3146/Zodiac Rising: The Henley Crowne Affair

Zodiac Rising: The Henley Crowne Affair
Date of Scene:	29 August 2020
Location:	Adams Heights
Synopsis:	Daytripper and her allies confirm Henley Crowne died because he possessed a piece of the Tablet of Zalmoxis. And they catch a glimpse of the mastermind behind the attack.
Cast of Characters:	Amanda Sefton, Brian Braddock, Michael Hannigan, Nessa Donovan, Pepper Potts, Oliver Queen, Kurt Wagner, Roy Harper, Vanessa Carlysle
Tinyplot:	Zodiac Rising

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Amanda Sefton has posed:
It's late in the evening. The sun is almost completely set. Remnants of twilight hang heavily over the sprawling mansion grounds that make up the Adams Heights neighbourhood in Starling City. A band of red and purple disappears beneath heavy cloud cover across the horizon. Violet gives way to deep navy marred by billowing dark grey clouds reflecting the city lights twinkling below them.

One particular mansion property in the grand neighbourhood lays forlornly empty and recently derelict, the erstwhile site of what the media are calling a 'potential mutant terrorist attack', but that the SCPD have designated a theft/homicide. Henley Crowne, late owner of the estate, was a VR tech and video game magnate. And an eccentric one, at that. He had his estate refurbished to look like the set of one of his video games, complete with hidden booby traps, surprise puzzles, and a disguised automated defenses. All that just adds to the confusion of the site.

The grounds are a shambles. Although the front gate is intact, the security station inside the walls and to the left of the drive has broken windows and doors, tattered pieces of police tape fluttering from the door jamb. Around the side and across the back lawn, there is extensive water damage from burst pipes and, from the looks of it, the water from the mostly empty, landscaped swimming pool.

There are burn marks everywhere, as well, mostly from the carcasses of drones and turrets that look like something out of a sci-fi video game. They've been slagged with some sort of heat ray or sliced through with an impossibly sharp blade. Some of the drone carcasses are flyers. Many, however, look like a cross between Boston Dynamics' robot dog and a laser turret. The actual laser turrets hidden in bushes and inside broken statuary look like something belonging on an Imperial Star Destroyer or the Death Star trench. All of them are inert and useless, now.

There are cameras hidden everywhere, however. Well hidden, but still evident to anyone with a good understanding of security... or who can detect the flow of energy through the electrical grid buried across the grounds.

The house itself is sprawling and might once have had a chance of being called stately. The rear of it, however, looks almost like a bomb hit it -- except there are no burn marks aside from where the electricity might have shorted out when the water from the pool ended up crashing through the broken balcony door on the upper level.

It is in the shadow of this ruined balcony, on the terrace beneath it that once led to the now empty pool, that Daytripper's mystical portal opens. Although Pepper had offered to have Happy drive them from New York to Starling City, the sorceress felt that a somewhat more discrete means of getting onto the estate grounds might be in order. Thus, she steps through the portal, joined by Pepper and other gathered allies -- friends from her days in Excalibur and members of New York's robust magical community.

Brian Braddock has posed:
Captain Britain's boot step loudly onto the flooring as the eyes behind white lenses begin to scan the room warily. What happened here, he wonders to himself, and what does it have to do with the last communication he had with Amanda?

Before that it had been years since they'd spoken, because that's the way that this business occurs. Allies are allies for a while, but sometimes the world pulls them in different directions and you lose contact. But when an ally is in trouble, you're right back to where you were.

Cap slowly walks over towards the leftovers of what were drones and turrets and begins to inspect the marks made upon the edges, looking for any residue he might be able to take back to England, which has become very interested in this particular case.

Out comes his small camera and he begins to take photographs of the crime scene.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
As with the times he's run into Strange, Mike Hannigan just seems to a way of just showing up. It appears that one of Henley Crowne's workaholic divorced neighbors has their son still living at home with them and in an act of trying to paint themselves in a favorable light to their offspring has opted to do something about it.

No, they're not spending more time with their kid. That'd be ridiculous! No! Instead this parent has looked at their kid's purchase history and determined that the best course of action was to book one of the music acts represented in this listing for an afternoon birthday party held at the mansion for that very kid. Nick Drago was the only one with an opening this day.

And so, Mike finds himself in Adam Heights, in his stage persona of Nick Drago. His attire is still street clothes, but of a higher quality. His longish - hair is not pulled back or hidden under a hat and instead is allowed to run wild and his eyes are darkened by a bit of eyeliner. Not quite full stage make-up since people are up close and personal, but yeah.

So. The booking is finished. The hired car that was supposed to take him back to the hotel. Well, THAT had car trouble so he's having to wait for them to send another. And so, the rockstar has time to kill. And being that the guy booking him had the audacity of inviting more of his work contacts than his son's own friends to the kid's party? Well, it'd be more comfortable not to be hanging out at THAT mansion.

And so, he's been taking a walk. Eh, the car service has his phone number. They can always call to ask where he is. As for the direction? Towards the Crowne estate. From what he overheard at the party, it's apparently a place to see. Might as well be now.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Stepping through the portal, Nessa Donovan takes a step out of the way to clear it for further followers behind her. Once she does, she takes a quick moment to look things over visually as well as hone her senses to magic. Knowing what's around and what's coming is something she absolutely feels she needs to prepare for. As is Nessa's usual, she's dressed for colder weather. A turquoise long-sleeved shirt is worn under a beaten up black leather jacket, blue jeans, and black gloves. It's at least less out of place than when she's walking around in the sun.

"I don't quite know what I was expecting, but... it wasn't this. Looks like quite a party..."

Pepper Potts has posed:
She's done it a few times, Pepper has, stepping through Amanda's portal, only to come out on the other side somewhere miles away. It's disorienting to the redhead, but she has full faith in her friend for that first step.

And she's done her research.

Insurance riders mean floorplans of security submitted to insurance companies. While she may not have memorized where every camera is, she knows the zones. The lasers, though? Those weren't on there! At least there is a way to bypass all of that.

So, stepping through to the other side, Pepper takes one, two steps further away from the LZ in order to work out where she is on property. There've been a few parties here when it was clean, bright, and active, so it's a little strange to see it in such.. disarray.

The Stark Industries PA is dressed down, but wears it well; all sensible in dark weaves, but her red hair tied up in a ponytail. In hand, an easily portable tablet.

Oliver Queen has posed:
When a prominent figure like Henley Crowne is killed in Starling it's a sure bet that Team Arrow will be investigating, it's too big a case for the police. And depending on what may have been stolen, or not, this may be turning into something a lot more dangerous.

So the Team was gathered, everyone in suits and sent to the mansion to investigate. "Alright, we will need to figure out what happened here. The police didn't get much so it's up to us." as the vehicles stop by the entrance and they begin to move in he points to a few areas with the cameras. "Need to figure out where those lead to. If they have a local server we can find a few things."

He is moving quietly, looking about the scene with a critical eye and getting closer and closer to the area where the others are gathered at. Loud boot steps are a telltale there is someone inside though.

