16409/Campaign of Cupp

Campaign of Cupp
Date of Scene:	06 December 2023
Location:	Cupp's Election Office - Midtown - Gotham City
Synopsis:	A Joint Bats, Outsiders, and one friendly Avenger operation goes a little haywire -- but the Bats are now in the possession of the closed-network drives from Phillip Cupp's office and can confirm if Saif Hassan is working for Phillip Cupp -- and see if Cupp has more mages working under his thumb against a defenseless Harvey Dent and Phoebe herself!
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Essix, Talia al Ghul, Barbara Gordon, Emiko Queen, Austin Reese, Scott Lang, Kiden Nixon

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Phoebe Beacon has posed:
Late October.

Phoebe had agreed to take the vitamin packet from Gotham U's psych department on Shaw's advice -- and truth be told?

She wasn't sure if it was because Robbie Reyes wandered his way back into her life, or because her 'core four' friends before she got sucked into the madness of being a superhero were going to be back for Christmas this year, or because she finally beat Tim's high score on something, but she was feeling better. Brighter.

More Hopeful.

Shaw Sewell had even remarked on it, that he was pleased with the progress she's made in a short amount of time of therapy and had even remarked that it would take a longer time to see if the updated medications would help long term, and encouraged her to continue taking the vitamin packet.

Phoebe's body usually rejected any medication she'd taken -- anything that would affect her. Drugs, alcohol -- made her very boring at parties.

    Not this party, though.

    MIDTOWN - Gotham City, this evening.

    She had tested the area beforehand, she didn't trust the feeling of the door handle. It might just be her inner paranoia, but it didn't feel Right. Like Cupp was expecting her. Like Saif knew she'd be the one who came to get the information. It played too nicely with her demons.

    So she was up on a building across from the ELECT PHIL CUPP FOR DISTRICT ATTORNEY office in Midtown, crouched in the shadows and watching the front door. It'd taken a lot of encouragement just to be this close to his office.

    A man with a priest's collar walks down the street, his heavy coat open and carrying a sign that demands doom to be brought down on Gotham City to clean the city of sin. He looks like he's a lot of fun at parties too. A cold, dry dusting of snow begins to fall as the wind whips up.

    <<The goal is to get in, access the closed-network computer system and get Saif Hassan's information. There's a bonus objective of trying to find a mailing list regarding an investiment opportunity in /Montana/ three years ago, related to my kidnapping. Red Robin or Oracle may be able to back-trace and get a list of people the message was sent to -- Cupp doesn't know, or else he wouldn't have expected Bruce Wayne to have been on the mailing list." she states. <<Streets are clear, it's go time.>>

Essix has posed:
Essix was still quite new to being a hero, and often needed a little guidance toward what part she should play in the action. Her capabilities were well known by Phoebe at this point, as the woman had had to deal with the little alien far more than anyone else, save for Dick of course.

Presently residing in a pouch on Phoebe's belt, her communicator a part of her natural form, she listened to the information then stated. <<I can serve to infiltrate or become a distraction inside, which ever is needed... for now I will remain in my pouch.>>

For anyone who didn't know what Essix was or what she could do, her statement might be confusing, but they would learn the facts soon enough.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
The others will handle the computers and electronics. Talia will be going for things the old fashioned way. She's wearing a dark bodysuit with a mask pulled down over her face with a pair of yellow slits for eyes. She's dropped her normal katana and instead has a large crossbow over her back. She's tied into the group commlinks but listen-only. The others likely are going to be rather wary about her participation so they might not want to include her in every little bit going on, depending how far their parnaoia remains about her. Talia is hooked up with them - but they may want to minimize interaction to compartmentalize.
    There's a click of her tongue where she is with the other groups, even as she goes to drop down. She seems to become almost invisible as she does so. The others have trained thier lives to play in the shadows, to fight and save in them. The shadows are Talia's birthplace. Her foundation. Where she was forged. They are home in a twisted, morbid way that likely for mos tof the others cannot be quite matched.
    She is dropping down, and then heading towards the primary entrance. First coming out of her hands are a small clip of tools as she heads for a nearby window. A fog-on spray to be pressed to the glass screen that would darken it and make apparent any 'compresses' against it (that might be alarms, traps, or anything else inherent). Other hand holding in some WD-40, an array of lockpicks, and other small utility tools to hopefully facilitate a clean entrance with no noise.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Batgirl is located on the GGE Blimp high in the sky. Serving as the Oracle tonight, she's seated at her computer station while the Blimp itself is in auto-fly mode, with an AI brain controling the preset pattern that the blimp is operating in on its routine course around the city.

