Owner	Pose
Phoebe Beacon	LOW BOTTOM - CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA A township that has been disenfranchised for nearly eighty years, Low Bottom looks almost like everyone simply decided to get up and leave. The chassises for Model T's dot the streets or are pulled in front of houses, rotting away to nothing with the weather. The houses are worn, but well built and most of them -- in spite of the years of neglect -- are not in bad condition, minus a broken window or a fallen roofline here or there. The house in question is a mansion; built up and colored an unusual dark green -- it's easy to see why this would be titled The Arsenic House. Seems to be the right color. This Second Empire house (meaning it doesn't look out of place with something like The Addams Family) has a welcoming front stoop leading to a wrap-around porch, the rounded entry way split into two doors. Its tower is overrun with pale yellow roses, heavy with perfume, and it seems to judge haughtily those who stand outside. The slate of its masnard roof is slick with rain. The three-story building seems to have a life of its own, light appearing in two of its front windows -- or maybe just the reflection of the fading sun behind the adventurers and heroes, as gray clouds rumble threateningly overhead. A Dark and Stormy Night -- the best time to look into a haunted house that @Forgotten_Iridaceae had described as she passed through the town. And true to her post, the house seems oddly welcoming. There's no padlock on the door. The front walk is clear, even if the rest of the yard was unkempt.
Cassandra Cain	Little miss Cain has no idea about online messages. She has no online presence to speak of, and really cannot read. That's what makes it so much stranger that she's shown up here. With Bart being...well, himself...he found rumours, which turned into more, and more. Until Cass literally grabbed him by his shirt, stuffed half of her sandwich into his hand, and thumbed at the door. She's not entirely sure how they super-speeded to this location but it's hardly the strangest introduction she's had. Lately. This week. She disengages from Mr Speed, having hitched a ride, and doesn't ask how he found out about the place. To be fair she's not spoken a word to him since they met. Out loud anyway. Nice house. Looks like death. She starts toward it without a hitch.
Bart Allen	Bart Allen looks around and will spend a second to look at the model Ts wondering if he could put one together from all the parts about, then he notices the house, and munching the sandwich he was given, he looks over and says "Is that the Monster's house? I wonder if they have a Spot who lives under the stairs." Sandwich gone, he zooms up looking at the flowers and smelling them, before going back to Cassandra "So you heard weird stuff about here too?"
Jason Todd	Jason Todd wasn't actually supposed to be here. He was supposed to be in Gotham breaking the teeth of Lyle Enrique Garza. It wasn't personal. Okay, it was. The guy was a drug dealer. But then a favor was called in. When your older brother is unable to meet a, um, Family obligation because of other Family obligations and you get asked to stand in? In this Family, you grumble a lot but you still do it. Jason has been grumbling the whole way to Fuck Bottom. It wasn't the name but that sounded better in the moment. And it was kind of funny. Breaking most traffic laws and far exceeding all posted or unposted speed limits as he raced his bike to get to this meeting. He was already late. And he was told clearly that he could not be late. A red bike rolls into Fu... Low Bottom, PA finally just as the other two are starting to make their way toward the murder house. "What the hell is this? Beverly Hillbillies?" Jason mutters to himself under his Red Hook mask. He wasn't exactly told it was a Costumed Party. But it sounded like it and he hated to arrive under dressed and under armed. He'd brought extra ammo. And a crowbar. It seemed appropriate. Rolling to a stop he looks at the other two. Is that Cassie? "Hey! Cass. Wait." He parked the bike near one of those antique cars, giving it plenty of side eye as if it was going to come to like like that racecar cartoon with big assed eyes. He was going to empty both guns into it if it so much as twitched.