"Seems like we got company.." and without knowing whether they are friend or foe his bow is brought out, an arrow notched.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
Naturally enough Kurt Wagner is one of those friends who has joined with Amanda and her other friends and allies. It wasn't his original intent to be here -- while the case might have made some ripples in the media he had only a passing knowledge of the situation. But sometimes in life timing is everything and dropping in on her at just the right time has led to the mutant teleporter to be present with the others.

Like the others, the fuzzy blue elf steps out of that magical portal and onto the shattered grounds of the rather elaborate estate. With the evidence of the battle on site he is not surprised that some might have immediately blamed the nebulous threat of 'mutant terrorists'. Clearly someone with a great deal of power or a lot of resources wanted to get at this man -- and clearly succeeded. Though from what he understands what they were likely after, that stands to reason.

Glancing over the nearby downed drones he studies them for a moment before turning to the others. "I will do recon, make sure that we are alone," he says, the mutant vanishing an instant later in an inky cloud of darkness, the scent of brimestone and that tell-tale *bamf* sound.

Roy Harper has posed:
Arsenal likes video games and he also likes gadgets, all kinds of gadgets, and fiddling with and creating them is one of his particular favorite pass-times. And so a mansion all set up like a giant video game set with all manner of whatsits and doodads just waiting to be poked at sounds like a pretty interesting evening. He takes note of the items pointed out, the cameras and the mention of a local server as Team Arrow makes their way in from the opposite side of the property.

"Sounds like it," he confirms quietly. He's got his bow slung over one shoulder and a number of different arrows nearby at hand. "We expecting company?" he asks, assuming that the answer to that is likely: no.

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
Adorned in her leathers, Quiver takes a few quick running steps at the wall to propel herself up atop it. From the higher vantage point she surveys the estate that looks like something from a minor war zone. Her outfit is quite similar to that of Green Arrow, just cut for a woman. For the moment her collapsible bow is on her hip along with one quiver, while another store of arrows hangs on her back.

"So a video game maker. This looks like it was a lot of firepower on both sides for someone like that," she says, her voice altered to not sound like that of Vanessa Carlysle.

She looks over the scene, borrowed skills gained on Lianyu and other places helping her read the scene of the battle. After a few long moments, she says, "Looks like the fight started at the back and progressed to the house." She pauses and looks at the security station that is nearer by. "Two dark patches on the ground here, but later in the fight. There were responding to what was going on at the house, headed that way," she says, pointing out the spot.

Green Arrow's warning brings her hand to her own bow, the telescoping weapon expanding to a useable form. She spreads out, dropping inside the wall and moving along it so the members of Team Arrow aren't bunched up. "Battle's long gone. Someone returning for something they missed?" she asks quietly over comms. She waits to follow Green Arrow's lead on moving forward.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
The green energy of Amanda's portal fades out with motes and bubbles of light. She glances at her companions and turns around to survey the scene. "Well. Someone didn't have much of a care for the decor, did they?" The stones beneath her feet are buckled and the scorch marks from the crashed drones and heat rays leave deep scars in white concrete.

There is a sense of magic here. It's not strong, but it's tied to the source of the powers that destroyed this place and is sensed as flickers of 'wrongness' in the aether, hanging over the mansion like a fog.

As the Arrows ease their way onto the estate and start poking around, Amanda nods to Kurt. No doubt the fuzzy blue mutant will bump into the dark clad archers before anyone else does. Fortunately, he can *bamf* away just as quickly, if they turn out to be hostile archers. "See what you can find out here, Cap," she tells Britain, as he starts evaluating the state of destruction on the lawn. "I'm taking the girls inside. If the tablet was here, it'll have been kept inside."

And it seems to her the best place to start is through that broken balcony door above them. She lifts from the air, and gestures to Pepper and Nessa, offering to float them up with her. It's much faster than trying to break in on the ground level and fumbling around in the dark.

Brian Braddock has posed:
"Fine, I will be right in," the large Englishman replies as he goes down to one knee. A hand reaches up to a pouch and undoes the clasp with a tiny click. Out comes a small flashlight and Captain Britain begins to inspect the grass, hoping to find some bit of evidence that might have been overlooked due to its position off the beaten path.

"Let me know if you need me," he mutters, almost as an afterthought.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
As the musician gets a view of the gate area, he takes note of the vehicles. He takes extra note of the oddly dressed persons seemingly going inside, and it doesn't look like they're empty handed either. Nick frowns, coming to a stop. Hmm. Maybe just walking up would be a bad thing.

Curiousity piqued but not quite feeling suicidal, he turns, walking over to some excessively done and conveniently placed landscaping. A rockstar goes in. There's the slightest of rustles from the bushes as a 26 inch tall raven struts on out.

Blink. Blink.

Wings spreading out to its three foot span, the purplish black covid takes to the air over the estate to get a full look at what's going on in the real life video game set. Not only are there three- are those bows? - Yep bows. - archers, there appears to be a group outside. What is everyone up to? The raven flies down towards the balcony.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Yep, already don't like the feel of this place," Nessa's frowning. "Something strong certainly hit this place like a sack of bricks." She gives a nod to Amanda--she's certainly ready for the easy entrance rather than trying to make things complicated. She's good with the lift. She does, however, note the raven and certainly look concerned.

"I certainly hope you're just a bird." Her eyes narrow. "Just. A. Bird."

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper had met the small group at least before they'd departed, though she knows Kurt a little more and is more than passing familiar with the fact that he does teleport. His appearance has fallen into the 'normal' category for her, and once one gets past that? A smile is given to the mutant, with the admonishment, "Be careful. He does have a backup generator in here, so just because the power is off, doesn't mean it's off.. off."

There is decidedly a 'not right' feel to it; even the tower doesn't feel like this after a couple of mishaps. She steps lightly, almost in the form of a tip-toe.

"If this was post-party, I'm glad we weren't invited.." is murmured. "Be careful," is also given to Captain Britain, "He's got wires underground, too, though he charted it as 'lights'." Obviously, they weren't.

The offer to alight up to the balcony is greeted with a quick nod. This'll be easy, right? Taking a step forward for the float, it's a really strange sensation.. and there's a moment when she looks a little unsteady. Her hands reach out in a move to try and rebalance herself before feet hit solid ground again, on the balcony. Green eyes look to Amanda and her brows rise, "Okay.." not out of surprise, but more.. 'going to have to work on that'.

Oliver Queen has posed:
"Maybe thieves..." Ollie whispers through the comms to Vanessa. And then it's time for hand gestures instead of talking. To circle around, zone in on where those sounds were heard originally. Quiet and deadly archers, step by step..

Of course that running across a teleporter while they are /BAMFing/ around is one of those things that no amount of stealth can prepare someone to. So when Kurt just .., appears.., there is a tension of shoulders, the bow ready but no arrow is launched. Some glimmer of recognition comes to his expression even if he may have known the mutant as Oliver Queen and not exactly as the Arrow.

"What are you doing here?" The voice modulator doing wonders to disguise his voice. The bow is lowered though and he gestures to the others with him. A motion that this should not be an enemy.

