1816/A Night at Hell Manor

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A Night at Hell Manor
Date of Scene: 24 May 2020
Location: Hell Manor, Outskirts of NYC
Synopsis: A break-in at Hell Manor ends in the Master of the House getting arrested and AIM escaping with a new chemistry project.
Cast of Characters: Lyle Marston, Leon O'Malley, Samuel Morgan, Zachary Zatara




Lyle Marston has posed:
New York City has experienced many murders throughout it's history. One recent murder however, has raised some eyebrows. The affair began after the body of Faris Sabic, a recent immigrant from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a brilliant Chemist. His apartment block in Queens was shocked when his body was discovered with a bullet in his brain, and his notes scattered all over his flat. Subsequent investigation at his workspace in Stagg Enterprises has reveled his lab also having been ransacked, but nothing seemingly having been taken. But, La Raton knew better than to believe that.

His trusted "information broker" The Mole had given him a hot tip recently. Hell Manor's master, Lawton Morris, Faris' old rival, was the one who organized the hit, and had stolen Faris' notes for what turned out to be his final project. La Raton was to pay a visit to Hell Manor tonight, and steal Faris' project back, and return it to Stagg Enterprises, as much as giving anything to Stgg disgusted him, the project was now his property, and he had to return it.

La Raton made his way through a small patch of woods Bordering Hell Manor, the Victorian manor looming ominously in the distance as he did. Perched on his shoulders was Sir Percy, his ever loyal Raccoon. La Raton smiled wirly at his pet and said in a thick, French accent,

"Monsieur Morris is not expecting us. Perhaps we could get this project without many trouble no?" He didn't know how wrong he was.

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Having heard about the murder on the news, Leon had spent the last several days investigating it, roughing up thugs local to the area for info and slipping into the crime scene for evidence, eventually coming to the conclusion La Raton had managed much more easily. A quick swim across the river, hop skip and a jump on over the manor grounds, and the black clad freak was ready for a good old fashioned B&E for great justice.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    It's a matter of analysis. Data is all around, fragments of of a puzzle just waiting to be assembled in the right order. One of the newer recruits of the Titans, Techno often drew monitoring duty of the tower's crime scanners, and more often than not he'd even volunteer for it. It helps to have done this before, to have done this for what could technically be described as a living, if one considers doing something or be executed for not doing it to be a living. Skeletons. Closets. Sam was not the only one with those.

    One such skeleton seems to tumble out of the morass of information, the deluge of data that scrolls in nearly continuously. A murder of a recent Bosnian immigrant. A break-in into a lab. Same name, same scientist. Trace that back to previous history, find the thread of a rival. Pull sharply. Find out a few interesting bits about a project, about money changing hands... about a manor on the edge of New York City.

    Silently, the power armored Titan rode in on his armored motorcycle. The matte dark blue of the suit and the bike blend into the darkness, as he drives up to the edge of the property without any lights on, without any engine noise... nothing that large or that heavy should be able to move that silently. And yet there it is...

    It won't take Techno too long to get in, at the moment still unaware of anyone else joining him on tonight's hunt, and creeping about as cautiously as an assassin. Exactly like an assassin.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    A glowing gold sphere appears a ways away from the manor, and stepping out from it is a young man, holding a white rabbit. "Looks like the spell worked, Bunny," he whispers, looking upward at the home of his quarry. "Good girl. Find me later." He scritches the tiny mammal behind the ear before dropping her on the well-trimmed grass.

    Zachary Zatara doesn't consider himself a New Yorker and industrial espionage is definitely way above his pay grade. Still, magic tends to breach barriers otherwise unbreakable and put the young sorcerer in convenient positions. He's dressed remarkably casually in a plain t-shirt, frayed denim shorts, rainbow-stripped white socks, and a nice pair of sneakers, and approaches the manor with assured steps.

Lyle Marston has posed:
As the four appraoched the manor, they would notice that most of the lights of the mansion were off, except for a well-illuminated window in the second floor in what you could only assume to be the study. As La Raton slowly appraoched the back door, he would suddenly stop in let out a small gasp when he noticed a bear trap lying right near the edge of the backyard. As he stepped over the trap, he thought to himself,

It's appears that Monsieur Morris has placed a few traps, I better watch my step."

