Jump to content

Stepping Up To The Golden Calf


Recommended Posts

"Alright, we'll be meeting back here, quickly go over the basics with the mooks. I have no problem leaving those guys behind, though. If I say run, we run. Got it? I really don't wanna deal with the supers right now, if we don't have to."

Letta shakes her head, pointing towards the door. She tries not to look bossy, but she can't help it at this point. She's taken the lead now, and should probably be ready for whatever.

"So, I'll see you guys then? Bring whatever you might need. Be ready to head out as soon as you get here. We clear?"

Link to comment
  • Replies 98
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

"So, I'll see you guys then? Bring whatever you might need. Be ready to head out as soon as you get here. We clear?"

Whisper shows that same creepy mortician's wax smile as she starts to fade from view.

"Crystal."

The door opens of its own accord, and she's gone...

- - - -

"Well," thinks Grim as she pads silently down the hallway. "This should be interesting."

Link to comment

"So, I'll see you guys then? Bring whatever you might need. Be ready to head

out as soon as you get here. We clear?"

Ghost stands and nods his head. He watches as Whisper fades from view and sees the door open on its own. 'Hmmm, she simply hides from view. Still have to manipulate items on her own. Good to know.' He smiles as he places his water bottle back on the table and waves a goodbye to their host. "This is going to be a real fun outing."

He walks out of the room and out to the street, thoughts of the job at hand rolling about in his head.

Link to comment
  • 3 weeks later...

-Day of the Crime-

Capricia stands in the middle of her room, five nameless mooks standing around her and her rough sketch of what the place looks like. Very, very rough sketch. She's dressed in that same suit as before, everything in the same aqua blue. The mooks are generally dressed in tank tops and slacks, and look like mostly muscle and no brains. The front door is closed, but unlocked. She taps her foot, looking over at her watch again.

"Damnit, where are these guys? They better not have bailed on me."

She scribbles a few more marks on the diagram, muttering the entire time. There's a few more arrows drawn, mainly for her two missing thieves.

Link to comment

There'sd a knock at the door before it opens slowly to reveal, the Ghost. He takes a moment to look over the new faces before moving further into the room. He closes the door behind him and smiled at Capricia. "I see you got some help for the job. Good. More to keep the things from getting to difficult for us."

As he moved into teh room, Capricia noticed that the man moved slightly different from the last time she saw him. He was more controlled. As if the past few days had given him time to improve his skills.

The Ghost looked over at teh rough sketch and smiled. "Well, I guess it's going to have to do for us. Do they know what they'll be called to do?"

Link to comment

"Of course they know what they're doing. I've been going over it for the last half hour. Plus, they know better than to screw around here. You seen Whisper? It's nearly getting dark here, we gotta be ready for all this before the big rush. Plus, we gotta make sure these guys see who they aren't supposed to shoot. Not that they'll be shooting first, but in case things get crazy, they know who not to shoot at."

Capricia smiled back, pointing a few more times at her diagram. The diagram shows who the real players are here, all the mooks being drawn about the same, with the three villains actually color-coded.

Link to comment

Ghost shook his head. "No, haven't seen her. The way she slips around invisible and all, she just might be standing around now."

He moved closer to the diagram and smiled at the crude figures. "Hmm, you're no artist that's for sure, but it's pretty clear as to where everyone needs to be." The Ghost points at teh money cage. "Here's teh money cage, so I'll take up position over here at the slot machines. It'll give me a clear view of the cage as well as place me fairly close to cut down on movement time. If you place a few of your men here, near the entrance, and here, near the service entrance, we should be able to limit the amount of extra players that might want to cut in on our action."

Ghost looks up at Capricia and smiled. "Where do you want to be when we get started? I'm not sure where your particular skills will be most useful."

Link to comment

Capricia smiles, pointing down to her light blue symbol standing behind the thugs.