"I am Green Arrow. This is Arsenal and Quiver." he says of his companions. And of course now that he is talking the voice will most likely be heard by the rest of the explorers.

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
Vanessa Carlysle slips an arrow out of her quiver and fits it to the bow, the movement so physically engrained in her head she barely thinks of doing it. She moves forward, carefully and stealthily. She's to Green Arrow's right, or to someone looking from the house, on the left of the man in the center. She swings a wider arc which also takes her towards some of the signs of the previous fight.

"Arsenal, you ever play this guy's video game? Any of these robots look related to it," she whispers over comms as she gets a view of a dog-like robot. She moves on past it after noting how cleanly it's been sliced in two.

She moves up closer to the house, eyes sweeping back and forth looking for those Green Arrow spotted. The raven? Just a bird as far as she's concerned, noted but dismissed as quickly as it was seen.

Roy Harper has posed:
"Yeah, I've played a couple of his games," Arsenal nods and says, "I mean, the whole place is set up like one of the sets from the game. I don't see anything that looks /out/ of place yet, but I'll let you know if I do."

Arsenal moves quickly and quietly along with the others, making his way up toward the house until suddenly they come face to face with someone doing recon, themselves. His own bow comes up, but like Green Arrow, he does not fire, either. Instead, he waits, and when the Arrow lowers his bow, so does Arsenal.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
Of course the grounds should be deserted given that the SCPD is apparently done with it for the time being and one has to presume that whoever is responsible for all of this got what they wanted too -- whether the death of an exxentric billionaire or a piece of a powerful magical artifact. The chances of anyone poking around *should* be low. But better safe then sorry is more then a cliche in this particular field. And besides, if Kurt sticks too close to the others he would inevitably fall into playing the Noir detective. No one really needs that right now.

*Bamf*. That inky smoke swirls for just a moment up on the rooftop of the mansion, dissipating almost immediately as if carried away on some unseen breeze and Nightcrawler perches on the ledge of the east side of the house, the shadows already thick there, that indigo fur blending in as if not there at all. He peers out over the grounds for a moment, those keen yellow eyes peering out through the gathering gloom as if it were still midday. And then that *bamf* sounds again and he is gone. A half-dozen more times that tell-tale little pop sounds as the mutant teleporter rapidly makes his way across the ground. The comm system, helpfully provided by Pepper -- go Stark Tech! -- lets him check in with the others on Amanda's little expedition. "There's a SUV and a motorcycle out near the front of the estate. Curious place to park. Keep an eye out. We might not be as alone as we thought," the fuzzy blue elf reports in before continuing his survey of the estate grounds. *Bamf*.

While there are always any number of perches -- be they trees, or fences or structures -- on grounds like this that usually serve as his preferred arrival point, that's not always possible. Which is why he arrives on the ground, in a crouch just in front of the Green Arrow and his companions. Kurt too is a little taken aback though when an attack is not immediately launched despite the nocked bow he pauses and does not immediately teleport away. The commline he leaves open however. "Ahhhh. We are looking into the death of the man who lived here," he offers up, not entirely inaccurately, if not the entire truth. It's not his to share, not without being sure about there. "We mean no harm. You may call me Nightcrawler. Or Kurt, if you do not favor such elaborate codenames," he says with a smile and a dip of his head.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
The real problem with finding evidence in the grass is that it's been burned, soaked, and trampled. It soon becomes clear the interior of buildings will have greater secrets to yield than the battleground outside. Nevertheless, if one assumes that Crowne's guards were just regular joes and his defenses were largely technological, it becomes evident fairly quickly that the aggressors must have had considerable elemental power to be able to manipulate the water and fire so thoroughly.

Amanda sets her friends gently down on the ruined balcony, close to the shattered glass door. When Nessa mentions a bird, Amanda glances up to see the raven. "If that's the Asgardian," she says dryly, "I'm going home." No, she's not really serious. But it does give some indication of how irritating she's starting to find Loki -- and she's only met him twice! "But, you're right. There was magic here. And it's been twisted."

She glances over to Pepper. "You got the house layout on that thing? The bedroom through here looks a mess, but I'm betting that's not where his treasures were kept."

She lays a finger against her ear when Kurt reports in. "Company?" The answer to that question becomes evident when she hears him introducing himself to the interlopers. "Friends, maybe?" She can hope. "If they're here to help, invite them up. If not? Cap, you can lend Kurt a hand, in that case?" She's hopeful they'll be friends.

All that said and done, she steps through the broken glass door and looks around the ruined bedroom. Her feet crunch on the glass and there is a stain on the rug on the far side of the bed where Henley died. The walls all show signs of distress, like the plumbing throughout the house had an epileptic fit and tried to shake itself out of the drywall.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Having settled on the balcony, the bird does back up a bit as it looks like Amanda and friends have made their way up there. But, they're all familiar faces. As Nessa looks directly to him, the raven tilts his head, looking between Pepper, Nessa, and Amanda.

"FYI, several archers entered the property just a bit ago," Nick's voice pops out of the bird, "So you're not a-." He pauses as Oliver's voice ends up reaching over to them. His head tilts, wings dramatically gesturing towards the voice. "-not alone."

He sighs, looking to the three getting the feeling his avian form is not welcome here. He shifts back to his rocker persona, going from being the shortest on the balcony to the tallest. "Okay. What's going on? This isn't going to involve any more smelly raft rides, is it?"

Brian Braddock has posed:
"Right," Brian replies as he gets to his feet and grimaces. Nothing here. He turns and begins to walk back from where he came in hopes of meeting up with Kurt, when he realizes there are newcomers.

He plays dumb.

"Evenin, squires. Quite the mess we got here, hmm?" Captain Britain says jovially, all the while closing the distance to bring Kurt backup should he need it.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa's at least used to the magic forms of transportation by now. Bread and butter, even if it's not something she actually does personally. She gives a reassuring smile in Pepper's direction at noting the unsteadiness. "That gets more fun later," she offers as an aside. Some magic takes some getting used to. She shoots a glance to Amanda, then towards the bird, tensing up as there's a voice, but it instantly eases when it's not the voice she was half-expecting.

"Oh thank god," she shakes her head. "Thank you for being you." It doesn't seem like she's surprised by the fact that there's a talking bird (there are a lot of things you start ot get used to), as well as the fact it's giving a warning. "Okay, right, don't get shot." She follows Amanda into the bedroom, carefully avoiding what glass she can as she moves a little closer to check out the distressed walls. "Elemental magic certainly makes sense..."

Pepper Potts has posed:
"I just hope it doesn't become easier?" Because, well, that'd mean she does it a lot. And 'a lot' isn't really her forte!

Kurt's voice coming out of the coms, then joined by the //other// Captain brings her attention around to Amanda and Nessa, her lips pressing together in a grimace for a moment. Then, the report of archers out of the mouth .. beak .. of a raven? This isn't quite bordering on 'weird', but strange? Yes. But Pepper is dealing well with strange. "Archers.. pretty sure Clint's not here."

Pepper's got the footprint of the house, level by level, on her tablet, the schematics showing pipes, wiring, and whatever cameras Crowne had submitted. She steps through the broken glass, the sheetrock and boards that had turned to shards with the plumbing explosion.