As Zachary and Techno made their way towards the property, they might or might not notice consqucious piles of leaves in their paths. If they were to step on them, they would fall into a pit, and into a rather nasty looking set of spikes below.

Wolf would find himself in the front yard of the manor, it was hardly illuminated, except for the light in the study. Suddenly, you would hear the front door open and see a well-dressed man with a buzz cut and goatee walk out, car keys in hand. Pehaps one of Dr. Morris henchmen?

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Leon looks the house over, gaze settling on the lit room above. Then, as the front door opens, Leon ducks down and snaps over to a nearby hedgerow, blending with it until the mook has passed enough for him to carefully peek out. Once the coast is clear, he leaps from the ground to the side of the wall at the second floor, no doubt drawing the notice of the other secret do wells, and begins crawling for the lit window, carefully eyeing the possible cronie in case he needs to blend with the wall.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    When approaching a target, always stop to watch for anything obviously out of the ordinary. In spring, this close to summer, a pile of leaves conveniently piled up together where there are few other such agglomerations is dubious as best. In his previous career, Sam had to cross minds with the most devious, the most paranoid, and the most inventive. So much so that he nearly steps onto the leaves until his subconscious stops him. It's a sense of something out of place, a sense only gained after years of skulking around where people would rather you didn't. Something, his professional brain was telling him, was off, even as it apologised for having taken so long to notice, it having been on holiday for the past five months.

    Slowly Techno withdraws his foot from where he was about to step, and kicks the leaves apart. Huh. Low tech and efficient. Mental note, rely on all seven senses and not just the usual six, because these kind of traps don't register.

    Now he's making towards the mansion at best possible speed, keeping low and watching his footing.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    There's a shriek on the western front of the manor along with the rusting of dead leaves, and it's quickly followed by utter nonsense. Something like "Tusg fo dniw!", whatever that means. Rising from the suspicious heap of leaves is Zachary Zatara, hovering, trapped in self-contained whirlwind, his dark hair caught in a zephyr. Evidently, Zat's not so good at stealth. He's not even trying. Looking at the deep pit that might've been his end had he been any slower, he lets out a sharp cackle, and slowly, he levitates onto solid ground.

    "Cute."

Lyle Marston has posed:
The shriek Zach let out was audible across the entire outside of the property. The cronie with the car keys suddenly stops, and pulls out what appears to be a walkie-talkie and chatters into it, saying,

"I think something set off one of the traps! I am checking it out!"

The man then pulled out a pistol and began to rush towards the area where Zachary was.

La Raton hears the shriek and shakes his head lightly, no doubt some poor creature fell into a trap somewhere. Raton tries the front door, but lets out a curse in French when he realizes that it is locked. He then peers at Percy and says,

"Well Monsieur Percy, looks like we will have to got to la Front. I remember there being a doggy door."

He then grins to himself as he sneaks his way to the front of the manor, not noticing wolf.

Wolf would make it to the lit window and peer inside, it was indeed a study. Sitting at the rather fancy looking Mahagony desk was a old man of about 75 with white hair, a narrow chin, a pointed nose, and slightly tanned skin. He had bifocals on his watery blue eyes and was wearing a bright yellow bath robe as he read over what appeared to be a diary, a cigar in his mouth as he grinned. This was no doubt Dr. Morris as he suddenly stood up from his desk, diary in hand and walked out of the study, shutting the door and turning off the light behind him.

As Techno walked towards the front, he would suddenly see a unusual sight, a American raccoon chattering to itself as it walked towards the front door and squeezed into the dog door. In his path was a very thin trip-wire attatched to a shotgun hidden in a log pile. If he trigged that, it would be a rather nasty wound to deal with, or possibly death.