Barbara, filled in on the basic goals that Phoebe is out for tonight, monitors the situation from above.

"Get me whatever is in that computer system, even if it's encrypted, and I'll have it opened up for you. But remember, your safety is more important." Babs' voice speaks over the team comm network.

Emiko Queen has posed:
<<In, do only as much needed to get the objectives, and out again. This is no mission for lolligaging.>> Red Arrow was already crouched and concealed, casing over the site. This was the sort of mission that was right up her alley, figuratively and literally. That it's to help out a friend and fellow Outsider is just bonus. <<If Oracle can decrypt stuff later that makes retrieving easier, at least. Don't have to do it on site.>> She's ready for action, but seeing Talia is already going to try getting the door open, is waiting to see how that turns out before getting down to any tricks of her own.

Austin Reese has posed:
A cold, clear night. The kind of night when you knew Christmas was right around the corner. This however was not the night for gifts.

Well not the kind you want to get, anyway. Osprey had been planted on a higher rooftop, looking down at the target building below, <"I like that idea. Just grab and go."> He replies, as he listens in over the comms, <"I'll head in from the roof. Oracle, do you see any good entrance points from your point of view?"> He asks, as he fires a line across from his point of view, and then zips down across it onto the roof proper, keeping an eye out for any visible security measures as he slides downwards.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    <<Hopefully we shouldn't need a distraction as long as things stay quiet. Cupp and his currently unincarcerated staff are at a function, Batman confirmed. And Batgirl's right -- if the situation gets hot, you all pull out. We can try again. I've already been bled for him once.>>
    Phoebe does not sound pleased in that statement. She in fact sounds very quietly furious.

    So everyone with a Bat-enabled domino or up on Babs's blimp, a TikTok gif shows of a certain lanky Mexican hothead with a tendency to catch on fire just punching poor Phillip A. Cupp on repeat to a soundbite of a Nightcore version of 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'. It's weirdly popular with Gotham college students.

    And anyone monitoring Phoebe's heartrate will find it slows down watching it.

    Talia is able to get the door open. The door alarm is easily disabled. The window alarms -- more for if anyone gets thrown into the building -- or anything -- are separate from the door alarm and are intact.

    Inside, the office is pretty normal. There's a front counter. There's some back offices. There's a place for the secretary/greeter/coffee-getter-person to sit and a couple of round tables, nicely appointed, with ALMOST REAL fake plants and nice, charming pictures of Gotham's parks and landmarks for doing interviews in front of are set up. There is Wifi (PhillipACuppWithJustice2024, password: Password12345!), and plenty of big, expensive looking art by a number of local Gotham artists on the walls around the place.

    There doesn't appear to be a night guard.

Essix has posed:
Although no one can see Essix, nor does she have a head to nod with in her natural form, she is mentally nodding to the information Phoebe gave her. They had over watch and this was pure stealth.

<<"I will remain with you then, unless I am needed to access a room or location that the locks cannot be picked. For those who do not know me, I can go under doors, through cracks in walls, and access locations through the smallest of gaps.">> There, she'd explained herself, and perhaps that was enough for people to understand the 'pouch' comment.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
It's a bit too simple. But, they've barely been inside for thirteen seconds, it's too early to make that kind of mental statement, faux paus as it always is. So Talia goes along the entrance, and is immediately going to trace along towards the offices. She's not heading towards the upper floor offices and where management is.. But, towards the place the secretary (the administrative assistant) would be. There likely won't be anything directly there.. But, if anyone is going to have an up to date record of comings and goings, it would be them. So, Talia is going to quickly try and look for any sort of appointment book. Seeing whom has made calls that have been forwarded, a list of people who have come in and for how long.. Anything of the sort that could give a general idea of wht the traffic was like. SHe's not bothering to use any sort of night vision as she sorts through things. Checking for the most normal hiding spots first, being careful to not set off any alarms or detectors.
    It was time for the first layer of sweeping. She gives herself seventy seven seconds to do so unless something grabs her attention. They're on a timeline to gather information. No sense taking too much.