"I have it.." and she steps forward so she's near the pair of ladies, showing off the floorplan gained from insurance brokers past and present, building logs, permits for renovation, all collated by HOMER for her use.

When the bird turns into Drago, though.. that does earn a brows rise. "That's new."

Oliver Queen has posed:
"Very well, Kurt." Ollie lowers the bow fully, not exactly appearing to be with the intent of shooting the teleporter. "We are doing the same, looking for clues on what happened.." he pauses on what he is saying when Brian approaches. Another superhero by the looks of that suit. He dips his head in a greeting. "Hopefully one we will get to the bottom of. And you are?"

But then it's time to get to work. Find clues! "Arsenal, can you take a look inside and find out if there's a server room? We would need to look for camera footage, it could offer clues." he ponders for a moment. "I am guessing it will be behind some hidden door or the police would had found it by now." and really, he assumes there's a load of them around considering how excentric Henley was.

"Quiver, can you check on what we can find as evidence? Everything helps."

Then a gesture and he asks Kurt and Brian. "Who else is with you?" he begins to walk inside the house.

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
Quiver moves in nearer to where Green Arrow is talking to Kurt Wagner, and soon to Captain Britain as he emerges from the house. She keeps an eye on the mansion for signs of others that might emerge. Her arrow is knocked but the bow has been kept lowered the whole time.

She doesn't say anything at first, letting Green Arrow do the talking. She recognizes Nightcrawler from memories of having seen him before, but nothing more than that.

As Green Arrow hands out tasks, the masked woman gives a nod of her head. "Hello, Kurt," she offers, and then a nod towards Captain Britain before her attention turns back to archer prime. "I'll start with the back where it looks like it started," she says, taking one last glance at the two men before leaving Green Arrow alone with them and trotting to where the fight started. She begins working her way forward, retracing the battle.

Roy Harper has posed:
"On it," Arsenal says after giving a grin and a bit of a salute to Kurt. "I'm calling you Nightcrawler because that sounds more badass." Then he eyes Brian up and down, giving a sidelong glance at Green Arrow when the man calls them 'squires', "Don't give him any ideas."

And then he's off, making his way toward the house to go hunt up whatever computer hardware he can find inside, and possibly any booby traps along the way with all the excitement and twitch-reflexes of, well, a teenage boy.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
Starling City is a little outside Kurt's stomping grounds -- though when one teleports, even only about five miles at a time -- no place is entirely out of reach. But he has not visited before. Though he does have a rooftop friend from the area! Still, he considers himself a fairly good judge of character -- even of costumed folks wielding weapons -- and he is fairly certain that they have no real need to be at odds here..

While Kurt might look a little intimidating or threatening on first glance given that faintly demonic countenance and the hint of fang that gleams in the fading light of the day it might help that Brian shows up to back him up. He, at least, looks every bit what one would expect of a hero and if that Union Jack inspired costume doesn't scream local, it at least looks very noble and heroic. "This is Captain Britain. We are old friends," he says with a smile for the other man, rising from that crouch as it becomes clear that no one is going to try and pepper him with arrows. "There are several of us here," he says, pressing a finger to his ear for a moment before adding, "And if you are interested in meeting them I can certainly take you to them. One of them could certainly explain our interest in this matter," he offers up. "A pleasure to meet you both," he offers up to Arsenal and Quiver as well.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
As the raven becomes a man she recognizes, one who *isn't* Asgardian, a wry smile touches Amanda's lips. Like Nessa, she relaxes noticeably. "Fancy meeting you here, healer." She remembers it was his magic, his idea, that gave them all room to breathe -- quite literally. "I'm hoping no more raft rides." She eyes the walls. "I suppose it may depend on whether or not someone turned off the water." But, hey. She can always create more boards for air surfing, if that happens.

She'd make introductions for him... but she doesn't actually remember his name. (That doesn't mean she didn't know it at one point, however.) He's sorta become known as 'Raven Guy' in her thoughts. "We're looking into the death of the man who owned all this. It may have ties to other attacks." Attacks on a friend of hers, no less.

She looks over to the floorplan Pepper offers, now. "Looks like we want to start in the basement," she says finally. "'Gallery', it says. And with all those security systems around it? I'm betting that's the vault. We can come back up to the tech room." Her focus is more on the artifacts than the security footage. But she knows others may pick up the information she misses.

The server room Arsenal heads for is on the main floor, behind largely untouched oak panneling off a swank executive office/games room. Because, seriously, this guy Henley had all the latest gaming tech. He makes Ready Player One look amateurish... But still looks like an amateur compared to Stark.

Again, Amanda keys her com. "Kurt, Cap, we're heading into the basement. You can bring your new friends there, if they care to come." Or, you know, let them do what they're going to do. As long as they don't get in the way, Amanda's all good with it. Better to have more heroes than less, if the badguys come back.

Brian Braddock has posed:
"Captain Britain, as Kurt mentioned. And I think I heard you mention that you were Green Arrow. A pleasure, of course. Wish it were under better circumstances." He tilts his head to Roy as if he's about to say something, but then appears to think better of it.

Cap walks alongside Oliver into the house as he goes to meet the others. "It sounds as if Daytripper would like us to accompany the other party down in the basement."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa looks to Pepper, then at the blueprints on the tablet. "If the pipes in here close enougth to the interior electrical? If someone's controlling the water, they could've gotten to that fairly easily." She glances back to Amanda and their 'raven' friend. "No raft rides. Hope you prefer ice skating."

She nods. "Basement it is. I'll keep aware in case there's something a little more potent than magical residue lurking around."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
"The hoverboards were cool though." Nick reaches into a pocket, pulling out a hair tie as he starts to try flattening out his hair enough to pull it back to a pony tail. "But yes, like Nessa said, don't get shot. I can't do that stuff. Might be able to help with a vault though." He looks to Pepper, giving a bit of a smile, and a partial shrug, while listening to Amanda's summary, "If you guys are looking into it, I'm guessing the burn marks and the flood damage outside was not someone with a flame thrower and a fire hose then?"

As the band snaps in place, he looks to Nessa curiously "For being me? Who did you think I was?"

Pepper Potts has posed:
Nick is given a smile and a shrug; in this form, Pepper's met him before. Things one learns about people!

Green Arrow? Quiver? Arsenal? Nope.. not Clint. Pepper'd read a few things from the papers in Starling City (she keeps up on news!) and has heard of an arching 'vigilante', so.. put one and one together?

The floorplan is easily shared between them, and Pepper is more than happy to follow the guide, checking out connections. "There are a couple of hardened areas down there. Like, bulkheads. Hardpoints.. whatever you call them. I think they're tethers for whatever he may have, so we'll need to keep an eye out."

And if it's to the basement they need, Pepper's headed to the basement!

Oliver Queen has posed:
"Good to meet you, Captain. And likewise." Even if Ollie does smirk when Arsenal comments about the 'squires'. Now there's an idea! But he soon sobers up, looking at Kurt, "Lead on." he says, "My companions can look into the security footage. Have you found anything here so far?" he asks and begins to follow Kurt along towards the .., basement? Well, that could be the start of an horror story..