"I'm here to get most of the attention. I do more than just chill drinks. I can make the place a giant ice storm, mess with the guards or take them down as needed. While standing here, I can see most of the room, good enough for me. I mean, that was the plan I remember. You got a problem with me being the center of attention here?"

Link to comment

Ghost shakes his hands defensively with a smile plastered upon his face. "No, no. Not at all. I prefer not to have attention swing my way anyway. This way, I'm more like my namesake."

He looks down at the map again and nods his head. "Well, I guess we had better go and get into position. Whisper will most likely show up at the casino."

Link to comment

Back at Terhune's apartment, Jos put on the final touches to his disguise, a dusting of makeup over the thin layer of latex over his nose and eyebrows which gave him a more Aquiline -- and, he hoped, more thug-ish -- appearance. He'd gone slowly and carefully, taking nearly four hours [i.e., Taking 20] to insure that he wouldn't be recognized.

"If half of what I've heard about the decor of that place is true," he thought aloud as he pulls the Goodwill-bought tee shirt over his head, "robbing it will be a boon to everyone."

The night before, not long after he'd been 'contracted' for the job, he'd stashed a change of clothes in a large duffel bag on the roof of a squat little motel which huddled between the Golden Calf and Paradise. He hoped they were still there.


One of the five mooks stood out from the others just a bit, though that's not to say he doesn't look like a mook. Rather than a tank top he wears a UWL (Ultimate Wrestling League) t-shirt, and he was more on the wiry side than bulky. He's also the mook most intently examining the map from behind a cheap pair of sunglasses.

Link to comment

He looks down at the map again and nods his head. "Well, I guess we had better go and get into position. Whisper will most likely show up at the casino."

"I think it's a good plan."

The dull gray words hang in the air, and sure enough Whisper is suddenly leaning against the wall in the corner. "I don't mind having you being the focus of all eyes; no one ever pays attention to me anyway." The same mortician's wax smile follows, indicating this is an attempt at humor.

"I am ready."

- - - -

Grim had decided to show up a bit early, so see if Caprica was planning to knife anyone in the back, but from the look of things she was a legitimate operator in it for the cash and prestige; that being said, she was under no illusions about 'honor among thieves', knowing full well her teammates would drop her like a hot potato if she screwed up.

Link to comment

Capricia smirked as Whisper showed herself in the corner of the room. "Well, that's taken care of. Let's get down there, take care of all of this. Just wait for my signal before starting, just to make sure we don't have to worry about any of you guys getting seen before things are supposed to get moving. Not that one of you will have problems with that.."

She trails off, then points towards the door. She waits for everyone to leave, bringing up the tail end of the line of people. She wasn't planning on turning her back on any of them, but she didn't really trust them either.

-------

About half an hour later, the group all went to their positions from the badly-drawn plan. This meant Capricia and the thugs had just grouped themselves outside. She gave the signal, and the six of them marched up to the front of the building, most of the thugs carrying some sort of gun. Capricia grinned, firing a quick ice-spark into some of the lighting fixtures, making quite a bit of noise. She followed this up with some shouting at the stunned and confused crowd.

"Listen up! My name is Capricia Chill, this is my crew and this is a robbery! Everyone get down on the ground, and drop any weapons you might have! We don't want to hurt you, but we're here for your money! Don't stand in our way, don't be a hero! We will shoot you!"

She watches the security people, to see if any of them try anything stupid like fighting this group of thugs.

Link to comment

Damn, Jos thought, and I was hoping I'd get to be the one to make the grand entrance. Well, if I can't be first, I can at least go one better...

Jos concentrated...

Change! Change, O mortal form!

Release the might from fleshy mire!

Boil the blood in heart of fire!

Gone! Gone! -- the mortal form --

Rise, the Demon Belphegor!!