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Leon glances over Zach's way as the scream goes out and guard begins moving that one, shrugging before moving along and peering through the window, eyes locking on the diary, "....Yeah yeah, I know...He's not going anywhere, ground floor first." He says seemingly to himself before droping off the side of the building to the ground, landing in a roll that brings him closer to La Raton, "Man, this is just not your night." Comes out a hellish grinding of a voice as he stares down the gentleman thief.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    He's not alone! Techno stops when he hears the shriek, and determines its rough location as it comes in through the audio sensors. Hmmm. Too far to do anything about it, but he marked the rough location on an electronic map running on a device in his pocket. It would remarkable for anyone seeing him do this, because he doesn't appear to do anything at all. And then it's on, to the front of the manor, scanning radio frequencies to determine the wavelength of the guard's radio once his comms suite alerts him to active nearby transmitters. The work of a moment to tune into their radios. One more step towards...

    ...A raccoon ... on a mission... It's enough to make him stop, and check that his optical sensors are working properly, cycling through the gamma correction to see if anything is off... It's at higher contrast that he sees the wire, tracing it to the logpile. Inside the blank faceplate of the sealed helmet, Sam grins.

    Holding the wire, he pulls the shotgun away and slips the wire noose from the trigger. Pointing the weapon at the ground and tilting it to the left, he racks the slide, ejecting the shell and looking down into the magazine tube. Another grin as he catches the shell in mid-arc, slips it back into the feed ramp and closes the slide. Free shotgun... this night is getting better and better.

    "Busy night for some light burglary." comes the distorted voice from his helmet, the face plate finally lighting up with three orange dots that might be lenses. He's got the shotgun held professionally but lowered away, a suit of power armor appearing out of the darkness. "I think we're all here for the same thing."

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    The only thing the goon finds on his search is a disturbed trap. Considering the scream and judging from the scene, the would-be trespasser met a quick demise.

    Those at the entrance may notice the soft disturbances on the lawn and the quiet footsteps of someone approaching if their senses are keen enough. If not, Zatara comes into view without fanfare and brushes some thorns off his jean shorts. "Really?" he asks, grinning, having caught the tail end of Techno's comment. "I'm here to raid the cellar."

Lyle Marston has posed:
La Raton lets out a gasp and turns around, only to let out a frightened swear in French as he suddenly reaches for his pistols, no doubt to drill Wolf full of holes. Tecno and Zatara's sudden apperances keep him from doing that. With pistols still drawn, La Raton then says in a thick, French accent,

"Will gentlmen, since we are here on a common goal, may i suggest a team-up? Be careful though, it appears the "good doctor" has laid traps all over the property. Perhaps more will be waiting for us inside."

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Leon's head turns to look Sam over, "....You better hope we are, metal man. We're tracking a murderer, but we're fine with nabbing some petty crooks in the process." He says with a shift of his gaze between Sam and Zach before turning his attention to Raton and his guns, "...Put those away before you hurt yourself." Amusement tinging the hellish tones, "....We saw someone upstairs, old guy, looked like he had some kind of journal. Willing to bet he's our man."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    In a flash, the shotgun comes up to cover La Raton the moment the pistols are drawn. There's no telltale servo whine or a clank of metal to betray the motion, the suit simply... moves, as if it's an actual being made out of metal. Which makes Leon's statement all the more poignant. As violence seems to not be forthcoming, yet, the shotgun is lowered again, and Techno looks between the other three. "We're here for the murderer. And anyone else guilty by association. If we can retrieve the research, bonus."

    Now, a glance to the front door, and the doggy door through which a raccoon had recently entered. "I take it the trash panda is trained to open doors? Clever trick."

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    "We're?" Zachary's brows rise in inquiry as he looks over each of the men, his eyes landing on Leon. "That guy just tried to shoot you." He points out helpfully. Unless Leon's referring to someone else. "Perfect. I tricked some goons back there into searching the area," Zachary juts his thumb back towards where he came from. That shriek? All part of the plan. "That should buy us some time from human obstacles."

Lyle Marston has posed:
As the men talk, the front door suddenly creaks open on it's own. If you were to look, you would see a raccoon sitting at the front, sitting on it haunches looking at you all with curiosity. La Raton grinned at the Raccoon and walked towards him as he said to Sam,

"Oui Monsieur. Sir Percy is a very intelligent raccoon. Do not insult him by calling him a trash raccoon."

As he handed the raccoon what seemed to be a animal cracker, he said to Zach," Good, good monsieur." But remember, this whole house is probably trapped."