To the comms he says. "Quiver, I also believe we went by a security station by the gate, if you want to look into it when you are done tracing back the crime scene." he murmurs. "When you are both done join up in the basement. Keep me posted on what's going on."

When they join up with the rest of the 'gang' he will dip his head in a greeting. He is a well-mannered vigilante at least!

Roy Harper has posed:
"Sweet game room," Arsenal can be heard noting over comms to Green Arrow and Quiver as he wanders through it, examining the tech and the games that are there. He'll make his way over to the office and the server room, but this guy was all about games. And so he inspects those first, taking a few moments to fiddle or poke at any particularly interesting gadgetry in the games room before he makes his way back to the office.

Then, it's a matter of some careful scrutiny and experimentation. His brow furrows a bit as he runs gloved fingers along the walls, around the paneling, over the decorative elements in the office. Eventually, after methodically making a sweep of the room he finds that spot behind the untouched oak paneling that leads to the server room. "Jackpot," he grins. And into the server room he goes. "I could play in here for weeks.." but all commentary aside, Arsenal does seem focused on looking through anything that might stand out.

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
Quiver moves off from her companions, taking her time moving through the grounds, crouching here and there to look at debris, bloodstains and tracks. She runs her fingers through some discolored dirt, bringing it to her nose to sniff and then dusts her hands and continues on.

She reaches the far wall, taking a few running steps at it and then parkouring over it and disappearing outside. It's a little while, but not a terribly long time before she returns back over the wall in the same fashion. This time she heads towards the mansion, continuing that slow searching of the area the battle took place.

She says over comms to Green Arrow and Arsenal, <<So there's four main sets of prints outside the wall. One seems to be the source of the laser fire. The other I'd guess caused the water damage. The other two I'm not sure if they fought, or how. One of those two, I don't see any tracks after they approached the wall.>>

Quiver clears her throat. <<There's more tracks though. Things with clawed feet, but bipedal. Could be a mutant, enhanced, or something worse. A lot of them. They are all over the place, too many to count for sure but I have found a couple that can be distinguished by the shape of their claws, so it's definitely not just one or two of them. Heading to the security station then.>> With that she jogs back over to the station at the gate to check it out.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
Well that would seem to be that. Just listening to the trio interact it seems fairly apparent that these three are of similar ilk to themselves. And while none of them might have 'official' standing to be here, they clearly are the locals. Kurt is also fairly certain they are more interested in the attack and murder then the possibility of a stolen mysical relic so their purposes should not come into conflict per se.

"Understood Daytripper. We shall join you shortly. At least some of us," Kurt replies quietly over the comm before turning his attention back towards the others. "I believe speaking with her might give you a greater understanding of just what is truly going on here. There may be more to this then the murder of an eccentric billionaire," he says gently. "If you are willing I can take you there now," he says, motioning Brian close as well as extending a hand to the Green Arrow. "There may be something of significance in the basement and I am sure my friends will be quite interested in what your team might find on the security systems," he says.

For those willing, Kurt smiles briefly and offers up somewhat reassuringly, "This might be a little disorienting at first," he says. And then there is that *Bamf*, that hint of brimsone and they reappear mere feet from Amanda and Co.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
"It's okay," Amanda tells Raven Guy. "If anyone gets shot, I can heal that." As long as it's not her. If she gets shot, Pepper better still have the healing potions she gave her.

She nods to Pepper's words, making her way down the ruined hallway and toward the stairs that will -- eventually -- get them into the basement. "If the rest of the house has fared as badly as the outside grounds, I expect the biggest problem we'll have accessing the vault will be debris, rather than technology." But, you never know.

She's not wrong. Much of the lower building is untouched -- hence the easy time Arsenal has in the games room. Getting into the computers themselves will require a deft touch, however. While Henley Crowne was no Tony Stark, he still knew his cybersecurity. On that server, however, are backups of the latest games he's been working on, the (non-sentient) AI that controls the smart systems in the home, a backup of all the camera footage from the security system, and the controls for the automated defenses. The smarthome system is the easiest to hack. The games locker and camera footage a little harder. The autodefenses, however, do present a decent challenge to most hackers.

Presently, standing in front of the busted vault door, a clever contraption made to resemble an ordinary door, Amanda glances over her shoulder as Kurt and Co *bamf* in. She smiles. "Welcome to the party."

Beyond her, past the gaping hole that was once the vault door, is Henley's art room. Although ruined, it is more like a carpeted private museum than anything else. The space is large, divided into small display rooms that would impress The Collector, were he inclined to visit such a backwater planet as this. However, the Crowne's tastes would leave such a connoiseur profoundly disappoitned. Most of the objects within the displays are still there and, by Collector standards, terribly pedestrian -- either replicas or forgeries -- not that their erstwhile owner ever realized that. There are still a few scores from the online auctions of defunct sci-fi tv program sets and video game props on display. But a busted glass case sits in one of the display areas, a white pedestal sat within in under a broken cluster of directional LED lamps designed to show it off to best effect. Whatever was there? It's gone.

There's a broken plaque on the floor: 'Stone tablet. Ancient Thrace circa 300 B.C.E.'

Brian Braddock has posed:
"Seems like that's what they were looking for," Captain Britain says as he emerges from the teleportation. He walks slowly around the collections before coming upon the broken plaque.

His eyes search the floor to see if there are any more parts from the pedestals remnants or any more information.

Looking to Amanda, Brian tries to gauge her impressions of what they're seeing.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Nick wanders along quietly, listening to the information given as the ladies lead the way. He's not entirely sure if he'll be much help but, since Strange he's just learned to just go with it when he comes across these situations. Things just happen.

"Alright. You got arrows to the knee and bullet wounds. I'll get sickness, nightmares, and w-"

Ok there's no door. Don't have to walk through things. That's a plus.

As Kurt appears with persons in tow, and the green hooded one gives a nod towards them. The performer pauses, before returning the nod. Okay. He knew someone was coming. But not that quickly, that close, and definitely not like that.

....

That was a good entrance. Respect.

Pepper Potts has posed:
See, if the biggest issue is going to be technology, Pepper's good for it! That tablet isn't only good for schematics. Her abilites are often underestimated in her role of 'Personal Assistant' because that means she's just an overpaid, glorified secretary, right? She's learned a few things along the way, and that does include how to use her system to try and hack controls and consoles.

There's the sad part. It's more debris than tech. Stepping over a lot of the concrete mess, Pepper does join the group in what could be a 'selfie shot in a group pic'. "This is sad." Pepper looks over the no-longer curated mess. "But.." and there lies the tag for the tablet.

"It was a direct hit."

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
Quiver makes it to the security booth at the gate. She eyes the smashed in windows from the outside and then moves into it carefully. <<Hrm, power's out but there are some security systems here. Let me see if I can get the power back on,>> she says over comms to update Green Arrow and Arsenal.