Phoebe Beacon	Similar to Bart's sandwich, there is no Spot -- at least not that he could see. The doors don't seem to be locked, and at the touch of the handle there's a soft 'click!', and the door opens with a creak, spilling late afternoon sun into the front hallway. There is a sitting area here in a large vestibule, where a couple of leaves and a mouse skitter away into the gloom. The Hall is ahead, with a large curved staircase leading upward, with an arched doorway behind leading to another room. Sliding pocket doors with gilt-laden windows are to the left, and to the right double doors are opened to a parlor, where dusty, old, and moth-eaten furniture stands.     There is a paper on the floor here, out of place with the antiques in its faded blue lines and clean whiteness.     "To the Investigators - Don't Lick the Walls, don't lay in the beds Be polite and curteous of the present dead The riddle of Arsenic House falls on you To find out if the haunting is true Report all your findings, save the house and the town From Developers wishing to see it torn down They were peeking out windows, they'll knock on the wall But beware the third floor where Liz took a fall So quick like a bunny, quiet just like a mouse Find and free the Spirits of the Arsenic House! And that's when the thunder struck, and a heavy downpour began.     Probably right on Red Hood.
Cassandra Cain	Cassandra pauses on the porch. She is attentive, that much at least she has going for her, and she can definitely hear a motorcycle coming up. The upnod she offers Jason is accompanied by her on-duty face. She isn't here to chat, not that she's exactly sociable even when she's otherwise. It seems more like a 'catch up dude' than a welcome. By this time Bart has likely had time to have a look inside. She turns to the front door, finding it open for her Outsiders friend, and slips into the haunted house. Guard up, all senses on full alert. Not reading notes because words are lame and reading is worse. Someone really needs to take care of that. Still, instead of looking at things she starts casing the main entryway. Looking into doorways, checking for sounds of movement. Or threats. Her normal job, and she does it so quietly she may as well be a ghost herself.
Bart Allen	Bart Allen has stepped in and while he has pretty much looked at everything in the room, he has had a few experiences with spooky things, and does not want to leave his friends behind. So he reaches into a pocket, and pulls out a bit of an energy bar sitting it near where the mouse went and then is coming back over with the note. "I found this." He tells her and reads it, without even adding a mwhahaha at the end.
Jason Todd	Then it starts raining. "What the f...!" Jason scowls. More. Tugging his collar up against the rain shower, he half walks half jogs to catch up to the others. They are already reading the note by the time he bounds up the steps and coasts to a stop a few steps behind them. A nod to both. "So I was told to get up here because uh.. Nightwing had another thing come up. But he said this was important." He looks around cautiously. "So.. uh.. what, exactly, are we doing here?" He falls silent as Bart reads the note. "...he is so making up for dragging me into this. Somehow.. huge." he mutters under his breath. He looks to the two. "So okay.. we uh. Go inside?" Every shred of common sense is telling him not to do it.
Phoebe Beacon	Every shred of common sense for certain, but oh, the place seems strangely inviting.     That's the danger of it.     Cassandra begins to check over the immediate area. The doorways are not boobytrapped. Everything seems sturdy enough to hold even Jason's bulk. Some of the floorboards creak upstairs as if someone was walking across, right over Cass's head.     The study doors to the left of the entrance are opened, and inside there is -- unsurprisingly -- more furnishings. Everything covered with sheets, including something about the correct size and shape of a person.     There is also a skull on the mantle here, left grinning toothily at the investigators.     A large, grungy mirror reflects four figures back at the trio.
Cassandra Cain	Given how little Cass pays attention to the words on the note, even Bart reading them doesn't really cause her to pay a ton of attention there. It was written down, so how important could it really be? She turns her eyes on him a moment, then when the Big Guy enters (Phoebe I blame you) she glances at Jason. More a matter of noticing movement than anything really. But then she's staring, past them all. The mirror? Nope, she's staring through the entryway at the figure, the right size and shape of something that she might need to attend to. Whether the others notice it or not isn't her...well, she supposes she can at least let them know. She clicks her tongue once, a sound more than she's made all day, staring firmly at the humanish figure in the other room. And then she's walking that way, ready to unmask the figure like a kind in a scooby-doo show.
