17255/Paper Chase

Paper Chase
Date of Scene:	23 February 2024
Location:	An unassuming brownstone.
Synopsis:	No foreseeable outcome.
Cast of Characters:	Ted Grant, Clara Jennings

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Ted Grant has posed:
The orders from the Conservatory were succinct. At such and such a location there were several librams written by the Golden Age magicians Tor, Merlin and Dr. Occult. Procure them and secure them for transport. this is a high priority, high risk mission. There will be no communication until you have cleared the mission area. The brownstone rises above Clara, a bronze plaque lit up against the night reading Justice Defenders Headquarters.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    These days, Clara does not question orders. That brief flick of independent thought no longer appears. She is the arrow. This is the target. She regards the plaque passively.

    She never goes in without thoroughly casing a place. Security systems, people, structure, all of it. Everything available, public or through less than legal means, she will have at her fingertips. It is never their way to take magical objects of this sort, but sometimes deals are made, a scroll here, a tome there, a magical wand, etc. And so she is here, on what appears to be a dangerous mission for something the Conservatory does not even want for itself.

    "Magic," Clara says softly, her expression, her tone making it clear she finds it unpleasant in the extreme. Yet, Corben uses it. Perhaps it is not all bad.

Ted Grant has posed:
In this case the magic masters' librams were donated for exhibition by a private collector, relative of one of those silly sidekicks. The relative fell on hard times and was reneging. Technically she was taking them back for the collector who was being paid handsomely. It was decided the JSA should not be troubled with the matter. In any case the alarms fell one by one to carefully inserted paper tendrils. A window was now open as off in the distance thunder boomed.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    Thunder. Shit. Clara hates the weather sometimes. Perhaps at some point she can get inroads with one of the meany heroes who can control it. She'd pay well for a few nights of safety from downpours.

    Limited as her situation is, she has not brought a full load of paper with her. She is going to have to make due with about 100 lbs of the stuff. Plus anything else she might come across.

    Inside, she starts to investigate as best she can. She knows, perhaps, where the books were, but with her powers she can reach out to sense paper. It all feels a little different, due to weight and other properties. However, having never felt these books before, she cannot be certain what is what. And she has only herself to rely upon.

Ted Grant has posed:
The paper chase is remarkably short. Several tomes are fairly fat with magic, tickling the girl's paper senses. The trail is clear, though the museum is filled with amazing images, likenesses, and facsimiles. Some are real -but that isn't advertised. In some they may lead to distraction. Clara follows the trail past a group of motorcycles and mannequins, Vigilante, Black Canary, Captain America... Wildcat. A shelf with various journals lies beyond it.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    Clara creeps as quietly as a mouse, sticking to shadows whenever she can. She believes there is no security left to address, but one does not survive long in this kind of job operating on faith. No, she is pretty sure something must go wrong. First, though, she must get what she came for.

    She searches as quickly as she can. She does not have the ability to detect magic. What she can do? She can tell that some paper may be more likely to be from another time due to its properties. But even that has limits.

    It is her eyes as much as her powers that will be needed for this. That and her general sense of how a library of any kind is organized. Granted, it is probably that nobody here is a librarian at heart... she will do her best.

Ted Grant has posed:
And a figure that seems made of shadow steps out of the greater darkness, silently, huge, looming and familiar. Wildcat, modern costume steps in front of her. He takes a deep breath, letting his presence sink in and then says with a dead calm voice, "What do you do now?" He is in a half crouch, ready for anything. His one hundred kilos poised on the balls of his feet.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    "Hello, Daddy Teddy," replies Clara. She sounds warm enough, but her armor is soon covered with long, wicked paper spikes. "This is rather unfortunate. I hope you understand, I mean no disrespect."

    And then it is just go time. The entire library flies forward, drawn by Clara in a wave of paper. She feels bad about that, honestly she does. It looked a lovely library to her, and she's going to be ruining the lot of it.

    The paper lashes out as tendrils in a few cases, and like arrows in most.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant has his back to the library. He didn't expect her to be capable of such violence. Ted hits the floor to avoid some of the paper crush. He rolls to the side and his hand flings something small and black. Inky blackness explodes silently and the world is replaced by a dark void.

Ted has pointed out he can see in the dark, somehow.

"Okay then, we're quit understand? I'm not handing you a beating, assuming, I can. Take the damn books, if you haven't already." His voice becomes faint as he moves away.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    "Wait, Daddy?"

    Her voice is delicate, and the paper all falls. "Wait. Quit? What.. what do you mean?" A feeling like ice is around her heart. Her renewed mind is caught suddenly in a trap. She does not move.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant calls back from a distance, "I'm not dealing with you no more. Get an Uber next time it rains. I'm not your damned daddy. Seek help."

Silence falls for a moment.

"Take the books. Move my mannequin, it's sitting on the books."

Clara Jennings has posed:
    Clara looks to the mannequin. "You were my help."

    Her shoulders round, and she walks over to the mannequin. "I..." She leans down to draw them out. But she does not leave. Not until she understands what she was here for.

    "... do not.. no... I don't want this anymore."

Ted Grant has posed:
The Libram is on old paper. The first page is handwritten. "Dear Clara, I am truly sorry you made this choice. If you bring this book to the conservatory and the bright bulbs check it against the correspondence from Percival Popp III, they will match. It's what we used to call a sting. The book is interesting perhaps the eggheads will even want it. I'm sorry for the choice you made. Please consider it. You'd steal from me? What else would you do when they ask? I hope we can reconcile. -Love Ted."

Clara Jennings has posed:
    The tears come first. She pulls the one page out. With her hands, not her power. The scream follows. Unlike anything she has ever let out. Rage. So much rage.

    She has no one to talk to now. But her thoughts are straight forward. Her parents abanonded her to this. To grow up in a heartless nursery surrounded by strangers. Her 'siblings' were just going to die anyway.

    She leaves the books behind as she reaches the window. With a look back, she finally speaks. "Wherever you are, mom and dad..." She flattens her expression into a mask of contempt, "I... hate you with all my heart. You deserved to burn. And burn still."

    The storm is near. It won't stop here, though. Not this time. Unseeing, she flies in the opposite direction. She leaves a mess in her wake, but in the last moment, adds another two items to be found, should anyone check near the window. Her tracking bracelet and her earpiece.

    She's free. She's got nothing left to lose.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant comes out of hiding and looks at the ruined library. He picks around the debris for a moment or two, then sits down. There were irreplaceable papers there. there were old photos made into weapons and discarded. More than one person remarked that Ted might've had no powers but he weaponized being an absolute bastard.

He had to try this wake up call. There were many people after these books and artifacts.

He had to.

He had to!