Owner	Pose
Leland Owlsley	Dr. Benson Burkley has been missing for other a month. When the good doctor contacted SHIELD a year ago it was seen as a golden opportunity to get hopefully solid info into AIM's inner workings, or at least insight into what dangerous tech they were getting ready to sic onto the world. His disappearance has caused concern to spread within the SHIELD top brass, especially considering the violent nature of his disapperance, which involved a trashed apartment and a blood trail that lead out of his apartment to a blind alley. It was feared that AIM had found the "good" doctor and took him from his safehouse to a brutal death at the hands of their beekeepers. But new rumors in the Underworld has blown those fears out of the water. The Owl, a mysterious crime lord and head of a confederacy of syndicates called The Parliament has recently called in a black market auction at the old Mockingbird Theater, an abandoned theater in Staten Island with the prize of the night being.... Dr. Benson! The Owl had somehow located the Doc and stole him away, evendently to sell him off to the hightest bidder to earn more status in the Underword. From what Intelligence has gathered, quiet a few parties were interested, possibly even other subversive groups. This has lead to SHIELD to calling a emergency strike team to infiltrate the auction and recover Dr. Benson and any intelligence he has before The Parliment sells him to anyone, especially HYDRA, HIVE, or any other subversive group that would love to claw into AIM's secrets. It was a full moon tonight on the intersection of Jay Street and Everett RD. The normally deserted section of Staten Island was filled with lights and chatter as activity around the recently renovated, but still vacant Mockingbird Playhouse came to a sudden buzz. Preliminary scans of the various guests revealed connections to various Syndicates, Mobs, and other criminal groups from around the world. To make matters worse, some of them had known connections to groups like HYDRA, HIVE, and INTERGANG amongst others. Oddly enough, AIM has not made a apperarance yet, implying their either didn't know, or were waiting for the right moment. The Playhouse itself was a grand old building built in a gothic style of about three stories. Guarding the front door and the roof were men clad in Black Tuxedos and, oddly enough, owl masks. It would seem that the Owl was test running a standard uniform.
Natasha Romanova	It's still classier than the Court of Owls- though likelier to end up with a lawsuit for trademark infringement sent by ninjas. Actually, probably just ninjas. They have thier objective here - the SHIELD team. Get in, extract the asset. Secondary goals of attempting to inflict as much damage as possible on the enemy organization in the short term. but it was ultimatley a matter for domestic law enforcement, not SHIELD. What they cared about was extracting their target before the bid got too high.     Natasha is wearing her hair done back over in black, and a dark femme fatale style affair. A small holdout pistol openly hooked to her thigh in a holster. Her hair done up over in a bun with several blades and weapons hidden in the needles. Wearing an owl mask and with an invitation.     Natasha's particular invitation was to an 'Xenia', with a last name of Onnatop - someone in the lower echelons of SHIELD would be paying hte price for this little joke later. Oh yes. They'll pay.
J'onn J'onzz	John Jones is a relatively successful private detective, lately operating out of Bludhaven. Dark skinned with a close-trimmed fade hidden under an old fashioned brown trilby, he sits relatively far in the back, innocuous enough. No one's troubled him about not belonging. Sometimes it seems as if one might think of approaching him, but they would suddenly change their mind about it, moving on to more important matters than some middle aged nobody in a rumpled tan and brown tweed coat. He isn't even carrying a gun. He's never needed one. He came here specifically in pursuit of a group known as the Cult of the Kobra. Terrorists akin to Hydra, smaller but of perhaps even more intense fervency, fanatical servants in search of the end of the world and the rise of their serpentine master. They were corruptors and dealers in arms and flesh. They were clever but they had made one mistake in their last kidnapping. Her parents had hired a Manhunter.