Bart Allen	Bart Allen looks over and says "Oh Hey RH," He says to Red Hood. He looks around the room and says "So, it looks like we save the souls we save the day. Last time, we had to get a ghost cat back with it's little ghost girl." He says of his last spooky outing. He will look around and starts uncovering the furniture and gathering the dust in the sheets to put them in a pile in the corner.
Jason Todd	Jason Todd nods to Bart. ".. we're really doing this, hun? Okay then." But it seems really hospitable. What's the worse that can... "There's another figure in the mirror. Why is there another figure in the mirror?" He pivots on his off heel to spin backwards and away from where tthe mirror suggests the forth.. person? Is. Not fast. Just.. making some dance space. "... not sure we're having fun anymore.."
Phoebe Beacon	Cassandra makes her way towards the shrouded figure, human-like, and unmasks it! In a cloud of dust (augmented by Bart's rapid-fire pulling-off-of-the-sheets!), Cassandra is faced with --     A MUTILATED BODY!     Well. It's a posed skeleton that's missing ribs and vertebrae, but it's a second grinning skull in this room, empty eye sockets peering ponderously into the room. It's also missing its left hand.     Bart continues to defrock everything in the room rapid-fire, and the room proves to be as moth-eaten as the last, holes in the couch's fabric, ripped leather cracked with age, but the fourth figure appears to move. Jerkily. Like watching a lagging GIF on the mirror as it steps closer to Jason, appearing to inspect him a moment, before suddenly being three feet away, and then disappearing to where the mirror wasn't picking up on its figure.     The skeleton's jaw slooooowly slides open.     And there is a sharp knock on the mantle.
Cassandra Cain	Cass' eyes widen, and her pupils dilate slightly. That's the only reaction that she gives of finding a corpse/skeleton where she was expecting a person. Even her heart stays the same general speed, under firm control. She hasn't seen the other figure, moving, because all of her attention is firmly on the corpse right now. Her peripheral vision is still intact, but it's not THAT good! She simply stands quite still as the jaw begins to open, prepared to act as necessary. Nobody needs her causing further ruckus right now, and she needs to be ready in case this thing tries to stab one of her friends. Someone else is gonna have to handle the knock on the mantle, too. She's busy.
Bart Allen	Bart Allen will look over to the mirror "Hey where did he go?" He asks, but then there is a knock on the mantle and Bart is over next to it "Hello, whose there?" He hmms and says "And not going to invite you in at least till we know who you are and then maybe." He looks over to the others "Inviting them in gives them powers, see that from movies, and the magic people I used to live near." He hmms a bit and then wonders, can he invite something in, this is not his home, hmms, he will have to ask the magic folks about that, can they seen joe blow flunky in and have the flunky invite them in to keep their power? He shakes his head to clear it and says "Yea who you, new phone."
Jason Todd	Jason Todd says, "...whaaaat the shii.." Jason looks at the mirror because he can't see the thing that is right next to him. And then it stutter blnks away. "... dammit.." He spins around slowly. "I really don't want to have to walk through this place backwards using a mirror just to see who is breathing on me." He moves over beside Bart, looking at the mantle for where the knocking is coming from. He spares a glance to Cassie and the moving jaw. Then back. The mantle is less unsettling. So far."
Phoebe Beacon	It's not going to stab. The spring inside just seems to have springed its last sprung, but it is rather spooky, weathered, and a real skeleton, pitting on the bone individual, its cranium cracked and brittle with age.     However, it seems very much unable to move on its own accord. A little mouse peeks out of one of the eye orbitals, wriggles its ears, and then goes back, unconcerned.     The skull on the mantle rattles, though. And the knocking seems nore insistant... and begins to sound on the mantle. The wall. The ceiling, the rain pelting the windows a bit harder now.
Cassandra Cain	Between glances, Cass does what she does best. She has a hunch and acts on it, seeming to vanish. She has scouted the location as well as possible but the others are big boys, they can handle this on their own. No, she's spotted something she has a feeling about, and goes for the stairs. With her motions muted, she ascends. She has no idea what's causing all of this but it clearly wants their attention. No threats have actually surfaced, nothing has made her think that this is a real danger. So she moves on her own. Whatever is causing all of this is about to have a scare of its own. Because Cass Cain sidelines her anxiety as she was trained to do, and enters the darkness which has called out so much sound and bother.