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Leon cocks his head Zach's way, "...And? Lots of people try to shoot us." He then looks down at the clever widdle coon, "....That is adorable. We wish to hug him...Later, right now, work." He then slips around Lyle and begins a slow but confident trek into the manor's entry room.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Good work." It's a generic statement, and Techno doesn't elaborate if he meant Sir Percy, Zach, or anyone else for that matter. Considering he doesn't have a facial expression, it's even impossible to see where his eyes have turned, or even if they have at all. "I'm going to take their communications network offline, just in case they decide to try any kind of organised defense."

    Then he enters as well, going wide around Sir Percy... despite his dismissive comments, he does seem to be aware of and careful around the raccoon. Respect? Common decency? A love of animals? Hard to tell.

    A moment later Techno begins to emit a heterodyne, a carrier wave modulated exactly opposite to the carrier wave of the guard's radios. "Lead the way. Always let the Rogue lead the party..."

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    "So are you supposed to be a Walmart-brand Lafayette or something?" asks Zach, without any real malice. In Gotham, he sees stranger hero/villain concepts than the French Revolutionary on a weekly basis. "Awww, what a well-behaved boy," he coos and stops to give Percy an appreciative pat on his way into the manor. "So brave."

    He snorts, glancing at the armored vigilante. "And always protect the white mage."

Lyle Marston has posed:
The Raccoon stares at Sam blankly, and seems to chatter appreciativley and close his eyes in contentment upon being petted by Zach. However, the second it laid eyes on Wolf, it hissed, much to the surprise of even Raton. Raton quickly picked him up and perched him back on his shoulders while saying,

"Monsieur, i would recommend not bugging Sir Percy. He appears not to like you much"

As the group procedded towards the stairs, he suddenly holds his hand up in the stop motion, then points towards the botton of the stairs. He then says,

"Beware friends, another trap."

He was right. On the botton step appeared to be another trip wire. Attatched to the wire was what appeared to be a very nasty looking machete that would've swung down and impaled someone if triggered. As Raton knelt down to disarm the trap, heavy footsteps were heard stomping up the front steps towards the front door from outside, someone was coming.

Leon O'Malley has posed:
"We thought he was Lupin the fourth." Leon quips back at Zach before turning back towards the manor at large, "Geek the mage, got it." As the footsteps approach, he turns his head then looks to the others, hissing a whisper out, "Stay calm, keep quite. And then he leaps up to the ceiling up above, a horrifying array of tendrils sprouting from him that snatch up the group and pull them up to join him out of sight to wait for the steps to pass.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Before the footsteps can be heard, Techno has already turned to face the door. For a moment, the suit doesn't move, and then he quickly hurries towards the wall by the door, flattening himself against it, keeping the shotgun aimed low. Just as the radio message comes in, he's snatched up by a tendril and pulled up to the ceiling.

    It so happens that he's facing downwards, watching the front door, his weapon trapped aimed the wrong direction... watching the guard walk in. Watching the yellow suited AIM foot soldiers walk in after them. Beekeepers...

    The anger coming off him is nearly palpable, and the lenses on his helmet glow a furious red, like a targeting array coming online.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    "It's actually Zat-"

    Before Zach can properly introduce himself, he picks up on the heavy thuds and turns, raising his hands in what cannot be a combative stance. Words flood his mind, forward, then backward, his mouth opens, and...he's attached to the ceiling, hanging on a sticky, inky, black tentacle. He grimaces, uncomfortable, and silently gags but doesn't fuss too much. Calm and silent.

Lyle Marston has posed:
The door swings open, revelaing a suited man with a goatee, a scar on his cheek, and sunglasses. He stomped into the room, accompanied by a sinister sight, AIM Troopers. It didn't take a genius to figure out why they were here. In front of the Beekeepers was a man wearing a yellow suit and sunglasses, obviously their leader. He grinned and said in a Macedonian accent,

"Hurry up! Hurry! AIM High Command is really wanting to get their hands on this project, They even promised Mr.Morris a job if they like it."

