Owner	Pose
Thomas Blake	The recent escapades of MONEYSPIDER had not gone unnoticed. The theme criminal community in particular had made murmurs of approval and Thomas Blake decided the chance to rob a corrupt politician was just tasty, tasty enough for a run under the Bat's nose. It was obvious Mayor Hady was not a topic of interest to the Bat. Otherwise MONEYSPIDER would be locked up by now. After leaving a note to Satana, Thomas headed for Gotham. Midnight found him tossing Mayor Hady's office. A clean desk was a sign of mental illness to the criminal. 12:15 found him bent over a floor safe that was hidden by the desk, a stethoscope in his ears. At 12;20 the final tumbler clicked and Catman pulled the door open. Wealth. Surely nothing could spoil this moment!
Lonnie Machin	Well, at least until there's the subtle noise of a high-tech assault rifle being trained on Catman from the doorway. The man staring Thomas down is dressed in high-end purple and black body armor, armed to the teeth and wearing a debonair smirk. Guy Ritchie style cutaway - PALADIN: Alias Paul Denning, Alias Paul Dennis. Known Associates: Silver Sable, other Mercenaries and Criminals. Occupation: High-End mercenary and private investigator. Actually really damn dangerous. "I was hoping to catch a spider, Mr. Blake. But, I imagine as long as I deliver something I can pick up my paycheck. Stand up slowly, hands behind your head, please."
Thomas Blake	Ah yeah rent a cop with firepower! That will cool the best of times. The costume clashes with the use of mundane firearms. Of course Floyd wore a costume and killed any number of people with mundane firearms. As he rises he uses his cape to hide the handgun he found in the safe. He outs this on his foot. Otherwise he complies. "Blake? Never heard of him? I'm new."
Lonnie Machin	"Right. And I was born yesterday." Paladin gestures, just a tiny bit, with the rifle. "Up against the wall, friend. Hands stay behind your head." Which is when, in turn, there's the sound of something rolling between Paladin's legs. He makes the mistake of looking down - "What the-" *POUFFFF* It's a standard smoke grenade, but there's a lot of it. The choking stuff goes off, and then there's the *vmmmmmmmm* *tsssssssss* of a high-powered tazer coming on, the *SNAP* of it connecting, and somebody goes down in a heap. A moment later a - man? - dressed in camo pants, heavy boots, a ballistic t-shirt and an armored bomber jacket comes out of the haze, a cane held up against one shoulder. He's wearing a helmet that's nothing more than an expressionless, china doll-like face. "...Hunh. Catman. Mercenary, performance Criminal. And Hady hired Paladin, presumably to catch me. Well, that shows I got his attention - Paladin's incredibly expensive!"
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake kicks the pistol away. Claws come out in his fingers and he nonchalantly tilts his head. "So... who do I have to thank for foiling this overpriced gun bunny? MONEYSPIDER, I assume. But I hate assuming. We should get out of here fast. Laughing boy probably called the cops." For now he ignores the open safe and heads over to the body. First make sure he's unconscious. Punch! "Koff. You need to get some DBZ grenades... they break down quickly. Watch your step, open safe there. I will make a one time offer of a fifty fifty split. Thank you again."
Lonnie Machin	"I don't think he did. Hady's already in hot water - I saw to that. The GCPD discovering that he spent money, doubtless out of his campaign war chest, to hire a mercenary?" - then he pauses. "Well, MONEYSPIDER is my digital handle. On the street, I'm Anarky - a man can never have TOO MANY names, after all." The frozen mask tilts, slightly - and then he reaches down to take some zip-ties off Paladin's belt and he ties his hands behind his back. "I'd normally object, I'm not a common thief - but I AM here for the money, so I won't fight you over it. 50/50 split." He straightens up, and then he takes a set of tools off his belt and casually begins to open up the PC tower that Catman tumbled while he was turning over the office. "I'm also here for this."
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake watches for a moment and then starts dividing the funds. Oooh Kruggerands! He bristles a little and says, "Well, Anarky, I am not a common thief. I am one of the best and I have to eat same as you. And did you ever hear of private police? So finish that job quick. Otherwise you're on your own." He has the money separated into two piles, bags his and get up to check the door. Crap.
Lonnie Machin	Anarky seems to know his way around the guts of a computer - he opens it up and pulls out the SSD, which goes into a ziplock baggie that vanishes into a pouch on his belt. Then he crosses his arms and parks his keyster on the desk. "An uncommon thief then. Maybe an elite one." He raises his eyebrows, and when Blake separates the cash, he walks... across the room and opens up a window. He picks up the money and begins popping the rubber bands around it... before he starts flinging the cash out the window, sending it billowing out over the street in clouds of greenbacks. "Transitioning to a cashless society has its drawbacks. You can't scatter a digital cash transfer into the streets." The reactions of the streetgoers below? Pretty typical of the rare days where it begins to rain money.