Bart Allen	Bart Allen will move around the room checking for secret doors, and tapping back on the wall and the mantle "Hello, knocking does not help unless your doing morse code, are you doing morse code?" He pauses a moment listening to the knocking. He goes back and picks up the note to look at it again "Hmm" He will get a sheet to cover the skeleton on the floor and tear a smaller one to cover the one on the mantle "Um sorry if we disturbed you, can you appear where we can see you?" He asks to the air.
Jason Todd	Jason Todd looks at that skull, leaning in closer. ".. this is so odd." He is trying to not let the whole thing get to him. Since he can't see the glitchy shadow thing, it's not as bad. Just a little too close to bad memories for a minute. He reaches up to try to tip the skull upward. Respectfully. If that is a thing. "Has to be some sort of activation wire.. cable.. " it isn't really tapping on its own. Right?
Phoebe Beacon	Cassandra goes up into the darkness of the second floor. The second floor is cold. The wallpaper here is peeling and smells musty. There's some damage to the walls and plaster has fallen, leaving holes where the lath is shown like ribs on the house. The gloom is light by a flash of lightning, and for a split second there is the outline of a woman by the window, but by the next flash it is gone.     There is, however, a chalk arrow on the wall, pointing inwards.     The figure steps forward again, in view of the mirror. It's not clear what they look like, other than they appear to be male and in a dark suit.     "Hello?" comes a younger male's voice. "Hello?"
Cassandra Cain	Cassandra isn't a huge talker. Not even to the supernatural. She is, however, a sneaky little bitch and likes to hedge her bets. So as she sees all of this, she releases a small marble from her pocket on the stairs. It would fall, going down the steps, and tap-tap-tap to draw attention from below. She didn't even need to look, it was all planned. Even SHE can't mistake a chalk arrow, so she looks at the figure, trying to determine what she can from its body language. Fear? Helplessness? The voice isn't giving her much at all. "Yes," she offers. Her own voice is calm, but she hates to use it. As she tries to see to where the arrow's guiding her.
Bart Allen	Bart Allen hears the marble and looks over but the figure is back and in the mirror "Hello, I'm Impulse and this is Red Hood, we are here to help you, is something keeping you here so you can not move on?" He looks to Jason "Hey I seen Ghosts with Rob, and.." He actually pauses a moment as trying to decide what to call someone The Great British Baker.. no,,, Captain Butler... no....Bat Mercury... no they would not get that one. He hmms and says "The Driver who makes the best cookies." He offers trying to explain who he means. He looks back to the Male figure "Is there a way we can help you?"
Jason Todd	Jason Todd turns around slowly at the marble. "Okay. yet more weird." But this time it was Cassie. He just doesn't now it because she's up the stairs. He pauses. Looks at Bart. ".. yeah. He does make great cookies... always loved them." he pauses, "Hey Cassie.. don't get too far ahead, okay? That's how bad things happen in these movies."
Phoebe Beacon	Not fear, not helplessness... just there. A bit like a store display model -- and then gone. But the chalk arrow lead into the room.     It was a well appointed room if not for the dust and dirt and the light fixture which is laying on the bed. Someone had been in here. There were footsteps in the dust -- and a circle, drawn in chalk, on the wooden floor.     "Hello? Hello?" the young man's voice continues to call.     The watery vision in the mirror begins to shift colors. Instead of being a man in a suit, the figure turns more gray, the color draining from the vision as it reaches out to try and touch Jason, evident in the mantle mirror.     The skull on the mantle suddenly begins to chatter, clicking and clacking away, its jaw rattling as the skull shifts from its moring, tilts off its wooden pedestal and then goes to fall to the floor!