Emiko Queen has posed:
The door is open thanks to Talia and no alarms are going off. So Red Arrow darts from where she was lurking to cautiously follow the woman inside. She doesn't seem too bothered by Talia's presence, or she's going to keep an eye on her. Maybe a bit of both options. Though most of her attention is staking out the front offices. There might not be much here to find, but it'd be foolish to not give it a once over just because they're trying to keep within a limited frame of time.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
From her high-tech vantage point over the city, Barbara's green eyes peer at her display screens, each one showing a different form of information regarding the surveilence of the situation down below. With one hand, she manipulates the screens, moving them around with swipes of her delicate finger touches, while with her left hand she dips a spoon in to a cup of banana pudding...

Serious business, banana pudding.

The flock of Bat-drones down below continue their high flight over the city block connected to tonight's operation, each one feeding information up to the GGE Blimp hovering beneath the clouds, whilst Babs places the spoon of delicious banana cream in to her mouth. Sometimes the Oracle gig is just better than the Batgirl gig. Sometimes.

Austin Reese has posed:
With a blip popping up onto his HUD, Osprey moves across the rooftop to a simple roof access door. He tests it, but it's locked. He takes a knee next to the door, and pulls a small canister of cryogenic spray out of a pouch. He taps the door a few times, as he figures out exactly where the padlock is, and sprays the whole area with the cryogenic spray for several seconds.

After a moment, he pops the door open as the lock and the metal holding it breaks apart. It could have been quieter but the upper floors seem abandoned. He wanders his way in between low-rent offices, <"This place isn't nearly as fancy as he makes it look in his interviews on GNN."> He muses, as he checks through the area on his way to the staircase.

Scott Lang has posed:
Someone in this Motley Crew goes unseen. Any sign of them comes up as a common bug. That's the advantage of this power, someone can just ride a flying Ant into a lock.

"Thanks Ant-ony,"Ant-Man says and works his way through the lock. "Okay, just like the movies, right? Easy peasy." And so begins his brilliant plan: Act like "Lava Lava" by Boys Noize plays on Dance Dance Revolution all over the tumblers. So, he begins to work with the tumblers like a mad-man.

Time seems to pass at an odd pace doing this. Maybe it's been just a few minutes, maybe it's closer to ten, but before long Ant-Man's panting just a little bit. "They make this look easier in the movies!" he laments. At least he'll slip inside undetected when this works. If this works.

Kiden Nixon has posed:
With an all clear given and Babs handling the eyes in the sky, Kiden's poking around in the building NOT where the files are. The last time she came to one of these, there was a basement vault and sewer access and craziness happening with all manner of criminal sleaze. So while people far better suited for recognizing the right files or computer access are handling that, she's scoping out the other offices, the other rooms, making sure there's nothing messed up happening elsewhere in the building.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:

    "You're going to be fine, Ess. Hang out here with me, and we'll help be overwatch." she gives a smile towards the goop in the pouch, and returns to her watch.

    Talia rummages through the comings and goings. There is a physical copy of the digital log; it's stapled, printed, filed, and has about sixty to seventy pages of updated information for the comings and goings of the office; there are a lot of names. Apparently most of them are workers in the office. It may take her some time to see if Saif Hassan's name is on the hard copy. She also finds two dollars in loose change, a Starbucks card, and the Cupp For DA credit card for a local wholesale place where the hotdogs are cheap. EMiko checks one of the front offices. It appears to be a meeting room. Someone's left their empty coffee cup and a newspaper promoting Weight Loss WIthout Effort and the tales of Why The Justice LEague are Vampires and Actually Live on the Moon to Hide from Werewolves. There's an ad for a Green Arrow plushie on the back. That is definitely not licensed.

    Batgirl doesn't get much on her screens yet. Phoebe's domino feed is an additional resource for her to look over.

    Austin gains access to the rooftop and drops down into the extra offices above. These don't seem to be connected to Cupp's run against Harvey Dent. Austin is currently in a dentist's office, with some X-Rays of someone's cavity having been left up.

    Ant-Man (II) scores high on the dance meter for his rendition of Lava Lava, and the lock pops open. He's got access to the side door of the offices. Once inside the hallway, there is a door (with a decent gap underneath).

    Kiden is poking around in a different room in Cupp's office. There's some art in here. A water bubbler (which gurgles quietly as the seal settles). There's a cup with Cupp's face on it, full of really nice pens. They have little flash-lights on them and rubber tips so that they can be used with tablets. She also finds the rough copy of 'A Cupp of Justice' -- a book with a very punchable Phillip Cupp's face on it. It's labeled 'TEST COPY'.