Morris's cronie nodded and lead the AIM troopers and their suited leader up the stairs carefully, obviously looking for the trip wire. As soon as they were gone, La Raton hissed harshly and said to Wolf, "Put me down at once! This is disgusting!"

Leon O'Malley has posed:
As the room clears, Leon descends from the ceiling on a tendril of his own, snapping it back into himself with a water like ripple upon reaching solid ground, and puts everyone down....Except La Raton, whom he crosses his arms at, "We are not. Now you've hurt his feelings. Apologize, or get haphazardly carried the rest of the night." He says with a light shake for emphasis.

     Upon Raton apologizing, he is set down, unless he doesn't apologize in which case the threat is made good on as Leon stalks towards the stairs, "Following them sound like a plan?" He asks as he steps over the wire to begin following the AIM goons.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    There's a slight *thump* as Techno is set down. As silent as the suit might be in operation, it's not silent when being set down from a height. The bright red lights in the blank faceplate haven't dimmed, and as soon as he's down, Techno lopes off after the beekeepers. "Follow, eliminate. They don't leave this place with the research."

    He clears the tripwire with a jump, taking the stairs two steps at a time, utterly heedless of any other traps that might be waiting for him. His comms suite is scanning for the frequency of the AIM goons... they managed to outfox him in Flushing Meadows at the Stark Expo, but they're not getting past him again.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    "Nah, he's 100% right," Zachary chimes upon being set down. He glances at his clothes, wipes away any black residue. "You're lucky that didn't stain. Protip: at least buy a guy dinner first." Frustrations suitably vented, he follows Sam narrow-eyed. Eliminate? "I don't understand. Who the fuck are those guys? How about instead of 'eliminate', we subdue. That's a touch more family-friendly, don't you think?"

    Regardless, Zachary follows. A wand appears in his hand, as if by magic.

Lyle Marston has posed:
La Raton nods suddenly and says," Alright Monsieur, i apologize!" As Raton is set down, his face suddenly drops as he sees Sam carelessly start bounding up the stairs. Suddenly, a loud bang is heard as firecrackers go off underneath Sam's feet. La Raton suddenly pulls out his pistols as he harshly whisphers,

"Great, now they will know we are here!" As Raton bounds up the stairs, Sam picks up frantic radio chatter from both AIM and Morris' men. Suddenly, bullets start flying from down the hall as two Beekeepers and one of Morris' suited goons appear and start to shoot at the group

Leon O'Malley has posed:
"Family friendly, from the guy dropping F-bombs...We joke, but we agree. Non-lethal unless absolutely necesary." Leon asides to Zach and the metalo man.

    And then the firecrackers go off, and Leon stops, his whole form rippling like a pond someone just tossed a brick into the center of, lasting until the firecrackers stop cracking. As he finishes spazing, a bullet hids him right in the face, harmlessly compressing and bouncing off before he leaps down the hall, kicking off a wall along the way to get further along before the tentacle whipping.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    The firecrackers barely register in Sam's suddenly very busy mind. Mentally he's running through the detail of what he saw when the AIM troops passed underneath, determining weapons, strength, and any details of their suits that might be different from the ones he saw a few weeks ago. As Techno pounds up the stairs, the telltale outline of a plasma rifle presents itself to his memory, and once he reaches the top, he immediately throws himself to the left, to let the bright blue bolt of energy zip past him.

    This single sidestep complete, he brings up the shotgun as he runs towards the group, bullets pinging off the armor plate, firing the buckshot that was supposed to have been his doom by the woodpile at the head of the AIM trooper carrying the plasma weapon. He's not expecting it to do more than throw off their aim, unless they're not wearing the same heavy duty gear as they were when they came for Iron Man. Regardless, having spent his single shell, Techno throws the shotgun aside and plows into the trio, jumping into the air at the last possible moment. A fist goes to the goon on the left, his right leg to the face of Morris' goon, and the bulk of his body directly into the second AIM trooper.

    It's a flying takedown that might look familiar to anyone who has ever seen Black Widow fight...

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    The second a shot is fired, Zach vanishes again. Not much he can do in a gunfight considering he is neither armed nor bulletproof. Instead, he walks past the fighting, somewhat mindful of traps and looks for the good doctor and his book. He just wants to talk.