Cassandra Cain	Cass sighs. More weird squiggles, around a circle on the floor. Well, she was told not to lick the walls. Supposing that meant not to lick the floor either. She's kind of stumped here, hunched down by a circle on a floor, in an upper floor of a weird building. So, not knowing what else to do, she reaches to touch the circle.
Bart Allen	Bart Allen moves to catch the skull, letting it hit the floor might be bad. He does look into the eye a moment, and then as he sees the creature in the mirror reaching for Jason, he moves to move Jason about six foot away from the figure "Not sure if letting that touch you is a good thing."
Cassandra Cain	Cass stares into nothingness for a moment. Her eyes are glazed over and she looks as if she's seeing eternity, in the darkness. But touching the circle isn't without its benefits it seems, because after a moment while the happenings are happening downstairs, she shakes her head and her eyes return to their focus. Looking slightly confused and possibly more frightened than she's been in this entire trip, she stands up and looks at her finger where she touched the circle. Then Cass nods, making a fist in triumph. And turns toward a nearby cabinet, which she proceeds to search as she wouldn't have thought to do before. As if she knew exactly where to look, Cass' hand comes away with a paper. It has WRITING on it, and she peers at it in the darkness. "OH COME ON!" she says, out loud, and flings her hands in the air. Then she starts to stomp downstairs, to find someone who can friggin read.
Jason Todd	Jason Todd looks in the mirror. "This is again hitting levels of what the shit!" He's trying to see this thing in the mirror and all but dancing around, being tugged by Bart. It's all very dignified and calm. Really. No it isn't. It isn't at all. And Cassie is yelling, speed marching in to stuff a ransom note in his face because he one foot hopped away from the invisible glitch.. guy. He looks to the paper now in front of him. "Uh. You want me to read that, then?"
Phoebe Beacon	To Recap: Impulse, Red Hood, and Orphan walk into a haunted house. Red Hood is two-stepping with Bart in order to stop a curious ghost in a mirror from poking at him. Cassandra Cain who normally doesn't talk, at all, has yelled. Cass never yells. And now Jason Todd is hopping on one foot with a paper stuffed in his face with moderately familiar handwriting. Bart may even recognize it as his missing teammate's.     It gives instructions!     1. Find the circle in the front bedroom.     2. Take a sharp object.     3. Apply sharp object to applicable appendage for ~1tsp of blood.     4. Apply blood to middle of circle.     5. Hold hands with two of your best friends and recite the following:     "By the power of all my good karma, direct connection to Source, agape love, and selfless acts, I ask the universe to please remove all negative entities from this house. You are not welcome here, so please go back to where you came from."
Cassandra Cain	Cass barely takes in anything that she's read. She barely comprehends English half the time. But apparently she's supposed to do a few things. Upstairs. And what with Jason and Bart being avoidant of something she can't see, she proceeds to walk over to the mirror and... Throws a cloth over it. Then she motions upstairs, waiting for no-one. Off she goes, probably to cut herself and then not know what to say afterward.
Bart Allen	Bart Allen nods, a bit and says "Looks like Phoebe wrote this." Yea it surprised him enough he used her real name not her code name. He looks over and says "I think your going to have to do this." He says to Cass. "I mean, he and I know one another and get along ok, but your closer to either one of us than we are to one another."
Jason Todd	Jason Todd reads the note's contents, sharing with Bart. Which is good because of his observations. Jason hadn't quite realized it was Phoebe's writing. "Huh.. yeah.." He then looks on as Cass covers the mirror. "And now I have no way to see if that thing is staring in my earhole or not.." Was that better or worse? Jason looks at Bart, "It's not too late to become Besties, you know. Just don't ask about the crowbar." The one tucked down the back of his jacket. Not that other one. No one asks about that one. He looks between both. "So.. since I don't know if my glitchy stalker is breathing on me.. why don't we go do this circle thing? Before I find out it's still here."