It takes a bit of hunting but she eventually finds a hidden fusebox for the security booth. It's locked, but her set of picks make quick work of it. <<Ok, fusebox reached. And now I just need to flip the circuit bre->>

The pew pew of laser fire suddenly can be heard through Vanessa's comms as a pair of turrets, knocked out when the power to the area was taken out, come back to life. In the server room where Roy is, a screen showing the status of the defense network flashes a red rectangle by the front gate and two little turret icons light up red. At the same time Vanessa can be heard grunting over the sound of the laser fire as if she hit something, or it hit her.

<<Pinned down by a pair of turrets that came back on,>> she says, crouching behind a tree she dove behind, and is now trying to make herself as skinny as possible as the turrets shoot the tree relentlessly. Each shot causes wood to score and go flying off the trunk, reducing the size of Quiver's cover with every shot!

Oliver Queen has posed:
"Wait a---" Oliver goes to say when Kurt gets close. Damn it, he knew it! Totally an horror story! And then they *bamf* right close to the rest of the group. And -now- he does offer a nod to them after a moment to steady himself. Teleporters.., brrr. "That's one way to join up with them..." he says to Kurt with a small chuckle.

"Well hello. And quite the party, mmm?" his eyes roam the group, at least one face he recognizes in Pepper. Some surprise registers there, perhaps not expecting this assortment of people together.

"So what is your interest in this?" He inquires, looking around the art room with a quirked brow until they settle on the empty pedestal. A stone tablet? That certainly does not bode well..

Listening to the reports from Quiver he nods but then there's ..., turrets? "Quiver, get out of there. Do you need assistance?"

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper isn't a master hacker, per se. He's got some skill and is definitely an electronics and gadget fiddler, a creator of things, a deconstructor of things, but hacking-the-gibson isn't entirely his strong suit. And so it is that he starts fiddling around with the system, seeing what he can get into. It takes him a little bit to get into the smart home system, but soon he can turn lights on and off around the place. On, off, on, off. Hope no one has a problem with strobe lights. Once he's done with that, he begins fiddling a bit with an attempt to get further into the servers, to see what else he can get into. He could be there a while, tongue poking out one side of his mouth slightly as he concentrates, swiveling back and forth in the chair that he sits in as he tries to pull up more information on the monitors.

The sudden blinking of the defense network screen showing the front gate turret draws his attention and he says, "Uh oh.. Look out Quiver. Hang in there I'm.. uh.. this could take a minute." He attempts to disable the turrets but that doesn't seem to be working. Overriding them directly requires a key he doesn't have. Poke. Poke. Poke poke. Maybe he can use the smart home system to cut the power to the.. or maybe divert power to the... maybe overload the... thoughts race through his mind as Quiver's cover is slowly being reduced and he tries to... there! **ZZOORRCH** Okay, so he isn't in the security system quite yet, but he manages to overload enough power outside the security area that it temporarily takes out the turrets. "I don't know how long you've got, but they're down for now. I'm still trying to get into the defense system."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa gives Nick a glance at his question about who she (and Amanda) thought the raven was. "Someone who likes to complicate things and use other people." There's certainly a sour note to her tone. "Believe me, you are a /much/ better alternative." While she's aware that there's someone around who can teleport, it's one thing to know that and another to see people abruptly appearing nearby. There's always a touch of tension when it comes to surprises.

There's the gallery to look at, however, and so she focuses on that rather quickly. She doesn't pay much attention to the rest of the objects, instead making her way towards a particular spot. "Don't mean to alarm anyone, but something came in or out right about here, a portal if I'm making a reasonable assumption. It was definitely something /really/ not good. Dark."

Kurt Wagner has posed:
While Nick is unfamiliar to him he very much doubts he would be here -- however he got here -- if Amanda was not aware of him. That is enough for him. As they rejoin the main group in the entrance of the compromised vault Kurt flashes that grin towards Green Arrow. At least it was only the one jump. That can be an unwelcome surprise. Multiple rapid jumps generally are... considerably worse for those that Kurt carries along.

The fuzzy blue elf does pad into the vault for the moment, glancing over the assorted collection -- a moment's appreciation given to some of the entertainment memorbilia as he can at least appreciate a fellow fan -- before turning his gaze over towards exhibit that is a particular interest. For just a moment as he looks over that plaque, that shattered display, the indigo-furred mutant fingers the golden necklace that dangles almost imperceptably around his neck, contemplating the scene in silence.

The he hears Oliver, gaze snapping up. "I will go retrieve her if someone can deal with the turrets," he says, unaware that Arsenal is seeing to just that. Another *Bamf* and he is back out in the tree line, standing just in front of Quiver, hand extended. "Come with me if you want to live," he offers up with an impish grin. Sure, he's a fan of the golden age of Hollywood. That doesn't mean he can't appreciate some more modern movie classics.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
"The two attacks *must* be related," Amanda says, agreeing with both Brian and Pepper, her expression grim. "And given the magic drenching this place?" She sighs. It's not a happy sound. The concern in her eyes has deepened considerably.

She regards Oliver, now. "I believe," she says for both his benefit and Nick's, "that the attack here is related to one experienced by a friend of mine. Mr. Crowne died here. My friend nearly died in my arms. I'm trying to find out who did it and stop them."

Before she can explain more, however, Arrow is reacting to Quiver's distress. "Where is she? Nightcrawler can you--?" She doesn't even need to finish her sentence. He's already away, the scent of sulphur dissappating in his wake. "He'll get her," she tells Oliver.

It's only with that reassurance that she's able to step further into the vault, closer to where Nessa has gone. "I sense it, too," she says softly. Her lips purse in thought. She glances between Nessa and Nick, and even to some of the others she knows well. "I may..." she says slowly, "be able to reconstruct what happened here." Magically, she means. "But, I'm going to need help."

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
Quiver has a scorch mark on one arm, the leathered armor of her costume having taken some of the hit, but not enough that it didn't get through and leave her with an unpleasant burn.

As she hears Arsenal say he's shut down the turrets for at least a moment, and indeed they stop firing, she starts to steel herself against the pain in her arm to lean around the tree and take a shot at one of the turrets. But then she hears that *bamf* sound and catches the smell of brimstone.

The masked young woman whirls her head back around to see Nightcrawler there, offering his hand. She goes with her instincts and reaches out to take his hand quickly.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Nick looks over to Nessa. "I'm not sure if I should be glad for the rating above this person or concerned that I was even mistaken for them at all."

A glance is given around the room, looking to a few set pieces before looking back to Amanda as she speaks, frowning at the mention of the friend. As she goes into her request, Nick gives a nod, "Alright, what do you need us to do?"

Pepper Potts has posed:
The arrival of Green Arrow and Kurt gets Pepper's attention immediately, and she whips her head around at the sound of the *bamf*, wrinkling her nose at the immediate scent of sulfur. Still, it's the 'good guys', and eventually maybe she'll get used to it? It's like... burning electronics. Somewhat familiar there. She cants her head to look at the man in the green, cowled suit before she nods a greeting.

It's what Nessa says next, about magic- no, dark magic that is within.