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake says, "For fuck's sake! You could do that from the street or in a car. We didn't get away yet! Wy don't you just send up a fucking Bat-Signal or call Gordon direct?" He looks up as an alarm starts ringing. "Also, that window was alarmed."
Lonnie Machin	"Of course it was." Anarky says, as he continues throwing money out the window. "If you're a performance thief, don't you ever make it more difficult for yourself as a statement?" There might be some needling in that tone. "Or is it REALLY just about the money?"
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake makes a break for the hall. He already has a line he dropped into an air shaft for an easy out. Catman's rules: Know how to get in, know how to get out! Doesn't hurt to be able to fake your demise. "Fine, make it harder for yourself, not others. And money is -central-. You can tell yourself anything you want." He runs over to the door pondering if he should share his escape rout with the new blood or spill some of his. As Catman opens the door two well dressed thugs turn around from a barely conscious and drunken young women wearing a large slit with a tiny dress attached. There is a chorus of 'Shit!' Batman is never around on the rare occasions you need him.
Lonnie Machin	"See, you're mired in the idea of money as points. It's classic game theory." Anarky finishes throwing the last of the money out the window to flutter down toward the street in a cloud. "Money isn't real - it's an abstraction created to represent the value of real things." He turns to leave, and then stops in the doorway. "...Yikes!" Well, he's a quick thinker at least, because he grabs a heavy award trophy off a bookcase near the door and wings it at the head of one of the thugs. DONK.
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blakebody and cape hide exactly what he does to the second thug. He goes down and the Cat scoops the woman up on the run. The added burden of the woman decides him. He points towards a service door with his ears. "This way. I set up an extraction kit... unless you removed it to make things harder, in which case I will hand you the beating of your life and I will take that half of the haul out of your principled ivy tower ass." He certainly needs help to get the lady out.
Lonnie Machin	Lonnie cracks up laughing. "You're the one with the barely-hidden Heights accent. Let me guess, Brentwood Academy? I grew up in the Otisburg district and went to Gotham County High. I'm blue-collar from the roots of my hair to the tips of my toes, Catman." He adds, "GCPD has one of the worst response-times in the country. Add to that the fact that by throwing that cash out the window I snarled the traffic in front of the building. We've got all the time in the world."
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake wonders, does he get the hint of the Swahili and Wakandan he spoke for a while too? He hands the woman to Anarky and opens the door. He spots the airshaft and the line in place as he says, "The building has streets on three sides, kid. "Okay, I'll go up. I'll throw the line back to you, you tie it to your LBE's and I pull the two of you up." He jumps for the line and begins climbing. Please no Batman on the roof? Or the franchises.
Lonnie Machin	Anarky, who's built like a jerky chew toy and appears to have the fibrous strength of one too, puts the woman into a fireman's carry and casually makes his way out. Perhaps it's naive of him to trust Catman like this. But, nothing he knows about the man's pathology (which while not Bat-extensive, is a bit) suggests he'd just casually put a person who plainly has no business being there in danger. "Don't worry, the circuit Batman's been making for the past couple of weeks puts him on the other side of the city right now. There's only a fifteen percent chance he'll deviate from it and show before we can get out of here." Are you a gambling man, Blake?
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake climbs the rope in a swirl of cape. The inside is actually zebra lined, like the classic Catman descriptions but, he said he wasn't Blake. He is wearing a mask. In any case the line is sent down. As soon as it's secured, the feline felon begins hauling Anarky and the woman up. It takes a little effort. Satana must have taken little too long a drink of him last night. He pulls them up, huffing a bit. "The Bat varies his patrols! Especially when he notices people like you. You pretty much say you're gunning for Hady. If he grabs you, you better have info to trade." He holds out his hands, "Give me her. I'll drop her off at Dr. Thompkins' Clinic. If you ever in the Dark Bar in Manhattan look me up."
Lonnie Machin	"I've dealt with Batman before." Anarky says, "And I'm more likely to draw Red Robin's attention. I've dealt with *him* before too." Lonnie hands the woman over, and then says, "Gotham City. Born and bred. Just like everyone else in this town, I'm in the shit every night, fighting with everything I've got." "I don't drink, but I'll make a note of that. Do me a favor and tell Dr. Thompkins I'm checking in on Larry and making sure he takes his meds."