Lyle Marston has posed:
Sam's shotgun blast managed to stagger the goon, who was then taken out, along with the other two goons, by Sam's melee. As the radio chatter gor more frantic, you noticed a surprise lack of traps in the hallway. However, there was a false wall nearby, and Zach was approaching it.

Zach would notice a door with a bright light underneath it, and the sounds of hurried voices coming through it. Howevere, before you can do anything, the wall to your left suddenly flies open, revealing one more Morris goons and four more AIM troopers. As the troopers, who were carrying submachine guns, and Morris' lackey, who had a shotgum, fired at the group, the fourth aim trooper rushed at Zach in a attempt to tackle him.

La Raton swore and took cover behind a wall, firing at the group as he did. There is a cry of pain as Morris' goon slumps to the ground, gripping his shoulder. La Raton's bullet must have piereced it.

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Leon stops short along a wall as Sam proves to have things well in hand, and the twister turns around to face the group who popped out of the wall, his fingers elongating into whip like tendrils and battering them viciously for their efforts.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    There. Non-lethal takedown. Not exactly Sam's first choice of strategy when dealing with AIM, especially not AIM carrying plasma weapons, but... he had an obligation to the team now, dammit. Techno is, in fact, about to just let these three be and move on, when the rest of the group spring their trap. He'd only seen the one plasma weapon with them, so he's in no hurry to get to them, not even feeling the multiple impacts that are doing no more than slightly scuffing the matte paint on the suit. Whatever this thing is made of, it's not impressed by bullets.

    It's roughly at this point that Sam trades his shotgun for the plasma rifle the AIM trooper was carrying, hefting it with apparent ease and familiarity. And by then, Wolf is already castigating them with finger-whips.

    So without any hurry, Techno walks to the troopers and the goon, new plasma rifle held facing down and left, projecting his voice along the corridor. "I strongly suggest you stand down and surrender your weapons. Nobody needs to get hurt..."

    At that precise moment, the goon reels back with a bullet in his shoulder.

    Techno continues smoothly "... no more of you need to get hurt."

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    Arms stretched wide and feet firmly planted on the ground, Zachary utters, "Dleihs!" Short and sweet, and all he's really capable of in the face of a charging heavy trooper. The incantation echoes through the hall, bouncing off the walls, and a bright iridescent barrier encloses him and the door to his back. If the guard's not quick on his toes, he'll collide into an impenetrable force barrier. "Good luck breaking through this thing," he flashes a cocky grin and taps a manicured fingernail on the eldritch shield. "In the meantime, consider his offer. You're outmatched here."

Promptly, he turns and, wand aimed at the oak door, commands, "Nepo!"

Lyle Marston has posed:
As the goon continues to grip his shoulder, which was now starting to bleed, the AIM troopers do something very unexpected, they raise their hands in surrender. Meanwhile, the man who charged at Zach collides very hard into the barrier, knocking himself out. La Raton lets out a victorius chuckle as he walks out of cover and says to the gathered group,

"Well mon ami's, all we have to do is recover the project and we are done here for the night."

As the door opens, you will see Dr. Morris, still in his bathrobe, the suited AIM operative, and another AIM trooper. They appeared to be gathering a buch of files and stuffing them into a briefcase when the trooper suddenly looks up and sees you. As the aim trooper raises his gun and begins to fire, the two other men rush toward a bookcase, with Morris pulling out a book as he did. The second he did this, the bookcase opened up, revealing a doorway which the two ran into.

Leon O'Malley has posed:
As the AIMers surrender, Leon's tendril whips retract and he hops off the wall, turning and moving towards the now opened door and it's new defenders, breaking into a sprint as the shots start ringing out. As he passes the previous ambushers, tendrils shoot out of his back, snatching up their weapons and zipping them to stick to Leon's back. "Good call, we can do more damage that way..." He snarks at....himself, apparently.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    The surrender was both unexpected and extremely welcome. Techno can't express his delight at things having been resolved this neatly, but his posture fractionally relaxes. He's halfway over to take away weapons and deal with what would technically be an arrest when the main suspects make their escape.