Richard Stadler	"You know," Rick says, in a low voice as they approached the guards, "If I'm going to keep on doing this spook stuff, I really should take some courses." It wasn't the first time Rick had done something with false papers, of course, but there was a difference between having a nice, solid diplomatic cover you weren't really going to use and walking into a dangerous situation pretending to be someone else. But SHIELD apparently needed someone with a scientific background for verification. To which Rick was thinking with every step forward that he should have just thanked them and worked on what biology text books were in the budget for the Fall. But, here he was, at least in a tuxedo that they actually had fitted to him, his own firearm (a simple, dime-a-dozen two-generation's-old Glock 17) was secured in a holster at his back. They had to expect people coming armed to a place like this. The Owl mask was a bit much, but it wasn't as if he couldn't work in one. Truth be told, it was a relief no one would see his face. His own invitation bore the name Dietrich Klein, and the information was vague enough; a proxy bidder from some 'German Concern' and they could read into that as much as they'd like.
Cindy Moon	So. Many. Bad guys. It was enough to make a Spider twitch. Almost. Cindy couldn't remember the last time she'd seen so many targets ripe for webbing up in one place! Apparently, if you wanted to get in on the serious action, working as an intern at the Daily Planet in Metropolis was /not/ the way to do it. Who would have thought? It /was/ Metropolis where she got the lead on the auction, though, and its connection to AIM. Some light prowling and sticky-fingers later, and she had her hands on her own invitation. A real one, even! This one addressed to.. Seraphina Vortex. Well. It could have been worse. At least it wasn't Xenia Onnatop. So, Natasha isn't the only one at the party under a false identity. Actually, it was more likely that the number of fake IDs and aliases far exceeded those using their given names. So, really, Cindy's just trying to fit in with the cool crowd! Instead of going full femme fatale, though, Cindy's dressed in a sharp, all black pants-and-blouse outfit, including a midnight black buff that rises out from the high-neckline of the blouse to cover her throat, her chin, her nose -- the entire lower half of her face, and her hair has been tied up into a bun. She doesn't have any weapons on her, even if she's searched, and much like both Natasha and Richard, she heads right to the entrance so she can secure herself a seat before the real action begins.
Leland Owlsley	As the undercover agents made their way into the heavily guarded fortress that once was a respectable theater they would be checked one by one by one of the heavily armed guards standing out front or in the reception area of the theater. After you had your invitation taken you were lead to the main theater, where all the scum and villainy that were gathered here tonight were summoned. What would normally be any law enforcer's dream come true has become a potential powderkeg, especially if Owl's men found out you were not real guests. After a small delay caused by the name the bone heads at SHIELD gave, "Xenia" was lead down the aisles of the theater by an Usher, aka a man wearing a old school movie usher outfit, complete with owl mask. As Xenia sat down she'd find herself in a precarious situation. She was sat in the middle of the row, and to her immiediate left was Andrew Von Graft, a low-ranking HIVE exec, flanked by a group of Hive Troopers, and to his right were a group of Maggia gangsters, who were in the process of laughting at a joke their ringleader made. As J'onn observed the gathering crowd a chill filled the air as a group of men clad in green suits came in, one of them with an obvious Cobra tattoo on his face. Yep, Kobra was here tonight, and they appeared to be favored by management, as evidenced by the Usher leading them to a balcony seat. As Richard and Cindy were led to their seat the theater went quiet suddenly. A quick check revealed why. AIM was here, and they brought beekeepers. Surprsingly however, they did not open fire. Instead, they were lead calmly to the balcony next to KOBRA's by an Usher. Before you could ponder how Owl could've possibly gotten AIM to agree to this, the lights dimmed, it was almost time for the show.
