when it comes to what people are wearing in the foyer.

    Opening up to the Grand Room, where a cheery fire is burning in a fireplace beset with Italian Marble and original cast iron figures of what they thought Megalosaurus and Iguanadon looked like in the late 1800's, there is a collection of items on tables ranging from bones to skulls to even pelts recovered from the melting glaciers, of mamoth and wooly rhinocerous.

    And the auction master, a tiny old woman with thick, coke-bottle glasses gathers her leather-bound folio, and approaches the auctioneer's stand as armed waiters set out wooden chairs for the attendees.

    Ladies are offered a hand and lead to padded seats.

    Except Kate, who the waiter looks a little confused, and hesitantly offers a hand with a "Do... you need help finding a place to sit ma'..sir...? Ma'am?" he struggles a moment, clearly sweating bullets and not wanting to be wrong ... or shot.

    Up in the gallery above, near the shadows where Andi is hiding in the shadows, blending in with the dust and soot from the fire, Yun Lian Li makes his way to a seat carved with dragons on the arm rests, because it's THEMATICALLY appropriate.

    "And what of the stow-away?" he asks, leaning back.

    "She'll be dumped in the river after the auction, sir. She's no one to worry about."

    The auctioneer draws up to her podium, aided by another waiter.

    "Gentlethings, if you would please find a seat. You should find your fans assigned to you, and welcome to the Yun Lian Li Auction of Pre-Antiquities -- with some antiquities thrown in for good measure." she gives a little chuckle.

    "We will begin bidding with a packaged, but nearly complete Yuyutyranus Skull. This skull was found in a quarry in North Eastern China, and was the subject of the Xu Raid, which saw its guard of four executed. This is what would be considered a 'Blood Skull' for that reason. We are opening bidding at sixty-five thousand dollars. Is there a bidder?" she questions, tapping her notes down on her desk.

    IN the back, there's more chains rattling. A pair of pink leather fingerless gloves stick out from the bars of a cage, fingers glowing with the same prismatic qualities of a gasoline puddle.

    "All right Bunny, gotta be some way to alert someone, right? What would Ant Man Do? ... shrink, but we don't got that ability..."

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi Benton doesn't like the sound of that bit about the stowaway. She's stowed herself along a few times and usually gotten in trouble for it. Before Mania came along and all that sort of 'pick on Andi' stuff turned into 'Oh god Andi please don't hurt us you giant friggin' monster woman"

She makes a face underneath the symbiote's cover at the 'Blood Skull". Pretty clearly scummy rich people doing scummy rich people things. Maybe she'd better find some way backstage and see if she can find this stowaway. But she has to keep still for now - even as camoed as she is right now, that Yun Lian Li guy is a little too close. Of course, she could always throw him out of the balcony and onto the big skull if she -really- wanted to create a distraction.

YEAH YEAH DO IT DO IT THROW HIM she feels the symbiote pushing, cackling in her head a the thought.

<<Stealth. Control. Sneaking.>>

I WANN BREAK HIS BONES

Later.

Vivian Vision has posed:
While Vivian and Harper might seem to take their seats it's all a carefully planned ruse. The holographic disguises walking over and sitting down, taking the places of guests who were subtly removed from the guest list electronically, while the two heroines simply cease to be. Except perhaps to those few individuals like Divine who can see through the holographic shenanigans. Or perhaps Kate with her assorted gadgets.

"That is strange," she muses. Her vocalised thoughts feeding directly into Harpers earpiece. "I think I met two of the guests at an anime convention..."

She pauses and frowns. "Is that even a real type of dinosaur? I do not have any records of it. Do Gotham heroes typically make jokes to relieve the tension?"

Harper Row has posed:
Harper angles her fingers to comb at her hair yet again, trying not to bite her lip so much. The lack of piercings tonight mean that there's nothing to cut her OCD on, no tooth enamel to meet metal. She shouldn't have had all that expresso.

She practices a few breathing exercises, trying to get get some manner of resting-Gotham-face on. There's a responsibility here.

When seats are to be taken, she stays close to Vivian's side. It's a bit wondrous how the both of their alter egos head on over to take a seat, like their spirits had decided to go on walkaobut.