One of the thugs -- the shades-wearing wiry one in the UWL tee shirt -- steps forward and suddenly begins to glow as if lit from within, and growing nearly half a foot in height and double that in girth. His skin takes on a dark red color and visibly hardens into scales, with bone spurs sprouting from the elbows, knees, and ankles, and talons replacing his finger-and toenails. Short curving horns burst from his head, his face elongates into a fanged muzzle beneath orange reptilian eyes, great batlike wings erupt form his back, and a long heavy tail lashes out behind him. (Though the change shredded his clothes, scarlet trunks mercifully materialized to afford him some decency.) It lets out a deep roar, then says, in a growling but resonant bass voice, "The mistress said, GET DOWN!"

Link to comment

According to the plan, the Ghost and Whisper were to enter first and position themselves near teh money cage. When Capricia made her entrance and created the distraction, they were to make their move. Ghost had to wait for the combination to come his way from Whisper's observation.

Ghost, his own protections up and running, had set himself up near the slot machines that were stationed near the money cage. He didn'T fear being seen by the mechanical security devices placed around the csino with his own ability to avoid detection already in place. He slowly placed coins into the machine as he waited for the others to react. 'I hope this goes well. The last time I worked with a group of supers didn'T go too well. I hope they don'T bail out on me.'

The Ghost took his time looking over the main floor of the casino. He frowned at the gaudy use of gold everywhere. From wall coverings to the chandeliers, the place was covered in gold. Even the safe behind the money cage was covered with the unmistakable sheen of the yellow material. The Ghost sighed as he waited for the action to begin. He had counted only a handful of security gurads on duty, but he knew there were a few plain clothes guards scattered through the area, not to mention the heavy bruisers that most casinos kept in the back areas.

The Ghost turned back to his slot machine, ready to put in another coin when the main doors burst opened and Capricia and her goon walked in. The Ghost flinched in surprise just like the others in the casino and took a moment to look towards the group. His eyes widen when one of the men changed into a demonic form and called for everyone to get down.

'Where did she find that bloke?' Ghost thought as he began to lower himself down. He knew it would be best to at least seem like any of the other patrons in the casino to draw less attention to his actions. He continued to wait for Whisper's infromation before moving closer to the cage.

Link to comment

Whisper had been in the casino for a while, or rather Grim had been at first, shifting between a few forms as she moved through the crowd, playing a few slots as a Jersey retiree at one point. She did this for several reasons, among them having a better look at the security people, but also to see the patrons as people, to remind herself of how important their lives were, no matter insignificant they might seem.

It's my job to make sure no one dies here today.

As the time for the actual robery approached she went invisible and entered the cage, making note of the safe's combination when one of the bosses made a deposit; once she had it, she slowly made her way towards Ghost.

When the planned chaos began, she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach; there were so many ways this could go horribly wrong. And once the frickin' demon made his presence known, she felt even worse; she prayed that no one tried to be a hero, and that everyone made it out safe.

From off to Ghost's left side, there comes a soft emotionless voice. "I have the combination." Whisper then rattles it off as her unseen eyes fill with worry.

Link to comment

About half an hour later, the group all went to their positions from the badly-drawn plan. This meant Capricia and the thugs had just grouped themselves outside. She gave the signal, and the six of them marched up to the front of the building, most of the thugs carrying some sort of gun. Capricia grinned, firing a quick ice-spark into some of the lighting fixtures, making quite a bit of noise. She followed this up with some shouting at the stunned and confused crowd.

"Listen up! My name is Capricia Chill, this is my crew and this is a robbery! Everyone get down on the ground, and drop any weapons you might have! We don't want to hurt you, but we're here for your money! Don't stand in our way, don't be a hero! We will shoot you!"

She watches the security people, to see if any of them try anything stupid like fighting this group of thugs.

OOC: All my GM posts will be bold.

The sudden appearance of the thugs carrying guns drew the attention of almost everyone in the casino. The sudden ice sparks hitting the lighting fixtures drew even more attention. Capricia's words followed by the sudden appearance of the demon threw the room into panic.