Natasha Romanova	If they had more time then bringing in a full striek team here would be mtempting. But this many disparate groups made for a truly chaotic firefight - and that was too much of a risk. Besides, anyone here would only be of minimal imprtance to the organizations that they were affiliated with. Any schemes here would be purely for theatrics rather than anything greater. So while they could go in heavy handed, it would do minimally to disrupt the greater schemes of these secret evil organizations determined to rule the world.     Natasha has been to a great many dens of evil and wretched hives full of scum. This doesn't rate particularly high. She goes to give a quick click of her otngue in affirmation over towards Richard even as they split up.     She turns to the HIVE executive while smiling, "How high you think the bidding will go tonight?" Her accent Symkarian. One of the small noble families eternally squabbling with Silver Sable over the right to rule. Here to buy the target to get a bit of a leg up.
J'onn J'onzz	John Jonesknew the names of the Kobra agents. He'd tailed them here from the airport, where he'd taken their bags and loaded the up in the trunk. Of course, he had been wearing a different face then. He was gathering the nature of this gathering, only lightly running psychic fingers over the room, nothing more intrusive than the lightest brush at the surface, looking for auras, almost, sorting the saints from the sinners, the worthy from the judged. He needed to know the lay of the land - and make sure there weren't any surprises. If Major Force or Count Nefaria or any other high level threats were here, he needed to know ahead of time.
Richard Stadler	This would have been easier if this was somewhere other than Staten Island. Rick was certain that SHIELD would play the 'gathering intelligence' angle, but all Rick could see was that a single Paveway III would solve a hell of a lot of problems here. A shame the FBI didn't get Strike Eagles. Well, if wishes were horses. He might as well go on and wish he could just back out right now; this was the part of the spy game he couldn't get used to; being around so much danger with a peashooter to respond with and a Predator with two Hellfires with a 20 second lag time as 'support." Just shut up, stay quiet, and don't make yourself a target. More nervousness, though, as he sits down to silence. His hand adjusts his tie and collar, along with the subvocal mic hidden below it. <<Those look like AIM from the brief. Guess they get to try to pay as well. Any way we can just dump a couple million on walking out of here with him?>> He moves to take his seat, nodding to the young looking woman in black seated next to him. Face covered, too. He supposed people liked they anonymity here, after all.
Cindy Moon	Cindy -- ahem, Seraphina -- might not have been the absolute picture of regal poise, but she was graceful if a bit... distracted, like someone with social anxiety trying to focus through a rowdy crowd. This crowd might not have been rowdy (yet), but there was a /lot/ of tension for her Silk-Sense to filter through. Everyone was on edge, and it felt like all it would take to start a blood bath was a single, wrong tick. Her eyes conveyed most of her expression above the black of her mask, dark orbs sweeping around her as she's led with Richard up to the balcony and shown to a seat beside him. Once she's settled, she crosses her legs casually and turns to look in the same direction everyone else is.. at the beekeepers. She sets her hands in her lap, looking over at Richard with muted interest. He was, after all, the man that entered right before her and was seated next to her. That kind of made them auction buddies. "AIM in the house," she muses, feigning only muted interest. "Owl bet that was a hard sell." Did she say... Owl?