When a dino skull is unveiled, she clenches her gloved fists tightly until the material makes an audible noise. She can sort of understand how some might feel a mighty need to possess rare things.

An impish grin curls up the corner of Harper's lips at the question. But it's Vivian's earlier comment that her she's turning her attention from the expensive object to look upon the other guests, eyes widening at some of the profiles, not to mention the fashion worn. Her lips parting and her breath coming out in a little gust.

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate quirks an eyebrow and looks down at her own figure, lips quirking, "Jeeze, is it /that/ good a fit? Maybe my hair's too short?" She heaves out a sigh and angles for a nearby empty seat with a lopsided grina t the waiter's confused nerves, offering him a wink, "She will do, but don't worry. I prefer to seat myself anyway."

And if she happens to pick a seat bordering an aisle with clear sightlines to the nearest exit and no exit or entrance behind her? Well, that's just coincidence.

She actually has to bring her hand to her mouth to 'stifle a cough' to hide a grin as a glance at her phone shows one of the trackers she has on Harper... moving away from the seating area, while two, presumably holographic duplicates take their seats. Kate's not /entirely/ sure how she's pulling that off. But Harper's a smart cookie... and half the fun of a magic trick is not knowing how the magician did it.

Her tongue clicks off the back of her teeth softly, a barely vocal 'Clever girl' whispered out.

And there's so much more to keep track of, the pair of Divine and Cindy earning a longer look, but... well, that's pretty easy to cover up. Or explain at least. Because she's not trying to cover it.

And really, she'd bet dollars to donuts everyone in the room takes at least one lingering look. Because Divine's pumps are so tall. Yes. That's definitely why.

And then Kate's sweeping her gaze back to the auction just in time to put on practiced, disaffected nouveau riche boredom at the discussion of the first lot up for auction. It'd be harder to not show emotion about wanting to wreck these jackholes, but... well, she's here monitoring Harper and presumably her attempt to wreck their day.

Joining in uninvited before her apprentice gets to have her own fun would be rude. And Kate is not rude.

Except for thinking about this underground dino auction ring as 'jackholes'. Fair enough. That was a little rude. Sorry, jackholes.

Divine has posed:
Divine can see through the holograms. To her, they look glitchy, like a low refresh rate on an old CRT TV. She recognizes that style, she's seen it before. She doesn't have time to seek the source out now, she's led to her assigned seat, where she settles in almost primly, though that dress and the amout of leg she's showing is not prim at all. It borders on scandalous and distracting, which is the idea. Distract people by being strikingly pretty, then they won't expect it when she punches them into a different county.

She smiles at Cindy gently, whispering in such a way that only the shorter woman can hear, because Kryptonian breath control is, and I quote, Bullshit. "You're the best super spy." Blue eyes flicker about the room, shifting her sight through different spectrums, ending up on X-Ray. She's clocking weapons, secret compartments and even some of the artifacts themselves. She could, honestly, stop this right now. She could stand up and just wreck this whole enterprise with so little effort, but that's not sporting. It's more fun to be sneaky. Spy work is, somehow, not in her wheelhouse despite the fact that her senses are amazing for it. It must be the love of punching.

Cindy Moon has posed:
Cindy settles beside Divine, right onto her fan, because she's never been to a fancy smancy auction before. She wrinkles her nose and leans up to grab it, twisting it around in her palm. Then uses it to fan herself as if she thinks this will somehow help her fit in... until she looks around and nobody else is using the fan in this way...

Her big brown eyes peer up at the tall Kryptonian. She clears her throat and lays the fan down, "This is to...right." Adjusting in her seat, nose wrinkling in direct oposition of Divine calling her the best super spy. "Double Oh Cindy..." And starts humming the Bond them. Real quiet. Because they're on super serious business and she's a super serious crime fighter.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    It is totally a real dinosaur. Tail-nostrils and all. Would Harper lie to Vivian?

    Maybe. Maybe not.

    The Yuyutyranus skull, with a display of what it would look like when mounted in miniature (https://bbts1.azureedge.net/images/p/full/2020/09/e636fb7c-94ef-4f20-9959-88a05afdec94.jpg), and the auctioneer draws her dark gaze around the room. Someone raises their fan.