Phoebe Beacon	The ghost is definitely staring at Jason's earhole, specifically because he mentioned it. There's zero the not-so-deadman can do about it except for not be sure if some ghost is wondering just what is up with the helmet.     Upstairs, the circle has already been drawn. The instructions are given. Jason, Bart and Cass should be ready to clear this house of ghosts! Somehow.
Bart Allen	Bart Allen will do a quick circuit of the house to find the circle, leading the others to it, so they can do the ritual, and looks over to Jason and twitches just a bit, he is trying really he is. once they get to the circle, he is looking about waiting for the ritual, but yes his eyes keep going to the crowbar (the one on the back) and he bounces foot to foot.
Jason Todd	Jason Todd follows the others to the circle. He looks at the note. "Right. So.. it says to. Uh. Take a sharp object and apply it to an appendage. I know which one I'm _not_ volunteering. but.. any idea which one is applicable? Sounds like we're going to have to bleed for this." He sighs. ".. I can't believe I'm saying this. But I'll do it. Just.. what appendage." He looks betwen the two.
Cassandra Cain	Having been silent because her typist had a serious issue, Cass is suddenly there again. And is holding her right hand out. Or her fist, which is weird. Apparently hesitating isn't in her nature. Because blood drops freely from her already slashed palm. Jason can contribute if he wants, but whoever's grabbing her hand is gonna get a handful. Literally.
Bart Allen	Bart Allen places his hand on Cassies, and says "We might not want to go much over the blood it said to use, a lot of time these spell things are rather specific."
Jason Todd	Jason Todd lowers his arm, "Or we could just let Cassie do it. That works too." He watches her as she performs that part of the ritual. "Uh... next... pick the appendage.. apply blood to circle... hold ands with two friends and recite.. okay. hold hands. Here.. just let me get this paper where I can see it. "By the power of all my good karma..." Because Jason has _so_ much good karma sorted up, this cannot possibly fail.
Phoebe Beacon	Waste not want not. The whole tableu was set up for only a thimble full of blood.     The cold air of the upstairs bedroom warms to a comfortable temperature -- breath is no longer seen, but there does seem to be a bit of a crowd watching them as the blood hits the center of the circle.     The older man in an old fashioned suit. His eyes sunken in a bit. Staring at Jason's ear.     Two teenage boys, barely older than Damian. They're sitting on the bed. There's a teenage woman -- the one Cassie saw -- standing nervous by the window, wringing her hands.     And an older woman, standing in the doorway, looking suspicious, her long hair unbound and nearly touching the floor.     Five ghosts of the Arsenic House.     "Hello!" one of the lads on the bed greets them, giving a wave.     "By the power of all my good karma," the circle begins to glow, spiraling outwards from the blood drops in its center     "-direct connection to Source, agape love, and selfless acts," --     Brighter and brighter. Warmer and warmer.     "I ask the universe to please remove all negative entities from this house. You are not welcome here, so please go back to where you came from."     Luckily, the spell works for not-negative energies as well.     One by one the ghosts blink out of existence around them, the younger looking boy giving a wave again before he too fades into mist.     The house then gives a loud rumble, as if in complaint, rising from sleep and creeaaaaaaaaaking down onto its foundations.     And as the brilliance of the circle fades, the chalk markings and the spots of Cassandra's blood have been used up.     Cassandra's marble is returned to her, set by her left foot.     Bart has a can of beans.     Jason has a pineapple on his lap.
Bart Allen	Bart Allen will watch the people go, he does wave to the kid who waved smiling. He picks up the can and looks at it. "Beans?" He asks curious and then it dawns on him and he smiles "I''ve got a can of magic beans... fe fi fo On an adventure I will go." He pulls out a pen and writes "Do not eat." on the top of the can. "I am so going to have to figure these out"
Jason Todd	Jason Todd helps recite the incantation. He almost falters when the old man appears and is still staring into his left ear hole. His voice may have risen an octave by the end of the ritual. As the ghosts all fade away, Jason jumps. "JESUS H CHRIST WHY IS THEREA FUCKING PINEAPPLE!!"