Leland Owlsley	As everyone took their seats the room began to dim and a screen began to slowly descend from the rafters to the stage below. As the room grew quiet, a projector suddenly turned on, aiming it's beam of light toward the screen. The screen appeared to be projecting images of some kind of aviary, one filled to the brim with owls. As the owls hooted and screeched their hearts out a figure sitting at a nearby bench came into focus on the camera. The figure was a slightly chubby man of average height wearing a large, almost baggy green overcoat, yellow formal vest, green pants, and a brown tie. His long, shaggy and unkempt brown hair almost resembled an Owl's feathers as a Brown and White Owl mask hid his features. The man glanced up in the camera and said as 2 owls began to land on his shoulders. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you to our Aerie tonight. I am The Owl and i'm sorry I could not be with you tonight, but i assure you that you will not be disappointed. We have quite a tantalizing treat in store for you tonight, one that could very well give you an edge. Bring him in boys." As he said that three of the Owl's masked henchmen pulled out a very beaten and bloodied Dr. Benson, his blue eyes wide with fear and bald head covered in cuts. The room began to murmur with anticipation and if you were paying attention, it appeared that the AIM beekeepers were eyeing the Doctor intently. Owl then cleared his throat and said, "Do pardon his condition, our friends in AIM paid us an hour before to beat him, call it, the Early Bid treatment." As the various grumbled in outrage, the first bid of the night was cast at $10,000 for AIM. Owl laughed lightly and said," Kobra, as a loyal business partner, will get the second bid, and the rest of you can go crazy." The second Kobra set their bid, the whole room went crazy, with random numbers being shouted at the auctioneers and the bid screen showing different numbers every second,
Natasha Romanova	Well, this complicates things. There's too many goons here for them to take on all at once.. Natasha reevaluates. They can't just smash and grab the stage in front of everyone. And they definitely can't afford to buy him off either. She goes to tap her fingers over while glancing over at the owls. Maintaining brand awareness was important. She's not privvy to the qiups being traded over by the Spider - if she was she would muse on about hwo all the supervillains had to do to spot infiltrators was listen to puns. Natasha goes to speak quietly over the comm to Richard <<I don't htinkw e can take htem directly. Considering just waiting for him to be.. Purchased and then ambushing whomever wins on the way out or while they're maneuvering him>> That's the rather pragmatic way to go about it. And Natasha's one to go for that route. She does, however, listen to Richard's commentary and preferences - he's with her on this operation and she trusts his judgement. Meanwhile, some of the Kobra troopers are getting taunted by a group of Hydra lower rankers. "Like, you had to spell it with a K! Was C already taken? Were you afraid of getting beaten up?" The taunting goes on from one group of rubber clad nerds to another.
J'onn J'onzz	J'onn J'onzz keeps his cool, because keeping his cool was the best way to keep from getting burned. Nothing he hated more. So as shouting begins, he keeps to his seat, adjusting the cuffs on his jacket to make sure he has clearance in case of fisticuffs. He keeps track of the bids easily enough, his Martian hearing allowing him to almost choose between channels to focus in from voice to voice. Some people weren't pleased to have favoritism showed towards AIM. Others were terrified they would get on AIM's wrong side. He's noticed the spies, too, of course. Miss Romanova is an Avenger and a known quantity to J'onn. And Richard, he knew from school. How amusing to find him here in other garb. But that, too, was a different J'onn altogether. Likely better to just take possession of the man in the name of justice. And so John Jones rises to his feet and begins calmly walking up the aisle and toards the complicated system keeping Dr. Benson imprisoned, his telepathic talents pushing gently to make people move out of his way and slowly create a discernible aisle down which the detective casually walks. He looks up to the Owl up there on the screen and tips his cap. Then he takes one of the chairs in the front row. And he sits. And he waits for things to see how they play out. And then, if his intervention is needed, he will intervene.
Richard Stadler	Okay, here was the main event, and honestly, it was... loud. Richard had to give the man that, there was so much screeching he could barely hear the man talk. But it certainly was on brand, esspecially with live owls around him. But it was security conscious, as well. Something the rest of these people networking in person should have learned from. Richard wasn't going to complain, of course; it meant they had a shot at making this work. Not a good shot, of course. There were a /lot/ of people here hunting for the same man, and it seems that AIM... oh, dear. Richard didn't need to have a bit of medical training to know that was bad. Nothing that would kill him, but certainly things that hurt. The man had to be terrified of ending up in the hands of the men who just did that to him, and they had a very good chance of pulling that off. The bids flew fast after the minimum was given; if there was a reserve, they were going to blow past it pretty quickly. <<Agreed. Bidding's getting a bit too high here, but if we've got anything in the discretionary fund I might recommend making a showing. I don't exactly like the chances of nine millimeter getting through that armor.>> And Rick just... takes a slow, slow look over to the woman sitting next to them. "That's... a bit of an accent you have there." He notes. He must have misheard her. Maybe it was British. "It does look like they're going to make a good showing... a bit rich for my employers." And that certainly wasn't false. Might as well blend in... and ask some questions. "Not putting in a bid yourself?"