    "Sixty-five thousand, do we hear seventy thousand? Seventy thousand for a blood skull gentlethings, people have died to bring this to you this evening, don't let their lives mean nothing." she states quickly but calmly, keeping her eyes along the people int he audience.

    "Seventy to the gentleman with Algeria. Do I here seventy-five?"

    In the back, there's a flicker of light as the teen with the pink hair pushes herself to try and bend the bars outwards, forming a force 'bubble' with the same gasoline properties that her skin was baring.

    More chains rattle. There's a soft whistle, the sound of metal whining.

    Yun Lian Li skiffs the air. "Paltry sum. Tell Shin if the price doesn't go up, I'm going to start executing his wives." he mutters to one of his henchmen; his eyes settle on Divine in the audience. It is hard not to stare. It's almost as if she reminds him of someone else, and he's trying to place the features.

    Kate is remarked on. "Kate Kane. Gotham City. Make sure she does not leave without meeting me. I would like to send her a personal invitation. It could be good business. Or ransom her." he gives a snort of amusement.

    There is a SNAP from somewhere, like a leather belt breaking.

    There's a small rumbling sound.

    "Check on the back room. If the stow-away is loose -- kill her. I don't want anything else going wrong tonight."

Andi Benton has posed:
One of the lesser henchman bhind Yun Lian Li tries to scream for help as the darkness hoods him, swallowing his face and dragging him away into the shadows, flailing, all to the oblivious reaction of his employer and co-workers, who are focused on either their disappointmetn at the auction or trying to imagine how he'll kill one of the wives of the others. And if there's a flicker at the corner of the eye for a moment, so what? When he actually does look, there's the henchman, head down, probably half asleep with that hat pulled over there head. Hair seems a little long for the gig, though.

Inside the symbiote which has made itself look like the skin of the man she just...

Never mind what she did to him. He'll be fine. Physically.

And this henchman nods at the command and goes along with his superior, only he's not a him he's a her and as they get out of sight, the disguise slowly dissolves away to leave the ink-black figure trailing behind, spikes on every point on her body, and then a tentacle of black works around and pries open the security guy's throat, stifling his cries too.

"Keep leading me on, butthead. We're going to find the stowaway and then we're going to let them go peacefully or I'm going to let my BFF crawl up through your nasal cavities, grab ahold of your brain and rip it out through your nostrils like snot. We all simpatico? Good. Lead on, kay?"

Vivian Vision has posed:
Clearly proceedings are moving at pace now. Once the pieces are sold the potential for them to be shipped, and for people to leave, increases. So it's about time Vivian began taking matters more seriously. Her senses reach out to map the space. Assigning priorities to each guard based on location and equipment. Her mind splits into a thousand distinct subdivisions, each tasked to monitoring a limited number of tasks, building up a real time map of the surrounding area. Escape routes are identified.

Local law enforcement are approached and given carefully timed instructions. So that before any trouble has begun there's an already tightening net around the location. Although until the point they're needed the instructions are deliberately vague. To ensure no dirty cops can leak the operation.

"We better strike soon," she murmurs to Harper as she moves into position. "Check your tactical display. I've selected some covered positions we can strike from. Don't worry about being seen. I don't pick up any technology which is likely to pose a challenge. Main risks involve blind fire and getting caught by the crowd."

Harper Row has posed:
Harper hinges her jaw, reaching up to subtly adjust her sensory suite controls at her temples. "Things could get real dicey, yeah." Her lower lip pouts, having to shove her lizard-lovin personal interests onto a shelf while she gets get game face on. "There's a lot of money, so a lot of protection, right?" Of course.

The flood of sensory info floods into optical feeds, and it's still staggering the amount Vivian can process, categorize, filter and prioritize. The bridge between synthetic to organic hopefully aided by her over-indulgence on caffiene. "Sweet bald headed brachiosaurus Viv..." she sweetly swears, "You got their shoes sizes as well?"

Her shoulders roll back and her arm gently squeezes against her bullpup stowed railgun. "Sweet positions, yeah, better make like some raptors."

Kate Kane has posed:
The longer the auction goes on, the more Kate finds herself shifting in her seat, almost squirming really, fingers flexing, balling into fists, only to ease, only to clench again. She exhales slowly, inhales slower. Breathing exercises.

Because there hasn't been the typical degeneration into chaos and shouting that usually happens at Gotham's underground auctions. Just the hosts getting more and more punchable.