People began dropping to the ground in droves while the security guards nearest the intruders crouched in stunned confusion. Against normal theives, they would gladly do their job. But against a woman that could shoot ice and a demon, they knew better than to stick their knecks out. Besides, ten dollars an hour wasn't worth facing a super in any event!

Back, hidden behind the walls of the casino, the real security watched the scene unfold on the various hidden cameras throughout the casino's gorund floor. Looks like we actually get to work for our pay. This should be fun. The lone man stood and cracked his knuckles as he slowly began to make his way towards the main floor. As he passed a group of people, he made a gesture. "Come on boys. Looks like we get to work for our money today." The five men quickly grabbed their gear and fell into step behind their leader.


From off to Ghost's left side, there comes a soft emotionless voice. "I have the combination." Whisper then rattles it off as her unseen eyes fill with worry.

The Ghost nodded his head as heard the numbers being rattled off. "Well, let's see if this works after all," he whispered back even as he followed the general movement of the crowd. He lowered himself to the gorund but began to move quickly towards the cage and the treasures it held.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

[[ I'll do a similar "GM Voice" thing. MBCE and I are still hashing out a few things, but we can still get things moving a bit. ]]

As the five headed out, two silently split off from the group and headed off in a separate direction. Then they split up and went down separate service hallways.


The demon's wings wrap about him like a great cloak as he looks over the prone gamblers and guards. "Golden Calf? Ha! 'Thou shalt not make for thyself an idol' -- are you all trying to get on the fast track to Hell?!" He takes a few steps towards one of the cowering gamblers, a large man in "Rich Texan Gambler" garb (cowboy hat, bolo tie, boots, etc.), "you monkeys really do make it far, far too easy."

Link to comment

"Hey! Hey! Cowboy, you got any money on you or the horse you rode in on?"

Capricia seems relaxed, chilled even, despite the fact that there's a demon right next to her. She thinks about getting in the cowboy's face, but looks at the rest of the room.

"Hey, how you think we're doing here?"

Link to comment

The cowboy in question lays on the ground shaking. "Please, don't hurt me! I have a wife and kid back home. Just take the money and leave me alone." The man begins to empty his pockets, dropping a wallet as well as a silver flask. He quickly begins to remove his large watch as well, knowing that the robbers would want that as well.

Just as he releases the clasp, a side door, hidden behind one of the guady golden statues, opens revealing three men. The man in front was large with white touching the edges of his hair. The other two men behind him were smaller, but held the same focus as they moved passed their leader. The first man spoke quickly. "Neutralize their weapons!" before moving further into the room.

The command broght the man on the left into motion. He raised his hands and a wave of magnetic force covered the group of robbers. WEapons flew from the goons hands to fly and land at the man's feet. Once the weapons landed, the smaller of the three men pointed his arms at the pile of weapons and a blast of force smashes the weapons into uselessness.


Ghost looked up as the three figures entered the scene. Great! The real security is here now. I hope she can hold them off while I get to work. Ghost continues moving to the cage and stopping at the gate that protects teh money form unwanted intrusions. A quick scan showed that it was already in lockdown mode once Capricia had entered the casino.

Should have had Whisper stay on the inside to open the gate for me. Oh well. Hindsight is always 20/20. The Ghost quickly removed one of his tools and took a look around to make sure everyone was focused on the diversion instead of his actions before starting work on the gate.

Link to comment

You don't want to do that, Ghost heard. At first he thought it was someone whispering -- though not Whisper, the voice was definitely different -- but turning he saw no one, at least no one near him.

You really don't want to do that. You should just go home, forget about this.

Scanning the place more carefully, he saw two men standing near a set of curtains (likely concealing a secret door). Both were looking his way, though one stared intently while the other looked mostly at him, looking away now and again to look at the others. The intently staring one was a tall, thin pale fella, in an expensive all-black suit; the other was a well-toned black man with short dreadlocks and simple loose-fitting clothes.