Pepper's got no magic ability at all. Her skills are purely.. administrative, technical and she does yoga and spars with someone once a week? "I don't think this is going to show up in auction any time soon," she murmurs. "If it's tracked magically, won't it trigger magic alarms?" Maybe not using the arcane might be an idea?

Oliver Queen has posed:
With Roy bringing out the hacker in himself it makes Ollie let out an exhale of relief when it does appear the danger is gone.., for now. "Good job, Arsenal." he says in a gruff tone, jaw tightening briefly. He looks up with a nod to Amanda and goes to confirm about the help but .., Kurt is already gone. "Thank you." he says to Amanda, a brief hint of distress in his voice..

Not that he isn't paying attention to what is being shared about the room, the conclusions being given about the attack... He offers his own look about the room even if not exactly the magickal type to help in the reconstruction. Instead it's more about using his own expertise to track on what happened about the place...

All this while he waits for the others to return with their own reports as well.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"He likes ravens. An easy mistake. Especially flying around a situation like this," Nessa offers to Mike before she looks back to Amanda. "I can funnel some magic in, if that's what you need." While her magic tends to be oriented towards ice, there can be a lot done simply by adding magical energy to something or someone else. That's something she can manage just fine. She nods. "He's right, just direct us how to help and we will."

Kurt Wagner has posed:
That turret fire dies almost before Kurt emerges from... wherever it is he goes when he is moving through great expanses of space like others might step through a doorway. There is an instant of crouching there right in front of Quiver as a shower of splinters dusts the ground around them, shielding his eyes with one hand before that barrage fades away. "Your friends certainly have a good sense of timing," he says cheerily before his expression grows a little more serious as he notes the scorched leather. "Lets get that taken care of for you. If you've ever played an RPG I suspect that you will greatly enjoy this next part. Who wouldn't like the idea of a healing potion? Way better then a doctor in a bottle.

"This might be just a little disorienting," he warns, giving Quiver just a moment but not wanting to linger too long just in case those turrets start up again. Then, once more the mutant teleporter vanishes from sight as that inky cloud begins to rapidly dissipate in their wake... ...and they reappear in the basement once more. "Pepper, I am given to understand that you have certain magical refreshments that could handle this," Kurt says, motioning towards Quiver's injury as he straightens up once more to try and catch up on what's going on. He knows no magic himself of course, but has had the advantage of being arround it all his life growing up with Amanda and her mother. The questions he saves for now, though ready to jump in as needed.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
"Can you get us the footage?" Amanda asks Pepper, pausing to allow the redhead a moment to heal Quiver with a handy pink potion (tastes like cherries, of course). There is worry in her blue eyes. "Maybe with Arsenal in the server room? I want to see what our attackers looked like. I want to know who they are. Failing that... I think between Nessa, Raven, and I, we may have enough power to at least get a sense of who activated the portal. It's a risk, yes, but the sooner we know who's behind this, the sooner we'll have a chance of knowing what the end-game is."

She knows that won't comfort her friend. She also knows it will probably take Pepper out of the room -- and away from the greatest amount of danger, if the spell backfires.

Really, she'd send everyone out of the room, if she thought she could. But, it doesn't hurt to have fighters on hand as backup.

She reaches out her hands to Nick and Nessa. Taking those hands, she then begins a tracing spell on the remnants of that portal. Eldritch energy swirls around them, the edges of the portal becoming visible like an unexpected hotspot dissolving a film frame.

Brian Braddock has posed:
It appears that the room has taken a magical turn, and although the dark arts are how Brian received his powers, he's not attuned to it the way the others are. Once Amanda speaks of the footage, Brian starts to make his way towards where Pepper is, hopeful that he could look over her shoulder and see the footage as she finds it.

Roy Harper has posed:
"Quiver okay?" Roy asks as he continues to tap tap away in the server room. He's got the simple smart home AI pretty much mastered, but the game locker and the security footage is a little harder to get into and that takes much longer, so that's what he's been doing while everyone else continues to work on tracking down evidence, and portals, and magical artifacts. "Did I hear someone can help with the security footage? Because.. gonna be honest, I wouldn't mind a little assist up here. I'll get it.. but it's going to take me a while." Sure, he could bravado it up, but that's not going to do them all any good.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Quiver's appearance means that Pepper does need to attend the wound. She winces in sympathetic pain, and sets her tablet down to the side as she pats pockets for both some gauze, and yes.. that cherry viscous stuff that looks very, very much like an RPG healing potion (not that she actually plays games! Who has time?!)

Fishing both out of pockets, she hands Quiver the 'healing potion' (guh!) and retakes the tablet.

Pepper looks over at Amanda and cants her head before she smirks. "Hacking. Right." Considering Stark Tower is years ahead of this particular tech CEO (in her humble opinion), she's pretty confident in her abilities. "I can do that."

Moving off to the server room, Pepper pops her head in first after dodging and moving through debris fields. "Hey," and she introduces herself. "Just.. call me Pepper. Everyone else does." She does NOT look like a magic person or a combatant, even if she is dressed in black. It might be the freckles. "Heard you could use a hand in here?" Stepping in now, she has her tablet in hand, but she's pulling wires, small cables from her pocket. "Fill me in, and we'll get this going..."

Oliver Queen has posed:
With Quiver and Kurt *bamfing* back into the room his attention goes immediately to the duo, watching the burn mark with a small frown. The talk about magical refreshments from Kurt does make him sort of stare at him..., and then it's actually presented by Pepper. Well then!

But no comment out of him. Let them handle the magicky stuff. He does stay in the room though, speaking through the comms to Roy. "A bit battered up, but she will live. And yes, someone on the way to assist you."

The start of the magic ritual does make him bring out his bow again, just in case there's a need. They did speak of magical alarms afterall.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Risky or not, Nessa's certainly in for the challenge. She wouldn't have come if she wasn't. Her gloved hand takes Amanda's and she focuses her magical energy into the spell, giving as much as seems to be needed. She keeps her senses aware in the process, just in case something magical decides to crop up on them in the process.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
"Ah. Well, can't fault him for liking ravens I guess." Nick muses, giving a shrug. Looking over as Kurt bamfs back in, talking to Pepper. A glance shifts over to Quiver for a few moments before Amanda's voice jars him back to focus on the task at hand.

A brow raises at Amanda's choice of name but he opts not to discuss name choices just yet as he places his hand into the one extended towards him. Best not to distract the one who is doing the heavy lifting on the spell stuff.

Honestly he's not sure what he's supposed to be doing here. This is probably the first time he's done such a thing, but it does kind of remind him of a prayer circle. So.. He tilts his head eyes, closing as he tries to think of a prayer that might be helpful unaware that he's being a slightly audible, he speaks them while the lyricst in him gives the prayer a bit of a spin..

' Into this strange home we take a peek,
hoping to find the answers we seek.
Anthony finder of things long lost
Show reason for the life that was cost.'