Cindy Moon	As the video introduction plays and the man is brought out in stage, Cindy seems to... fidget. God, auctions were tedious. Now she knew why she'd never been to one. Granted, now she'd be able to tell people that the first auction she ever went to was for a person. On second thought, that would be in incredibly poor taste and probably wouldn't go over well in her regular circles. Even if it was true. "With the economy in its current state, it's wise not to go too far out on a limb," she answers as the numbers continue to climb. Of course, she didn't actually know anything about the economy. It was just something she'd heard on TV. Fifty thousand. A hundred thousand. /Not putting in a bid yourself?/ "I should, shouldn't I? They're really staring to soar..." The problem with Cindy Moon was that she was over-confident. She had all of this training, but so few people to take it out on! Some low level street thugs. Burglars. Some auto-thefts. Maybe a mugger if she got lucky. /This/ was the opportunity of a lifetime. What's the worst that could happen if she placed a bid? And so, Cindy rises to her feet and shouts above the crowd. "ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!" And, given that her pinky rises up to the side of her mask, that... might have just been a line from Austin Powers.
Leland Owlsley	The entire theater went quiet when Cindy's bid came through the dense caphony of all the other bids. In face, it was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. Every eye in the room suddenly turned to look at her, various stages of anger and annoyance filled their faces as the bid suddenly jumped up to a million dollars. Then, the talking began again, but instead of bids, it was angry murmurs and barely audible complaints about this nobody suddenly arriving and bringing the price up even more. Suddenly, the projection of Owl looked directly at Silk and said, "Young lady, that is quite the bid. If you win you better have the money to pay for your prize."
Natasha Romanova	And there's a quick evaluation from Natasha. The girl isn't staying in the area of any of the small cliques of supervillains.. She's on her own and isolated rather than having a coeterie. These types of locales tend to not attract singles. Natasha keeps track of the elite assassins i the world - this is certainly too low stakes for them to bother to show up. So who is she, then? But, all attention is over on Silk now and they're on a rather compressed timeframe with this surprise. THen over, in the Hydra section, one of the Hydra agents is biting hard on his nails (we mean gloves). "It's intense! I don't know who's going to win!?" The other Hydra agents stare over at him.
J'onn J'onzz	J'onn J'onzz holds his place. Calm and steady. The heroes are capable. J'onn admires the pluck of the youngest one, her determination matched by her sensitivity. Interesting. The others were formidable enough in their own right. Let them play their hand. But woe betide the wicked should the heroes become imperiled. In which case, he would have no choice but to intervene.
Richard Stadler	"Oh, don't I know it. Black market raises the price of five-five-six every month, these days. Inflation." Keep to what you know, and you don't have to lie. Well, everything but 'Black market'. Rick was trying to be sociable here. And he could be a bit amicable too. "Oh, you could. I play with house money, myself, and places like this are honestly a good place to network- Goddamn /how much/ was this woman bidding? He turned his head around to her, his own expression of confusion, a bit of shock, and a whole lot of tension, because now every eye on this place was on the woman that was sitting right next to him. He spoke subvocally again. <<You recognize this person? Someone just throwing out a big with that amount off money is either eccentric...>> Or a moron. Granted, if she won, that would be beneficial. She didn't seem to have any security with her... looked fidgety, too. Maybe a bit nervous...
Cindy Moon	"Don't ruffle your feathers at me. After doing /that/ to my prize, you're lucky I'm bidding at all!" Cindy's eyes narrow, and inside her mask, she swallows. It was all fun and games to start a ruckus of her own, but suddenly /all/ of that focus was aimed squarely at her, and her Silk-Sense was dialed up from 10 to 27. It was like a rock concert suddenly screaming inside her head. Settle down, girl. Pace yourself. At this rate, everything was going to go all topsy-turvey and she was going to end up lucky to get out of here at all, much less with the Doctor. "For this much money, I'll expect a chance to inspect him before payment." So, yes. Getting close was step one of the plan. As soon as she managed that, she'd figure out what step two was.