The demon looked to Capricia, then back to the three men. "Pfah, a parlor trick! The real question is, how far are you willing to go with it?" The demon scooped up the cowboy and held him like a human shield, one taloned hand pinning his arms behind him and the other at the man's throat. "Willing to risk harming this man to get to me? Willing to risk me doing... unspeakable things to him, in front of you all, unless you allow us to do as we wish?"

Link to comment

The demon looked to Capricia, then back to the three men. "Pfah, a parlor trick! The real question is, how far are you willing to go with it?" The demon scooped up the cowboy and held him like a human shield, one taloned hand pinning his arms behind him and the other at the man's throat. "Willing to risk harming this man to get to me? Willing to risk me doing... unspeakable things to him, in front of you all, unless you allow us to do as we wish?"

The obvious leader stared at the demon as he threatened the patron. After a moment, he spoke. "And you seem to think that I care. I and my men are not Freedom leaguers. We're paid to protect the Casino from being robbed. So give me the excuse I need to explain to the cops when they finally show up." The man smiled wickedly that sent a shiver of emotions at all within 25 feet of him.

OOC: Fearsome Presence DC 15 Will save needed


You don't want to do that, Ghost heard. At first he thought it was someone whispering -- though not Whisper, the voice was definitely different -- but turning he saw no one, at least no one near him.

You really don't want to do that. You should just go home, forget about this.

Scanning the place more carefully, he saw two men standing near a set of curtains (likely concealing a secret door). Both were looking his way, though one stared intently while the other looked mostly at him, looking away now and again to look at the others. The intently staring one was a tall, thin pale fella, in an expensive all-black suit; the other was a well-toned black man with short dreadlocks and simple loose-fitting clothes.

The Ghost stopped and looked back at the two men. Mentalist, huh? Never encountered one them before. Got to admit ahving someone project thoughts in my head is unnerving.

The Ghost smiled at the man that kept staring at him. He turned his own abilities upon the intrusive man and the curtain rod above him broke from its fastenings, falling on top of the man.

OOC: Damaging attack Tough DC 20 [bludgeoning, Penertrating]

Link to comment

The rod bounced off the man's head with seemingly no effect. From this distance -- the two were about 30 feet away, with a few slot machines and blackjack tables 10 feet from the wall forming a "corridor" between them and the two would-be robbers -- Ghost could just see the brief flash of energy indicative of a non-obvious force field.

Nice trick, Ghost heard in his head. I would show you one of mine, but that'd be too easy.

The whole time the man in black didn't move, but now the black man began running towards Ghost, leaping up into a flying kick which solidly connects.


The demon actually paused...

Holy crap!, he thought, I... I can't... I wi-wi-wiLL NOT BE COWED BY SOME GREY-HAIRED MORTAL!!!

... and then laughed. "Who said anything about compassion or care? I'm talking about basic business sense: do you want these patrons to know you don't care at all about their well-being? Sure, many of them probably sense that already, on some level, but to hear it actually spoken out loud... well, that can't do well for the bottom line, can it? Hard to get repeat customers if they know the security here is willing to shoot through them to get at any robbers, and equally hard to draw new customers if it's known that they will be considered as expendable as the card tables should trouble come 'round. So, which of the Seven hold the most sway over you and your bosses? Greed? Pride? Or Wrath?"

Gotta play this smart -- some of these folks may actually prefer to be shot at by these guys than torn apart by a demon. Though I may take out this one I'm holding anyway, his fake jewelry is an eyesore.

The demon looked about -- as subtly as he could, trying to move just his eyes and not his head -- and set his gaze on a woman cowering closer to the guards than to his side. He projected feelings of intense fear into her, making her know that no matter who here won this fight, she and all the other patrons would die. As he did, some of his internal fire seemed to die out, though some may see this as shadows gathering about him.

[[ Using Emotion Control 7 on random woman, which means 'switching off' the Impervious on his Protection and Penetrating & Incurable for his Strike. ]]

Link to comment

Gotta play this smart -- some of these folks may actually prefer to be shot at by these guys than torn apart by a demon. Though I may take out this one I'm holding anyway, his fake jewelry is an eyesore.