Essix has posed:
One small tendril slips out of the pouch to wrap around Phoebe's waist and become a belt. Yes, it's an extra belt, but this way she can in fact 'see' in a full circle around her friend.

<<"You got it Balm, I got your back.>>

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia goes to go through the folder and moves to take out a small micro-camera and moves to take digital shots of each page. Those are quickly uploaded over to the Oracle Network for later flagging and review. QUick scans seem to be not finding anything of immediate note - but it's all fodder for Barbara to look over later and see if anything else spins about from them. That was what data mining was for. The desk finished over, the items are moved back to thier place, Talia careful to make sure to even have the contents pressed in about the same spot they were wedged when she propped them out.

A quick sweep about for anything further, and then she's going further into the offices of the administrative ones. She's moving over towards where would be the no-doubt horrificlly underfunded and lazy IT office and administrative suites.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
As the drones weave through Gotham's skyline, Barbara's eyes remain fixed on the screens, absorbing the data flowing in. The city's pulse echoes in the transmissions, and she carefully navigates through encrypted barriers. she plucks the plastic spoon from her lips, as her right hand continues to move the windows from display to display. "Oracle, I have a Firewall preventing access to the building's communication systems. Run the secondary establishment program for level four Firewalls."

The AI assistant responds with a pleasant voice, and the systems begin to run as designed by Babs to do for this very reason.

"Should have access to the phones and outbound internet communications within moments." Batgirl's voice says in a calm voice over the team network.

Emiko Queen has posed:
Hmmm, would big brother be flattered someone decided to merchandise him, or upset he's not actually in on it? It's a difficult call.

But this was a serious mission and Emiko was in serious mode... Maybe she'll point it out to Ollie later to look into. First, finding what they need to put a real chip in Cupp.

<<Nothing useful in the meeting room,>> she reports, and moves on to investigate another office. There's enough of them on the job they can spread out to case the offices effectively.

Austin Reese has posed:
Just for shits and giggles, Austin decides to take a good look at the dental records that are left up. Who knows, a clue could be anywhere after all, <"So does this guy really think he has a chance of beating Harvey Dent anyway?"> He wonders over comms, as he looks over the leftover x-ray for a couple of moments, before heading to the door of the dentist's office to let himself out into the hallway proper. From there, to the stairwell, and then down into the lower floor, unless there's another Cupp office on this floor.

Scott Lang has posed:
Once inside Ant-Man presses forward and he focuses. Ant-Ony comes back. This allows him to get atop of the flying ant and ride the guy down toward the gap. Jumping off at a safe distance, he'll send Ant-Ony off. Evacuation is going to be on him. That's a future problem. A current problem is what waits on the other side of the gap. Slipping inside Ant-Man will adjust. However, he has no map or anything. This forces him to normal size and look. Is it the smartest play? No. Even he knows that. Still, he's blind and needs to remove that disadvantage. So, he has to take the risk.

Kiden Nixon has posed:
Kiden pauses at the cup of pens, head tilting, then grabbing up every pen in the cup to dump into a pocket. Anything flashlight-y could come in handy somewhere! Then she's moving along and poking around a bit more, halted again at the sight of a rough copy of a book. Snorting softly at the title, and the eminently punchable face on it, she grabs up the copy and tucks that away.. a visit to the publishing house may be in order.. some edits made to the mauscript before it goes into print...

<<Hey Balm.. this Cupp dude is writing a book. Terrible title, punchable cover... feel like becoming an editor?>>

Poking around a little more, she checks desk drawers and filing cabinets for anything that might be of use. If nothing else crops up, she'll start for the hallway, and another door.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a small grin down to Essix.

    "Glad I have someone so well-rounded watching my back." she responds to the goopling.

    Talia scans in the pages. They go in reverse. The first mention of Saif Hassan signing into the office coincides with a few days before his arrest in Robbinsville. So they can confidently place at least one of the Metahumans involved as working for Cupp's campaign. As the pages get uploaded, there's some familiar names. Gotham police checking in as a visit. A couple notable donors -- there's a memo that any donation from Wayne Enterprises from their generic 'send us money' fund has to be returned as Phillip Cupp has been banned from any Wayne Enterprises premesis (on account of what is referred to as 'the elevator incident'). Notes from Cupp's other contributors and golfing appointments.