    In an instant, all that tension is back.

    Even as Leon sets off and deals, quite effectively, with the problem of prisoners, Techno raises his plasma rifle and fires it at the wall that he is practically certain is concealing the secret passage... aimed two feet ahead of the AIM representative. How can he even track him through a solid wall?!

    "Desist and surrender!"

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    Zachary talks a big game, but he is not actually bullet-proof. Or capable of dodging one, especially at this range. Luckily, he does have the jump on them, is facing the new trooper, and -starts- to move as another firearm is pulled. A cry of pain escapes him as a bullet tears through his upper arm, and the teenager tumbles away from the doorway and onto his ass. "Fuck," he hisses and tentatively touches the wound, blood spilling from his fingers.

    The shield fades, in his pain, but as the men outside of the room have surrendered and been disarmed, it was no longer needed.

Lyle Marston has posed:
The AIM Trooper continues to shoot at Wolf, compleltey ignoring Samuel as he blasted the wall open. The AIM rep let out an audible swear and sprinted faster, outrunning Dr. Morris, who was clutching the briefcase to his chest. As the cotinued to run, Morris paused briefly and grabbed a near-by torch, opening up a trap door to block Sam's path before contiuning running.

Lyle meanwhile, ran up to Zach and helped him up while saying," Are you ok my friend?"

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Leon sprints through the shots, the bullets simply sinking into the black morass of his form like shooting into a vat of liquid tar. He hesitates only briefly as he passes Zach and Raton, turning as he hops to continue forward, "Tourniquet that!"

    And then as he twist back around, his arm extends as a tendril with a blacksmithing hammer end, swinging harshly at the trooper's legs even as Leon turns the way Morris and the rep went as if ignoring the trooper altogether.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Hearing the cry, Sam glances over his shoulder and sees Zachary go down. The chase is suddenly no longer a priority, and his otherwise slightly unnerving speed, thumping armored boots and all, starts to slow. It turns out that's a stroke of luck, as the purely mechanical trap door opens where he would have been otherwise. As it is, coming to a stop requires him to drop to one knee, the rifle coming up and aiming at the backs of the fleeing criminals, at least one of which is a suspected murderer.

    Techno's finger hovers on the trigger, the solenoid to assist the movement of the phalange waiting to engage, needing only the slightest command...

    ... beware the beast, lest you become the beast [Take the shot!!]. To be a hero [Take The Shot!!] you have perhaps five opportunities [Take the shot Take the shot Take the shot], to do the right thing [Take! The! Shot!], to not give in to darkness [Noooooo! Shoot! Shoot!], to be what you must be.

    With a resounding *click*, Techno's finger comes to rest on the trigger guard, and the rifle is lowered away.

    He doesn't look at Leon on the way back to the study, interposing his very bulletproof self between Zachary and the trooper, his eye lenses pulsing a bright red as he keeps the weapon aimed at the armed AIM operative "Give me half of one reason. Please."

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    Zachary grimaces, guided to his feet by Lyle, and looks at his bloody hand. He's never seen so much of his own blood before and blanches. He mumbles something about the shirt being ruined as a sort of assurance to Lyle, before lifting his wand and pointing it over Samuel's shoulder. "Tghil!" The tip glows bright white, potentially blinding for anyone that looks directly at the source. "Wollof eht rotcod."

    The unintelligible words come out shaky and stumbling as he wipes the pain (and fear) from his mind, but the results are clear. An orb of light bursts from the wand and chases Morris down his secret corridor, lighting the way for Leon and blinding the doctor once it reaches him.

Lyle Marston has posed:
The AIM Trooper screams out in pain as his legs are taken out by Wolf, and then raises his hands in surrender once Sam points his gun at him. Meanwhile, Raton's eyes widen in amazement as he watches Zach fling a ball of light through the passage Morris went into. A scream of pain echos through the passage, obviously the spell worked. If one were to catch up to Morris, they would see him blindly stumbling around, still holding the case, the AIM contact however, is no where to be seen.