The demon looked about -- as subtly as he could, trying to move just his eyes and not his head -- and set his gaze on a woman cowering closer to the guards than to his side. He projected feelings of intense fear into her, making her know that no matter who here won this fight, she and all the other patrons would die. As he did, some of his internal fire seemed to die out, though some may see this as shadows gathering about him.

[[ Using Emotion Control 7 on random woman, which means 'switching off' the Impervious on his Protection and Penetrating & Incurable for his Strike. ]]

Belphegor exerts his power upon the woman whose eyes widen in fear as she loses control of her emtions. "No! We're all going to die!" she yells as she stands and begins to run away from the confrontation.

Even as she moved, the three security members kept their attention upon the demon and his hostage. The leader smiled as he noticed the demon's use of his powers.

"Take them out boys!" he called as he moved towards the demon. The force guard quickly raised his hands and blasted out catching three of the goons that had come in with the demon. His blast, set for a wide arc hit with enough force to take down two of them.

The magnetic boy turned his own powers upon the hapless cowboy within the demon's grip. His power latched upon the man's metal belt buckle. Belphegor felt the cowboy move slightly just before the leader reached him. He swung back with his fist but failed to connect as Belphegor turned just in time to avoid the blow.


The rod bounced off the man's head with seemingly no effect. From this distance -- the two were about 30 feet away, with a few slot machines and blackjack tables 10 feet from the wall forming a "corridor" between them and the two would-be robbers -- Ghost could just see the brief flash of energy indicative of a non-obvious force field.

Nice trick, Ghost heard in his head. I would show you one of mine, but that'd be too easy.

The whole time the man in black didn't move, but now the black man began running towards Ghost, leaping up into a flying kick which solidly connects.

The Ghost rocked from the blow. He rolled slightly, putting his back to the wall. From his new position, the Ghost could see the guady chandieler above the guard that just hit him. The sudden snapping of the worn chain that held it in place was the only warning before it came crashing down upon his assailant.

[Damage pentertrating DC 20 bludgeoning]

Link to comment

Capricia looked up at the man, startled by the effect of the man's look.

This was so not what I was expecting. Oh, well. Gotta work through this. Come on, now.. You can do it.

Capricia points back towards the rest of the casino, holding her hands over her head a bit overdramatically.

"Nice try! But don't think your little trick is going to get to me. Now, you may not care about one person, but do you think your boss will appreciate a very heavy loss in customers?"

A very strong arctic chill sweeps over the entire room, affecting everyone who isn't on her side of this conflict.

[DC 10 saves from Environmental Control if she can keep this up.]

Link to comment

The chandelier cracks the kickboxer on the head, but he swiftly shakes it off. "You a quiet one, eh? Me t'ink me can change dat!" He started doing a bit of fancy footwork, ducking and weaving, left and right, until suddenly his right leg flashed up and struck Ghost in the ribs.

The tall man in black kept watching, still unmoving. You should know you cannot possibly get out of here in one piece, much less with any of the Calf's money. Surrender now, tell us who your accomplices are -- along with whatever else we want to know from you -- and you'll probably get out of this without any major breaks to your bones.


Belphegor willed his internal fires back up*, and shoved the Rich Texan aside so he could face the leader eye-to-eye. Pity he's such a glutton, I'd like to be able to toss him at these guys. Maybe I should hit the gym more often.

Rather than attack, though, he leaped up and to his left, propelled by a few wingflaps to come to rest atop a row of slot machines about 30 feet away. "You may want to stop and listen to the Mistress, mortal," he hissed. "I'm sure you could get away with explaining a few dead patrons, but all of them?"

[[ That is, reactivated the "Infernal Internal Combustion" slot in his array, so now he's got his Impervious Toughness 6 and Penetrating 5 Incurable claws back. ]]

Link to comment
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...