    Cupp's IT doesn't run his office here; they probably do run his office for his law practice. There *is* a link from the outside to some computers in the back, but the VPN is currently set to off. Someone would have to open it from the inside.

    The plushie Ollie doesn't even seem to be good quality. Nothing seems useful in the meeting room. The next office looks to be part of finance. There is a powered-down computer station here. Does Emiko dare turn it on?

    Austin's investigation into Cavity Man's cavity is... well it is P. CUPP. Who launches their campaign in their DENTIST'S OFFICE?! He's able to leave easily through a locked but unalarmed front door -- nothing's startled it so far.

    <<I don't think he can win against Dent. Not in a fair fight anyway. If he does, that presents a bigger issue -- he wants to halt cooperation between the Police and the 'vigilante element in Gotham'. I kinda wanna see him try." she ventures, and she gives a soft snort.

    Ant-Man is in an office. It's a back office, with a big executive chair, a fancy desk, a monitor that is powered off -- and the soft hum of a computer tower that is definitely still on.

    <<Keep it on you, Flux, if you take it. Definitely take anything you might have put any unprotected hands on. Don't leave fingerprints if you can help it.>> she comments.

    Kiden doesn't find anything else, and goes into the next room. This room also has a computer terminal.

    It also has Ant-Man in it. Kiden and Ant-Man have both found Cupp's office at his office.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would go to speak along the comm, going to toggle her's to let her broadcast. <<There's an external connection that requires a physical reset.>> That's sent up the wire so that one of the others can handle it. Someone else down nearby where the signal can be set will have to deal with it. From here, she goes to slide in a small flash drive to one of the consoles. WHenever the VPN is opened up it can mean that an automatic download can start up to the Bat-Cloud. That put in she's going to sweep through the office, looking for more useful things. Snack bag, post-its.. Anything that might be of quick significance.
    A quick check of the computer reveals that one of them spends way too much time playing Galaga on the clock and another is obsessed with cute cat videos on TikTak.

Emiko Queen has posed:
<<He has poor chances in a fair fight... but that's part of why we're here. I doubt he intends to fight fair. And that's coming from a trained assassin.>> Emiko remarks even as she moves onto another office. This one looks a bit more promising, and a quick evaluation finds it to be one of the finance departments. That's... got potential.

She finds the computer, which is powered down. Tempting, but it could be also be careless. Her technical knowledge is good but somewhat limited, but there is an expert that she can ask.

Emiko holds back for a moment, instead tapping the edge of her domino mask to key back into the frequencies. <<I found a financeer office. There's a computer, powered down. You are the computer expert Oracle, advice?>>

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"Dent is a charismatic figure." Barbara replies on the topic from Austin. "But that's not to say you should ever underestimate the viewpoints of a new voice in any situation. New voices can be like a breath of fresh air. Dent should never get overly arrogant, or he'll have the rug pulled out from under him."

When Babs sees the results of her hack on the communication systems of the building, she shows a soft smirk of accomplishment before she sets her pudding up aside and reaches for her bottle of water. The cap unscrewed, a sip taken, and she sets it too off to the left of her station.

"We're going to start having the rug pulled out from under us here soon too, we need to get that information and get out."

On her screen, a series of checks begin to blink off, checking for any alerts to intruders.

Austin Reese has posed:
Seriously? Osprey shakes his head a bit as he's trying to pick the lock to get out of the office, <"This is his dentist's office."> He notes over the comms, <"Bet he got the rental for cheap. That tracks."> With a final click he slips out of the office and then closes the door behind him, finding the hallway above the main office, as he slips back towards the stairwell, keeping an eye out for any security as well, <"I mean this place seems like a pretty standard office building outside of being rented out by a scumbag."> Osprey says, stopping in front of the door to the stairs, and checking the door for any alarms before he tries to go through it, <"So whatever we're looking for should be in his main office I'd assume.">

Scott Lang has posed:
"Swanky" Ant-Man says to the office, and he begins to work. Unplugging the hard drive here, there. His plan is simple. All it takes is a lot of unplugging. This probably how he is joined by someone. Plugs to the monitor follows.

If no one will stop him, Ant-Man will pull out a small disc with a bright red center. Two simple tosses. "Shhhhkkkh." Both are now Miniature sized. Opening up a part on his suit he'll take the hard drive and monitor and put them inside. "Just need someone to clone the hard drive and bring this back."