If she knew the idea of ransoming her was being floated, well... it's always difficult not to laugh when someone pulls that card. Best case scenario, they're planning to kidnap someone who was on the fast track to special forces assignment before her preferences got her unceremoniously drummed out.

Worst case scenario, someone's planning to try and kidnap /Batwoman/. Some people just like to play stupid games and win stupid prizes though.

Still, there's that little itch in the back of her mind. That growing tension that you learn to pick up on when you spend a lot of time on rain soaked rooftops. That 'Someone in a costume is about to do something' tension.

Kate Kane? Kate Kane's not doing anything except standing up and pointedly stepping off to the /side/ of the auction floor so her slow stretch and reach of her arms above her head won't be misconstrued as bidding.

She doesn't live in a manor, and unlike _some_ Bat-themed crime fighters, hasn't got room for a dinosaur. Nope, Kate Kane is just stretching. Stretching and loosening her tie for no reason except comfort. Not because it's reinforced ballistic cloth she can use as an improvised knuckle wrap or anything.

Divine has posed:
Divine is a filthy cheater. Not only is she scanning the room with X-Ray vision, she can hear Vivian as if she were right next to her. It's the girl from the convention. She smiles a little bit at the memory. She doesn't recognize the voice with her, but she's marked as a friendly in her mind. This might be important later.

She also notices the honcho looking at her. Defiant, possibly terrifyingly, she locks eyes with the man. She does not hide her scorn for him. She does not hide her contempt. For an instant, her eyes flicker from sapphire blue to purple as red starts to build in them, but it's gone as soon as it arrives. No, she's not starting this, but she will help to finish it.

Her eyes flicker to Kate as she gets up, curious but unconcerned. She looks down to Cindy and her humming and bends down to kiss her atop the head, using it as a disguise for her whisper. "I think it's almost go time."

Cindy Moon has posed:
Cindy leans towards Divine, "Wait, we're using Emma's money right? Like we have a black card... unlimited funds? I've never done this before, I kind of want to do this.. is that bad? Should I feel bad.." Still whispering, but she's practically bouncing in her seat, waving that fan up and down in her lap. "You know what, screw it, no guts no glory!"

The fan raises in the air, "Three hundred thousand dollars." Her lips pull back in a way too excited grin, eyes wide when she looks up at Divine. "Eeeee.. I can't believe I did that.." She quiet whispers up to The Kryptonian. Almost beside herself with jubilation. Which is so rare... When is Cindy Moon ever 'jubilant' in public?

Only when spending money she doesn't have on things she doesn't want to people whose butt she's probably going to kick! The fan goes back in the air. "Three hundred and fifty thousand!" Now she's just betting against herself. But if Divine's eye cheating doesn't draw attention to them, Cindy's certainly going to. Peering up at the Kryptonian, then around seeing that intense look. almost go time... Side mouth whisper, "I've thrown them off the hunt, they've accepted us into the tribe. Just give me the nod." Smiling and waving at her peers amongst the criminal, wealthy, elite. "Yes, I'm just like all of you. Ah, poor people, yeee..."

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    We've got some clever girls in the audience. Can the joke be stretched more? You bet Jurassic can!

    The symbiote duo make off with one of the guards, the tentacles holding him quiet as his eyes go wide with fear. He may have not chosen the brown pair today, but he might have needed to when it's described how the black goo can crawl up his nasal cavities and rip his brains out. It's not a good mental vision, and he nods mutely and leads the way, shuffling awkwardly and trying to not dissuade the goop from staying mostly on the outside of his sinuses as he leads Andi towards the back where the stow-away is.

    Down the servant's stairs. Through the kitchen, where more dainty dishes are being doled as someone barks orders in Mandarin.

    And into the back holding area. There's more artifacts here, crates marked FRAGILE (must be Italian), and the rattles of chains, the snorts of live cargo. A Painted Antelope looks out sadly from a far-too-small cage. An Ardwolf in a glass fishtank keeps turning in circles.

    And then there's a cage, with its bars bent outwards, thinned and stretched.

    The henchman gives a soft string of muffled curses akin to "Ching-wah Tsao duh liou mahng!" before there's a low, dangerous... honk.