Leland Owlsley	The Owl's mask did not betray any emotion, but you swore you heard a light snarl after the feather pun . Suddenly, he turns towards the crowd and says, "Any more bids?" The room was dead quiet. The Owl sighed in slight annoyance and said, "Very well my dear, come backstage and collect your prize." As the room filled with mutters and light threats the Doctor was pushed backstage and two armed men emered to escort Cindy backstage. However, an eagle eyed person could also see an Usher appear behind the AIM beekeepers and whispher something to them, before taking them from the balcony as well, this could be very bad . Owl then clears his throat and says with barely hidden frustration, "Thank you for your attendance, I thank you for your time." Then the screen suddenly cuts out, leaving a room filled with angry and bitter scum and terrorists
Natasha Romanova	Then from the Hydra end of the 'spectacle' one of the agents would flail over upon seeing the AIM Agents, "Hail Hydra? Hail Immortal Hydra?" The others staring over at him and one of them would bury his facemask in his hands. "Yes, Bob, we see them too." Natasha goes to maneuver along then and go to speak to Richard along the comms <<I suppose it means that we have to get backstage. I can get attention to make a diversion for you>>
J'onn J'onzz	J'onn J'onzz gets up from his seat with a bit of irritation. Then he goes towards the section of the stage towards where they began to lead Cindy and he quite simply walks through it, taking a direct line and rising easily to the higher floor level to emerge once again as he was, straightening his hat for a moment. He is losing patience. He blames it on AIM and the other villains. Sinking in the foul residue of their thoughts is unpleasant. Borderline unsanitary, from a psychic point of view.
Richard Stadler	Well, it seemed either the woman he was sitting next was just that rich, or she had wildly over payed for the man they were here to to rescue. Honestly, SHIELD seemed a bit penny pinching here. Certainly they could have scrounged up a few hundred thousand to extract someone like this? He stood up as Cindy did, moving to look at inspecting her prize. "Do you mind if I come along?" He said. Honestly, it was worth a shot, and it kept him close with her and the armed guard that were escorting her. "Professional curiosity. I'd like to get a look at how the man was injured. So much you can learn from where the bruises are." No problems with faking that. All true, which... honestly was a bit to think about after this. Subvocalizing again. <<Going to see if I have an in with this women. Two armed men on the ground floor. Did you happen to notice AIM? I don't think we're out of this yet. Suggest tailing them.>>
Cindy Moon	Yes. Cindy's MASTER PLAN (which consisted of one and a half steps.. with the second step being roughly titled 'ESCAPE') was all coming together. Even as she watched the frustrated crowd begin to grumble and disperse, there were two lovely armed men showing up to escort her while she completed STEP ONE. It was as if she was a puppet master, and the entire audience were her puppets. At least, that's what she told herself. She hadn't missed the fact that AIM was also being granted an escort. So, maybe not the /entire/ audience. She was just turning to her armed escort when Richard spoke up again, drawing those dark eyes over to him. The question from her auction buddy surprised her. Professional courtesy? Was that a thing? Who knows! The only profession she really knew was working as glorified coffee-fetcher at the Daily Planet. Did street thugs have professional courtesy? Probably not, but maybe these people did. No sense blowing it all to hell now by making a Criminal Faux Pas. "Why not? No harm in another set of eyes. I intend to take him out of here in one piece. With any luck, they only winged him." Was she doing that on purpose? She waits for a moment and then she actually moves to slip her wrist into Richard's arm. Just like the fancy people do on TV. And then the two of them can approach the guards together to be escorted into the back.