Kiden Nixon has posed:
"Uhhhhhhhh..."

Kiden pauses when she sees Ant-Man in Cupp's inner office, just staring at him for a moment.

<<Hey guys, are we affiliated with other groups? Cause I've got an old guy in a costume that's taking apart Cupp's computer and like.. shrinking it.>> She glances from Ant-Man tot he computer and back again, "Sooooooo.. general thievery or like.. do you have a grudge against this Cupp guy?" Kiden doesn't seem so much worried as highly confused!

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Things are going well for the team on the inside.

    Which is why, after Scott shrinks down the hard drive, unclipped from Cupp's set-up, and the monitor as well and tucks them away, there is a soft hissing. INterferance coming over the comms, and garbled, a voice creaks out:

    Haty-ek wm mi kha.

    Lights begin to turn on in the office. Starting from the front.

    The windows, which had been intact, begin to crack. Slowly. Chip... chip... crick... crack... as if the heat was suddenly changed.

    A coffee machine turns on, and without the K Cup lid lowered begins to spit and hiss hot coffee!

    The VPN suddenly connects, but there is a massive amount of junk data coming through. Digital shopping lists from across Metropolis, routed through shopping websites with AI helpers. Contact lists from Starling City. Scanned birth certificates from the 1800's rising up from Boston.

    The sprinklers overhead begin to drip threateningly on everyone in the office.

    One of the larger pictures leaps from the wall and slings itself bodily towards Talia!

    <<Hey! Hey team? Report? What's going on? Who turned on the lights in the office?!>>

    And in the stairwell, a trio of frogs drop on Osprey's head.

Essix has posed:
Essix is suddenly more alert, though still a belt. Phoebe can feel her shift slightly before she asks, <<"Balm, should I go in?">>

It was in the alien's nature to worry about everyone and everything when on these missions. Her primary concern was Phoebe, but everyone else takes a very close second and if something was happening...

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Lovely. Magical countermeasures. Talia berates herself for having not checked for signs of wards in the area while coming in. She was focused on purely banal methods of security. She didn't think to take simple precautions against more exotic threats. The man had been a threat to Phoebe, whom was comparable to a homo magi of considerable ability. So of /course/ there had to be something more to have kept an eye on. Her mood is foul even if her expression is fair. A hand goes up to catch the picture frame midair if she can with intent to pop it down the middle and try to punch her gloved hand through it - but also focusing on doing so quietly and not have breaking glass echoing through. She goes to toggle on her comm to broadcast once more.
    <<Some sort of magical security has been triggered. Suggest we secure what we can and extract>> Or they had fallen into the Parker luck attempting a migratory pattern over to Gotham and fallen face-first into it.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara's eyes remain on the screens before her, diligently observing the information that manages to drip feed up to her monitoring nest aboard the Birds of Prey airship. She listens to the comm chatter, while her focus is on the power being flipped on inside the building's accessed areas.

"I can hit the building with an EMP, localized, but that might jeopardize some of the mission goals here. Something is up though, get what you can and get out."

The drones outside spread out over the roof of the building, with a single one gliding down to softly land upon the rooftop, its EMP system coming online, ready to deploy at any given moment.

Emiko Queen has posed:
Get any information they can and get out. So says Oracle. Very well then.

But before Emiko can consider proceeding lights start turning on. <<Not me.>> And other things. Glass creaking. Sprinklers moistening. <<I think we outstayed our welcome.>>

Guess it's time to do things with less... finess. Fortunately she's not above resorting to more underhanded methods of vigilante work. Stealing from a jerk likely stealing from others to get into a positio of power goes with the whole Robin Hood deal Team Arrow sometimes like to employ, anyways.

Emiko grabs the main part of the computer and pulls it free. Monitor and such is unimportant. The actual hardware should be all Oracle needs to work with.

Then make her way back out of the building.

Scott Lang has posed:
"OLD?! Are you sure you want to call the guy that shrinks things, -old-?!" And Scott will put out a third red disc looking at Kiden. "Old?! Reaally! I'm an Avenger! Put respect on the name!" Ant-Man sighs deeply. Pulling off the bottom part of his mask. "A guy signs up to be Den Father to a team and they call you old," he says of recent developments between the Young Avengers and Avengers.