Leon O'Malley has posed:
After decking the trooper, Leon's hammer arm retracts like a tape measure, forming back into a normal arm as settles back into place. Still sprinting full tilt, Leon manages to follow the blinding light fairly easily, catching up the blinded doctor and twisting his arm around behind his back, "Well hello there, doctor..." Comes the hellish amalgam of the Wolf's voice as he pushes the man against the wall and holding him there like a vice.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Deal with that bleeding." Techno intones, looking over his shoulder again once the trooper has surrendered. Keeping the potential hostile covered on his approach, he kneels and rolls the trooper prone, before securing wrists with a pair of zipties. That done, he leaves his own weapon on the desk and professionally secures the trooper's weapon. Ejecting the magazine, working the bolt twice... once to eject any chambered round, the second to check the chamber to ensure it's clear, before engaging the safety and then flinging the empty weapon into the far corner, away from its ammunition. The plasma rifle follows... he has no intention of keeping it.

    "They got what they came here for. I suspect some of you may want to be gone by the time the police arrives."

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    "Hcnats."

    A single word, and the blood flow is quelled. The wound remains, but Zachary's magic has always been sporadic when it comes to its effects on human life. So far, this night has been mostly a win, so why push it? There has to be a first aid kit somewhere back at the manor, and he can patch up when he gets home. "Think so?" he frowns, standing straighter. "The doctor's caught at the very least."

Lyle Marston has posed:
The Doctor cries in pain as he is pinned to the wall. A closer look will reveal that the briefcase is gone. Obviously, the AIM contact had gotten his hands on the case and fled. La Raton meanwhile, let's out a series of swears in fluemt French before finally saying,

"That;s just excellent. Now AIM has gotten a project to work on and I have failed." He seemed much more upset at the second part.

Upon mention of the police, Raton shook his head and said, Oui mon ami's, that seems to be the best course of action. But, let's make sure Morris cannot dig his way out of this shall we?"

Leon O'Malley has posed:
At the mention of making sure Morris gets arrested, Leon shrugs, "Can do." And then slams Morris' head into the wall, knocking him cold, and gently lowering him to the ground before pulling one of the rifles from his back and fitting it into Morris' hands, "That should be enough, at least for a basic arrest. Now, best to book it before the cops get here. We already had to deal with them at a bank last week, not up for another round of twenty questions." He says before starting a jog of escape to the nearest owned exit.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Failure is always an option." Techno intones, mostly tonelessly, when it becomes clear that this flamboyant thief takes that sort of thing very seriously. After a moment, he adds "This is the second time in two months AIM managed to beat me. Second time it's at the last second too." The red lenses dim to a more neutral dark blue. "If you want this to stick, I hope you brought your evidence with you."

    Next, he looks over to Zachary, a curiously long moment before he speaks, as if he's trying to weight what to say. In the end, his choice may have been a bit odd. "Ever been shot before? You're walking and talking, but that doesn't mean a thing. Have that..." and his armored finger points to the shot wound "... looked at by someone you trust. Sooner rather than later. Shock and infection is just as dangerous as the initial impact. Don't just wrap it up and leave it."

    With that curiously precise advice out of the way, Techno turns to look at Leon's solution to the arrest query and shrugs. It's not a gesture most armored suits are capable of. "That works. I'm personally not too worried about being found here, but twenty questions is nineteen too many. I suggest everyone leave, I'll give you all ten minutes before I place the call. Good working with you today."

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    "No. It..." Zachary starts, trying to find a description that does the sensation justice. In the end, he falls back on familiar concepts. "It burns like hell." He touches it again and winces. It's only a graze really, but he nods. "Yeah, I'll have someone check it out." Adrenaline is keeping the pain manageable, for now, so he continues, addressing everyone, "I'm Zach, by the way. Good luck with the cops. We'll get 'em next time." He flashes a little half-smirk.

    A deep breath, then he incants, "Emoh," and vanishes in a pillar of purple smoke. Sam, Leon, and Lyle will all find business cards on their person.

Lyle Marston has posed:
Lyle sighs one more time and whistles. The sounds of claws on the floor was heard as Sir Percy came into view, licking his lips, ice cream on his lips. Hie had obviusly gotten into Morris' refridgerator. Lyle then said nothing as he rand down the hallway towards another exit.