    And with the stomping of feet behind Jimeny Henchman #1, there's suddenly a bone-crunching sound of hard skull-on-side as a Pachycephalosaurus leaps to smack the guy around, sending him flying and crashing into a pre-mounted protoceratops fossil, sending approximate bone pieces and plaster everywhere.

    Above the jointly collapsed protoceratops and henchman, a teenager in a pink sweatshirt tucked into her jeans and a pair of neon-yellow roller skates is hanging from a beam. She regards Mania and Andi with measured suspision.

    "You're not with the Grasping Paw assholes, are you?" she asks.

    "-- Three Hundred Thousand Dollars!" the auctioneer barks. "Going *once*. Going *twice* -- SOLD -- may I have your number, dear?" she asks, and Cindy has just purchased, through Emma's unlimited black card, an adolescent spinosaurus egyptious skull, vertebrae, and sail, mounted on glass that looks like a skeletal creation is rising out of the prehistoric waters.

    It's not going to go with ANY decor, but it's pretty badass looking.

    And that's when the lights begin to flicker about them.

    The kitchen is quickly abandoned. No one's wife wanted to get shot tonight, it looks like.

    

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi Benton hefts up the one guard by the tentacle down his throat, adhesion on the inside of his...self letting her grip him weirdly and dangle his weight above her head, thrashing before she flicks him backwards thoughtlessly, spiky head cocking slowly and beyond the 90 degree axis as she takes in the...the...

"What she sweet everloving fuckmonkeys is THAT?!?" she yells. So much for stealth.

Much less so for stealth, but then she's looking at a teenager like her. Wait, you're not a teenager anymore, you're twenty now. You're an adult. Right. A grown-up. A...a..."Grasping Paw? Is that a yoga pose? Nah, I'm Mania. I'm here to bust some heads. And, uh, to rescue you, I guess, once I found out you were here. Only you've already rescued yourself. And there's a Mother Goose motherfucker over there who's freaking me the fuck out. ME. I'm the one who freaks you out, not the other way around! Dammit!" she says, stomping her foot and making sharp tenderils flare out from her back, lashing whips of symbiote that shatter a LOT of very expensive and very rare fine china. Good. In fact.

"Fuck all this stuff. Let's ruin their shit then beat them like eggs if they try to stop us."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"It's SHOWTIME," Vivian says. Not with her voice but sending signals to Harpers comms. Her go command perhaps inspired by familiar faces. Sadly no giant robots burst through the floor. But for those villains packing weapons? The lights just seem to get snuffed out. Perhaps not every guard gets affected. Viv has excellent senses but she's not omnipotent. Concealed guards hiding in the audience, those with magic or some sort of concealed position. They might all escape her attention.

But for most of the goons? Pitch blackness.

"Ladies and Gentlemen you are all under arrest," her voice seems to come from everywhere. Projected from all corners of the room like the building itself is calling the event off. "Please remain seated. The authorities have been alerted and your faces shared with all major airports and shipping routes."

She doesn't actually do anything so foolish as reveal where she's standing. No sense giving anyone a target. But they might get a general impression as the synthezoids eyes flare with energy and neat little blasts of cutting energy are fired into the guards most likely to open fire and risk the "customers".

Harper Row has posed:
Harper hauls up her weapon. The practiced way she levers it up, speaks of obvious familiarity. There's a snap-scent of ozone as the railgun is charged. All the doohickeys and whatsits polarizing and doing their thing to the tune of a hum that issues out.

Bluebird tilts her head to sight at the worst of the bunch handily singled out. There's probably more than a few. "Don't do anything...stupider." she yammers, feeling a bit cocky as her targeting reticles play over silhouettes like happy little theropods in a side-scrolling phone app. Gawd she wants to quip, how these things belong in a museum.

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate's hearing is good. Not superhuman, of course, she still needs expensive tech to hear someone's heartbeat and whatnot. But she can definitely hear people clearing out of the kitchen. Also, you know, the lights start flickering and that's never a good sign. Underground dinosaur actions /never/ just have crappy electrical. It's a whole thing. Probably.

Kate steps off to the side of the aisle, for the non-vigilantes to panic and rush out. Because she's got to take a moment to unbutton her tuxedo coat and shrug it off, smooth the sleeves, drape it over a chair.