"I got the office memo, but missed the office meeting, okay?!" Ant-Man explains and gestures to everything about.
% Slipping that red disc away and he looks at the injector. "I could always go blue," Ant-Man mutters and looks at Kiden. Oh, it's tempting to turn into a skyscraper right now.

Suddenly the water comes down so he makes sure the computer is secure. "Exit plan," he says and tries to open the door. Unfortunately someone else has other ideas. "I got the mem-," his words are interrupted as things go sideways in a new way for Ant-Man. It's not just Kiden's words that hold a bite.

Austin Reese has posed:
The stairwell seems empty. Things were actually going well, and then words about strange old guys in suits, crackling over comms, and then Austin has three frogs fall on top of him in the stairwell. Things seem to have all just at once hit the fan. He looks at the frogs on his left and right shoulders, and then reaches up to pull the one off of his head, <"Hey Balm, should it be raining frogs indoors this time of year?">

He drops the frog out of his hand before pushing the others off his shoulders, stepping towards the door that leads into the main hallway outside of Cupp's office. He can already hear the voices and commotion going off inside there, so he pushes the door open, not worrying about stealth by this point.

Kiden Nixon has posed:
When lights start to suddenly turn on and windows start to crack, Kiden is quick to react!

She moves forward quickly and grabs hold of Scott's arm, "Sorry, No Time!" Then she's *pulling* him into.. well.. it's very pretty and very trippy.. and time seems to have frozen around them! It's like looking at the world through a soap bubble, all pretty swirly colors and nothing moving.

"Okay. Much better. We should hustle, though... last time this happened there was a boom and a blinding flash and alarms." Kiden starts to pull Scott towards the exit, glancing over her shoulder at him, "My dude, you're what.. 40? C'mon. Let's get you to Balm."

Then she's pulling him along with her, calling back over her shoulder, "Don't let go, the first step back into real time can be weird... also, not sure if it would hurt you or not. Best to not find out right now. Also.. hi. Avenger, huh? That's neat. Which one are you?" Nope, she doesn't know her Avengers, she's a terrible, terrible Gen Z'er.

While everyone else vacates the building in their various ways, Kiden just walks Scott outside the building and over to where Phoebe is keeping eyes with Essix. So.. you know, they just sort of.. pop into existence nearby. "Hey Balm. This guy says he knows you? Also claims he's an Avenger. Figured you might want to get what he got, pretty sure his trick with the computer tripped the insanity... or at least, the light show started after he did the incredible shrinking trick with the computer. SO maybe Cupps' pc was boobytrapped?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "No Essix, stay with me. I'll get us down." Phoebe states, and she brings up one of the grapple guns, shoots, secures, and swings herself down -- or at least tries. She's halted with the appearance of Flux and Ant-Man arriving on the rooftop she was perched on with Essix.

    <<Batgirl's right -- grab what info you can and get out. Police and fire are incoming rendesvouz across the street on the top floor.>> she says over the comms and looks with some level of concern at Kiden and Scott, and then back to the chaos errupting below.

    One of the fire hydrants is beginning to leak. The spigots for the sprinklers begin to turn on full bore one at a time, hissing as everyone heads out the building.

    And Balm turns, looking to Kiden and to Scott as she answers: <<No, Osprey, it's not normal to rain frogs at any point in the year, let alone indoors.>>

    And she purses her lips, she looks around, and she looks up to the sky.

    "That shouldn't have happened. That shouldn't have happened at all. Cupp's not a *mage*. He doesn't even --" she whispers quietly, and she tilts her head back.

    "Flux, Antman. Antman, Flux. He's an Avenger and he's someone I've worked with before on a couple projects." she confirms to Kiden that Scott was indeed part of the show tonight.

    Admittedly a ShitShow at this point as red and blue lights light up the night on the streets, fire and police heading to the campaign office.

    "So, recap. We have a book. A computer and a hard drive. And the place is wrecked. And did everyone hear the interference? My comms died right before everything went weird down there.

    Batgirl is now getting chocolate cake recipies.

    Every Chocolate Cake recipie.

    Since 1901.

Emiko Queen has posed:
As she's got the computer portion under an arm Emiko can't quickly get out an arrowline and grapple up to the roof, nor does she want to be standing around when the cops start showing up.

So instead she has to make back for the alley she originally hid in, circle around, and take a fire escape up the back side of the building. It's a bit longer than usual but she does make it up to the meeting point in the end and that's what counts.