Kurt Wagner has posed:
Confident that she will be in good hands with the magical healing mixture's provided by Amanda and Pepper, Kurt Gives way to let the redhead attend to her and to make space for Green Arrow while he goes to hover a short distance behind the more magically-inclined trio that appears to be taking care of gathering whatever information can be picked up from these more... unconventional ways. He's not a skeptic -- hey, he's all about faith -- but his experience has shown that these things can occasionally... go wrong. So he watches and waits in silence, doing nothing to disturb the concentration of the practitioners, idly biting his lower lip and idly fiddling with that necklace. He suspects there will be a show. There's usually a show at moments like this.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
In the server room, Arsenal and Pepper -- likely mostly Pepper and her Starktech tablet -- make shorter work of the server that might otherwise have been done. While the footage is downloaded and compressed, what becomes clear from the images of the vault room itself is the shape and form of the attackers. There are 4 of them. One is a broad chested, woolly skinned, ramsheaded man with a large buckler and a heavy battle axe. The second is a slender man with patrician's features, wearing the garb of an Ancient Greek senator. Of course, he's also got this strange centipede like creature wrapped around his torso, giant bat wings sprouting from the creature's back. The third is a blue-skinned, white-haired woman, surrounded by a nimbus of water. Most horrific of the bunch, though, is the fourth member of the small party -- a woman... crab... thing. (https://gamepedia.cursecdn.com/mtgsalvation_gamepedia/thumb/3/3c/Sheoldred.jpg/1200px-Sheoldred.jpg) They take the tablet from the case. Beside them, a dark portal opens and, when they step through it, shadow flashes through the room and the electronics go dead.

In the vault room, Amanda shuts out everything but the spell she weaves, drawing energy from the other two mystics and weaving it into her own. As the image of the portal grows, wavering lines appear within it, like looking at shadows through a dirty swirl of water. Beyond the event horizon, a man can be seen -- tall, cloaked in a dark robe. A smaller figure, dressed like a medieval squire, all in black, reaches out a hand to tap the taller man on the elbow and point towards the portal. The man turns, his features shadowed by his hood. His rage is palapable, however.

He reaches out a fist and flings it open. The portal energy contracts and then rushes outward, sweeping over the trio of magic users. All that stands in its way is their collective strength and the blessing of St. Anthony. The magic explodes. And while it doesn't affect the room itself, the three magic users are blown backward, scattered across the room.

The image of a giant snake appears out of nowhere, spears itself toward Amanda in a quick strike, but disappears when the power of the prayer and her own cast shield deflects it. Gone in a flash of shadow and dark violet light.

She lays in a heap at the base of a replica of the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark, and lets out a soft groan. "Sheisse..."

Brian Braddock has posed:
Brian peers at the information on the screen as he looks over Pepper's shoulder and winces. Whoever these people are, they are quite grotesque. "Do we have more information on what that tablet was?"

Completely oblivious to what's going on above, Captain Britain makes no move to save his friend or her allies. Surely the lack of being there when an attack could have been imminent will bother the Brit.

Oliver Queen has posed:
Ollie is simple enough where it comes to threats. They appear. Arrows fly. So a couple are fired in a near blur at that 'snake'. Not that the arrows hit, the image dissipating just as the arrows are zoning in...

His jaw tenses, bow lowering to his side and he takes a step forward. "Are you alright?" he asks of Amanda then over his shoulder to Quiver to make sure she is fine before his attention is back on what happened here..

"And so those were the four that got in here. Do any of you recognize them?" He inquires, "Because there's clearly something going on here than just murders. Like that stolen tablet piece." a nod of his head to the pedestal where the missing tablet should be.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
For Nessa, sensing magic and feeling it was like being able to taste a dessert and distinguish ingredients. This felt like something distinct, and she didn't particularly like it. She doesn't have too much time to dwell on it, as she suddenly finds herself flung back and hitting one of the displays. There's a wince, and she tries to pick herself up a bit.

"Okay, well, the good news is I'm usually pretty good at recognizing the same magic once I've felt it once. Should be able to sense that again if we find it. The bad news is... it certainly doesn't feel great. That's bad. Really bad." She rubs her shoulder.

Roy Harper has posed:
When Pepper arrives in the server room, Arsenal scoots over after giving her a friendly enough greeting and lets her take the wheel, showing her what he's done so far, and obtaining a copy of the security footage and whatever else they can get off the servers for their own analysis as well. "Thanks," he says to her, for coming up to give him a hand. Once they've obtained everything that they can from the servers, he heads back out to take one more pass through the game room to see if there's anything interesting there, and then it's out to regroup with Green Arrow and Quiver to see what they turned up.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
That's the thing about magic in Kurt's experience. It almost never goes smoothly. There is almost always some unforeseen result and all the planning and preparation in the world can't quite seem to anticipate what those little issues will be. Not, of course, that is necessarily any different then most other things in life. It just tends to be a little more... showy with magic. Which is okay. Kurt's a pretty big fan of showy.

He is less of a fan of ominous figures seen through magical portals, especially ones that look as unfriendly as this particular one. So the fuzzy blue elf tenses, watching warily and when that portal begins to contract and that wave of energy begins to explode outward he is ready. For just an instant before the portal explodes, as he locks eyes on the figure beyond a cold chill of recognition runs through Nightcrawler's form. He's never seen that robed man in his life and yet... for just a moment it feels like he does.

Then he *Bamfs* the sensation fading in that instant that he travels, reappearing in the course of Amanda's trajectory, intercepting her before she can crash into the wall or display. They still end up crumpled on the ground but it beats flattened against stone. "Mein Gott," he mutters, absently shifting, easing some of the inevitable soreness of the collison. "Is everyone alright?" That momentarily sense of recognition? Gone and forgotten already.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Nick ends up smacking into a display case, a whip falling off of the shelf to land on his chest as he lays on the floor, giving a slight groan. The landing did not feel good at all. After a moment, he looks to what is coiled on his chest and sighs, "...I'm so glad this guy didn't buy the boulder."

He takes a moment before getting up.

As far as determining the magic type, Nick is drawing up question marks. Something shoved him. He knows that. But if it's not dream releated, he can't really sense. Perhaps whoever came up with Phantasms in the first place didn't want there to be an excuse to deter them from approaching. Or perhaps it just slipped their mind. Who knows? But it sure as heck could have been useful at times. Hmmph. "Yeah... Other than the shove I didn't feel shit. All I can tell you is it's not dream related."

Amanda Sefton has posed:
Just as the crew from the server room are arriving back in the vault, Amanda is slowly pulling herself upright in Kurt's embrace. "Thanks, Elf," she says, leaning her head against his shoulder for a moment. She rubs her temples with the heels of her hands, muttering, "Anyone get the number of that freight train?"

After a moment, however, she shakes her head and sits up on her own for a moment or two. She looks over to Oliver at his question. "I'll be okay, yeah." She looks for Nick and Nessa. "You guys?" Yes. They're okay.

Good.

In answer, then, to queries both Arrow and Britain have separtely lodged, she says, "I don't know who any of them were. But the tablet? That I know a little about."

She climbs slowly to her feet. "I'd be happy to tell you. But, Nessa's right. This is bad news. So let's not talk here." She looks around. "I think we're done here."

She gives a smile that pulls on one side of her lips only and doesn't reach her eyes, and opens a portal of her own. "Come on. I know a good place for a drink."