That slim tie is undone, wound around her right fist to cushion her knuckles. And the entire time alert eyes are flicking about for the waiter she flustered earlier. And once she spots him?

"Hey! Snappy. Get the guests out of here, would you?" She frowns thoughtfully, non-wrapped hand dropping into her pants pocket, rummaging for a moment and pulling out a money clip with a couple grand in it, "Here. It's a tip. Next time don't take a job ad for an underground dinosaur auction off Craigslist. Get your shit together."

Kate's not taking lead on this. Oh no. But... well, sometimes you're at the Underground Dinosaur Auction and your apprentice and her partner break it up, and it'd be _rude_ to not help out if some guard went to try and take a guest hostage. Like maybe the famous heiress who's in attendance at the... dinosaur... auction?

Goddamnit.

Divine has posed:
Divine just stares at Cindy as she buys a three hundred and fifty thousand dollar set of illegally smuggled fossils. "But ...You...What!?" She goggles, her poised and simmering fury faltering.

Luckily everything goes to hell, so she doesn't have to worry about it. Viv and Harper do their things and the lights drop. The Kryptclonian rises from her seet, the low light not really bothering her as she just ... ascends.

She's lucky it's dark or people might get a free show with that dress.

She blows a kiss at Cindy before she just blitzes towards the man on the throne, letting her eyes start to glow a baleful red. He can feel the heat radiating from her face, and it does not feel good. "We can do this the easy way," she says with a crack of her neck. "Or the fun way."

Cindy Moon has posed:
"It's not your money!" Cindy shrugs, helpless, a slave to her desire to spend copious amounts of Emma's dollars on things that she doesn't want, need, and aren't legal! "Seriously, how often do I get to bid on a...uh.." She wiggle points at the thing she just bought, "A.." cough cough cough, so fake, "... I said it, whatever it is I said it."

Then the lights flicker.

It really is go time!

Divine can see in the dark, Cindy on the other hand cannot. She does feel people around her though. Silk Senses aren't like Spider-Senses. When they're effective, it's a constant source of information that supercedes her other senses. She knows where people are standing, she knows what they're doing.

And she can act accordingly.

When they're not working?

She roundhouses the /shit/ out of a chair...

"My bad!"

Quieter.. "My bad..."

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny looks down from where she was holding on.

    "Aah, from what I can gather some kinna criminal organization specializing in rare animal transport AND kidnapping people from New York where I am DEFINITELY not gonna get *PAID* for being this far -- where the hell am I anyway?!" the skate-clad teenager drops down, and she breathes out, looking at Mania, and then at the dazed little dinosaur, who gives a sheep-like bleating sound and then falls over.

    "... out for the count, I think?" she states, and at the 'f all this stuff' statement, she gives a BRIGHT grin to Andi, and she flexes her fingers.

    "I'm down for ruining their shit, but there's live animals back here -- let's go out front maybe?" she gives a grin, and she offers a hand out.

    "Prismatic Rabbit. ... name's still in workshop."

    Out front, the lights flicker, and then darkness. Emergency lights struggle to come on as the energy lasers strike through the night like laser stillettos (the knife, not the shoe) striking out at the guards.

    The Head man decides this would be a good time to Get Out of Dodge. He stands from his throne, motioning his men. "Grab Kane. We'll see if Gotham's vigilantes like operating in our territory." he snarls -- only to be stopped by Divine, and the glowing red pair of Kryptonian laser beam eyes charging!

    He pauses a moment, his lips setting in a firm scowl as he regards the very tall woman who is blocking his way.

    "I would much rather alert you that should anything happen to me, the roof caves in and everyone below us dies." he states, straightening his jacket and trying not to be afraid.

    Two goons are coming up on Kate Kane, even as Snappy accepts the billfold and begins to quietly take other guests out the back, through the kitchens.

    There's a rumble.

    And through the wall of the mansion drives what appears to be two escapees in a jeep. Unfortunately the escapees are screaming because there's an ibex in the back seat of the jeep apparently trying to escape but its antlers are stuck in the seatbelts!

    The wall gives a low creeaaaak as Cindy roundhouses the chair and knocks the shit outta it as it clatters to the ground.