"To answer your questions, yes there was interference, yes that was really weird, and it probably means Cupp has some other weirdos working for him or something to set it up. But don't fret over it too much, plans rarely every go entirely as, well, planned."

She pats the computer with her hand. "And we got a few things for Oracle to work her magic on."

Essix has posed:
Moving from belt to Phoebe's shoulder, Essix's aqua colored viscous liquid self form up into a blue jay resting there. She will stay, right with Phoebe, and then... people!

Twitching her head exactly as a bird would do, to the side and back again, she looks at the two new arrivals. Being more than close enough to hear Phoebe muttering to herself, she turns her head toward the woman and whispers in her ear.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Apparently there's a time of year where it's appropriate to rain frogs. Indoor or out. Someone should call the Weather Channel. Talia Al Ghul goes to take out her crossbow and goes to load a bolt into it, using it to smash through something in front of her and moving to head on out. Even as the water would blast down. <<Someone setup an effective warning system. Presume that we've been compromised.>> Ie, identified as to who they were upon breaking in and known.

She's going at a quick jog out the door if she can,moving towards the nearest window exit. No point in stealth now that they'd tripped the alarm and the place would be locked down shortly. But also not out at a full sprint to get away until the others were out. Talia goes to head on out, intent on going quickly and smoothly unless she was intercepted.

<<We've underestimated our adversary>> Never a good thing.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
With a hardgaze fixed on the surveillance screens, Barbara scans for anomalies or unexpected movements within the target building. Her eyes flicker between feeds, searching for any signs of intrusion or potential threats to Phoebe and the team on the ground. The blip of red dots on the schematics indicates the location of the Bat-drones, feeding real-time data into the GGE Blimp.

Barbara adjusts the zoom on one screen, her attention focused on a specific entrance. "Keep an eye on entry point alpha," she directs her AI assistant. "There's something... off." The subtle hum of the blimp's machinery is drowned out by the intensity of Barbara's concentration as she meticulously scrutinizes the surveillance data for any indication of danger.

"Ice cream social on me, if everyone gets out safely." Her voice softly says over the team network.

Austin Reese has posed:
With things having been sorted, at least as far as introductions go, Osprey knows he can safely exfil. Osprey manages to regroup with the others after a few moments, "What was that? I didn't think anybody could break into Oracle's comms like that."

He seems rather concerned if someone was able to manipulate things the way they've been, "If Cupp's not a mage, maybe he has one working for him. Suppose we'd need to start looking into his staff then." Or worse options. As much as he hates to say it, it's not that this would be the first time Cupp took advantage of a mage agains their will, too.

Scott Lang has posed:
Ant Man just stares how everythng goes weird. He looks at Kiden and then back before they're outusde. When Balm gives the approval, he looks at Flux. "Told you. Don't even know who the Aveners are!" he shakes hs head in shock for a moment. Ant-Man is in disbelief. "I'll get the hard drive to someone that can clone it."

Kiden Nixon has posed:
Kiden gives a nod to Balm, "Cool. Well, he has the hard drive, so maybe Red Robin or Oracle could do the thing with it? Also, Cupp might be being used to take you out of the game. You know, magical mastermind propping up the Hate Machine to keep you so busy dealing with this that you can't deal with him."

She pulls the test copy of Cupp's book from her coat and holds it out, "Also, you might want to flip through this, see if there's anything super damning or damaging. We can always hit up the publishing house if need be." GLancing back to the building, she looks to Balm, "Want I should go get the others?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "... no, no the Hate Machine is what Darth Maul calls his --" she pauses.

    She looks at Essix, and for a split moment she REALLY WANTS A BIRB as a magic companion, because that would be Pretty Dang Cool.

    People start showing up, and she looks down and over at the wrecked shop.

    "... if Cupp's begun to employ mages strong enough to set that up and for me to not sense it... maybe it's time to get more magical help on this." she breathes out, and rubs the back of her head as she looks over the assembly.

    "Thank you, everyone. I tmeans a lot to me. Let's get these hard drives and computers to Batgirl so Oracle can crack them." she states, and she looks to Osprey, and winces.

    "... Frogs, huh? It *is* Wednesday." she mutters in meme, and then breathes out.

    Below, the lights go out. The windows finally shatter outwards.

    And as the team is offered ice cream for everyone escaping unmarred, a lone person in a black frock coat with the white collar of a minister gives a toothily wide grin from the next block over, then disappears into darkness.