    The crowd is yelling and everyone's trying to escape. The people with the big guns have had them dismantled, and are fleeing from Vision and Harper!

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi Benton forms a mouth that opens wide into a smile as she looks at Bunny, "Mania," she says with a playful growl in her throat. A little sass. She hopes. Please, Mania, make me look cool, god dammit.

And scary. Very scary. Wider smile, yeah, like that. Okay, not that wide, her eyes are getting big.

She hears the noise out front and the symbiote ripples against her skin, danger sense activated. Darkness means nothign to them. They are darkness.

"We are Mania." Head turn. "Follow us if you want to rule ass." And then she breaks out into a brisk accelerated run, faster than a human can move, going almost onto all fours as she extends razoed tendrils around her, lazhing, pointed whips obeying her will and shattering the wall separating front and back until her head stretches out from her body, exaggerated and opening her mouth to loll out a tongue and some teeth. Yeah, give 'em the full fucking xenomorph show, bitch.

"LAST CALL TO RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" she howls.

Vivian Vision has posed:
In the distance there are probably the sounds of sirens. Police, FBI, SWAT and after a few seconds contemplation. Animal control. Helicopters, trucks, cars and vans. It probably costs the tax payers a fortune. But Janet always tells Vivian she should spend less time worrying about the little things. Like money and triggering major law enforcement incidents. The synthezoid teen begins to broadcast broad spectrum jamming. Cutting off the criminals from the rest of the world and probably ending a few pre-emptive calls to high priced lawyers from the patrons.

With most of the deadliest weapons out of commission she strides through the venue. Her sensory abilities allowing her to stroll around care free. Moving from threat to threat. Punching people who can't even see her with just enough force to knock them out.

All the while Harper, who also has the advantage of advanced optics, provides a steady barrage of covering fire.

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate's torn between making sure civilians are moving towards the exit, and trying to keep an eye on Vivian and Harper's unfolding actions, and being just... _very_ impressed with Divine's immediately striking for the head of the organization.

And she's even impressed with how Cindy wrecked that chair. It did not, in fact, have a leg to stand on.

Which is almost certainly the reason those two guards are able to approach within arm's reach of her, before she remembers that oh, yes, she is here as herself.

And the criminals are, you know, doing that /crime/ thing where they kidnap a VIP as a hostage and human shield.

Or probably that was the plan, but Kate spins and drills the closest approaching goon in the sternum with a side kick. A side kick she is _not_ holding back on. Which is... bad news for him. Because Kate trains to kick the Killer Crocs, Banes, and Cyborg Nazi Moon Dictators of the world.

But he's luckier than his friend. Because one real solid kick is much better than Kate reaching out to lock her fingers behind the second thug's neck and draw him down into a class muay thai clinch and begin feeding him rapid fire lunging knees to the face.

Hopefully his head's not too hard and he'll be knocked out after a couple. Because Kate's not above paying the drycleaning place down the street from her to get blood out. They do good work.

Divine has posed:
She stares at the man, in that moment he can probably recognize exactly who she looks like. The spitting image of Power Girl. The angry one. Her eyes burn. "You think I'm not fast enough to reduce you to dust and save all of these people?" Her hand clenches into a fist so hard that the joints pop. "I know what you look like. I know what you -sound- like."

She leans forward, her face inches, or less, from his. The heat intensely uncomfortable. Like hot water on a sunburn. "You can't hide from me. I'll find you. I'll -ruin- you."

Still, she floats backwards, giving the man the opportunity to escape to ensure that no one down there dies. She's a member of the House of El. They deal in Hope and saving lives. Not ending them, even if it's deserved.

Cindy Moon has posed:
It was so much better when the lights were out.

Cindy didn't realize that she had just laid out a folding chair with a lean in punch before the emergency lights kick on. She didn't realize she was trying to Greeco Roman Wrestling pin it, twirling and twisting over top it... before the lights came on.

These are just things she's going to have to live with now.

These are the breaks.

She coughs.. slides off the floor and kicks the chair up with a foot hooked beneath it to catch in both hands. One of the henchmen is running pasted her! Where's he going? She doesn't know... Two ships passing in the night, it seems.

Except that she swings her whole body around and smacks him in the face with that chair so God Damn hard he'll definitely be eating with a straw after having his jaw wired shut. "Gongjuneun daleun seong-e iss-eo gaenyeon-a!" She tosses the chair down ontop of him and straightens her coat.

Get Wrekt.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    And that's why Wonder Woman has shorter comic runs. She kills her enemies. Nyeeh.

    Li just gives a smile, a polite bow of his head, and then escapes the room. BWA HA HA HA, EVIL!

    The ibex is bellowing and probably making a mess of that back seat. The general crowd has been evacuated, there is a dazed and confused bleating dinosaur somewhere in a back holding pen. The Aardwolf has escaped and is trotting along behind Mania unbothered by the xenomorph expression, just happy to be out of its fishtank.

    "Isn't it 'kick ass'? I'm pretty low on the 'ass' ladder myself Mania!" Bunny replies, smoothly skating out of the back, following Mania to the forearea where there was now the Auctioneer looking mildly peturbed that the auction was interrupted, and she heaves a sigh, as if this was a common occurance.

    "Heroes." she murmurs to herself, and then makes her exit through a side door with her assistant carrying the opalized raptor skull.

    The henchmen go down quick once they're disarmed (and CINDY MOON WITH A STEEL CHAAAAIR!).

    And within ten minutes, there's nothing but groans of pain, a broken chair, a panicking ibex and the softly, musical bleeting of a Pachycephalosaurus, meandering its way to the front.

    "... huh. Looks like we missed all the fun..." the pink-haired teenager on the skates states, and then she gives a soft sound. "I should... uh... probably call my girlfriend or boyfriend for a lift home."

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi Benton looks extremely fierce, with slavering jaws and drool hanging out and the big tongue thing. She's got claws and gnarly curved knuckle spikes. She's got tentacle blades and she's all bestial and ready to fight and...

God dammit, she's too late. They're all taken out. WTF. All these people were super dupers, too? What is this friggin' place?!? Upstate's weird yo, this is why she usually sticks to NYC.

She withdraws most of her monstrous accoutrements, resolving into a more basic version of herself, atlthough still suitably spiky, a jutting spiky version of a swoop at the top of her head.

"Well. This is awkward. For the record, I'm good, I was rescuing this...her...and then there were..."

She puts her hands on her hips, "We were ready to RIP and TEAR and make them BLEED and then I didn't get to and it's very...we're going to sit down now."

Vivian Vision has posed:
They can run. But how long they can hide is hard to say. The Synthezoid teenage who strolls around discharging eyebeam blasts and the occasional casual punch has captured faces, scanned portable electronics and updated dossiers that're even now being shared across the city. Perhaps wider. Creating a drag net that'll be rounding up as many members of the gang as possible.

Then again with all the criminal gangs in Upstate New York... It's probably inevitable that some will escape to do crimes another day.

Still she's intending on making it as tough as possible for them. There won't be a port, airport, truck, bus or bicycle rental place without a wanted poster in it.

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate snatches her jacket up, slips it on, and unwinds her tie from around her hand, looping it around her neck in a loose, sloppy 'Someone had a fun night' kind of disarray, going well with the purposely mis-buttoned jacket... and hopefully distracting from any bloodstain on her knee from those repeated knee strikes.

And then she's doing her best to just sort of... 'panic' towards the doors! The heroes have got this! She was just along to watch the show, of course. That's all.

Just a little field grading for Harper. And boy does she have a lot to talk to that young lady about now.

Divine has posed:
Divine watches the man go, her face a frozen mask of restrained fury. She will remember. He's in trouble until he holes up in a lead lined box. She snorts and turns away, descending down, a hand on her dress so no one gets a free show, and lands next to Cindy.

She looks at the chair, then the guy on the ground and back to the chair, then to Cindy herself. "Nice job. She bends down to kiss her on the forehead. "Wanna go home?"

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Police surround the mansion. Many are taken into custody. The Aardwolf and Painted Antelope are turned over to the local zoological society. The pachy is turned over to a specialist group. The fossils are going to have to be identified and seen from what teams they were taken.

    And Bunny managed to slip away from being caught, skating to the nearest highway, where she takes out her phone, looking at a timer.

    "Aaand three, two, o--"

    And she too is gone with the wind, with a pickup in need from NYC.

    The night and auction has ended, but for some the adventures are only beginning.