2012-08-31 - Best Served Cold

It was finally coming to fruition. Erich Keller sits at his desk, though faces away from it. He looks out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the city, watching the last traces of sunlight leak from the sky. A few months back, he'd been stolen from, and while he can tolerate a /lot/, he doesn't tolerate theft. It took so long to learn about her; hardly anyone who knew anything would talk--but only hardly anyone. He'd managed to track the little bitch down, though she'd unknowingly made him earn it. He doesn't think she knew that the warehouse she burgled belonged to him; it was owned by a subsidiary of a subsidiary of a subsidiary--but it was still an insult to him. He'd learned as much as he could about the little thief--including that she'd started shacking up with some punk mutant bitch. Whatever. Bring her along; he doesn't care. Through some shadier contacts purporting to be working for a mutant-rights coalition, he'd hired her. Keller, Incorporated had just come up with a way to make the flu vaccines easier to produce for mutants, but were hoarding the results for themselves, so they could hold hospitals all but hostage. At least, that's what Passwall was told. That should be enough to entice the thief, and maybe her little friend, too. The relevant lab is on one of the top floors, but no one knows for sure where, since they're playing it close to the vest. And it has to be /tonight/, because the formula is being moved first thing in the morning. All lies, of course. Keller hadn't come up with any such thing, but that doesn't matter. He's also not a stupid man; he knows that electric stun-gun modifications to his guards' rifles will work best--/if/ the thief can be caught off-guard. And the punk one--magic. Bah, he hates magic, but like any hand-waver, she just needs to be caught off-guard, too. Or overwhelmed. However, he's not one to take chances. So, he hunted around for the best bodyguard. He didn't just need someone to stand there like a cement wall--he needed someone proactive, intelligent--and able to take a shit-ton of damage, just in case the thief and her little "friend" got the better of his guards. That led him to Cabe-McPherson Security, and after explaining the situation, that he had word a pair of dangerous mutants will be coming after him for alleged slights, he asks for the best yet most well-rounded personal guard. That's when his intercom buzzes. "Yes, Marianne?" he asks. "Your appointment is here, Mister Keller. One Heather Danielson." "Oh, do send her in immediately, Marianne, and thank you." "You're welcome, Mister Keller." The woman at the desk smiles to Heather and shows her to Keller's office door, then starts packing to head home. Keller gets up and puts on his best smile, smoothing out his suit a little. He's trim, in shape, and looking decent for a man in his fifties; he knows how important image is, so always strives to project an image of confidence, which is only helped by maintaining a strict exercise regimen. When the door opens, he walks around the desk, hand extended for a warm handshake. "Miss Danielson, I presume," he says with a tone of forced ease; supposedly forced from fearing for his life, of course. Meanwhile... "...holy shit big," Tanya says, peeking up at the building from the parking lot. Not as big as some buildings, maybe, but big enough. She turns crouch against a wall and reach out to grab Passwall's shoulder. "I get lost in there, you'd better find my ass on the double, yeah?" she jokes. She wasn't too enthused, initially, about the idea of waltzing into some strange skyscraper--but it's not like there aren't enough people who are anti-mutant or anything, and the thought of giving one a metaphorical black eye while helping out the mutant community, well--it wasn't like Cordelia had to really spend much time to talk her into it. So she put on her dark clothes and sneakers for mobility, and followed Cordy down here, though she knows enough to let the woman take point. She knows more about this kind of sneaky-sneaky thing than Tanya does.

Striding into the office with a casual and feminine grace, Heather doesn't seem to be able to move -without- drawing even accidental attention to her figure. She takes the hand and puts on her 'for the cameras' smile herself, "Indeed, I've been given a basic briefing on what the situation is. But are there any further details you can help me with? Something like... well, you said that you had word that a -pair- of dangerous mutants would be coming after you. What my briefing failed to report was any details about those mutants, and how this word was received. Which is almost as important to know as simply the fact that they are coming. Trust me Mr. Keller, knowledge really is power in this business."

Cordelia smiles to Tanya, and looks up at the building. It's not so big. "Ah, come on. Good cause, yeah? Jackass has a stranglehold on mutants like us. Now, I ain't one to take sides... But this won't fly." She's wearing just basic street clothes, a black leather jacket and black jeans. "So let's go." She offers her hand to Tanya. "Got some stuff to appropriate for charity."

In the office... "Yes it is, madam," says Erich, giving the woman one of his best beaming smiles. "If you'll please have a seat, I'll bring out the file, hmm?" He'll pull out one of the plush seats in front of his desk for her, then heads around behind his desk. There's a more casual seating area, of course, but he's projecting an aura of something that could be called "comfortable yet business-like". Reaching into a drawer, he pulls out a thick manila folder and returns to the front of the desk, sitting in the other seat and crossing his legs at the knee as he hands the folder to the woman. "You'll find everything I know in there, obtained via licensed private investigators, and their information is included for you," he says, his smile relaxing a bit to a more friendly look. Inside are basic records and such for a handful of private investigators, then some photos. All were obtained surreptitiously, that much is obvious from the composition and the angles. Some are of a pink-haired woman alone, some of a brunette alone, some of them together. One photo shows them at an auto repair shop, both in uniforms, and another shows them leaving an apartment building. There are short dossiers on them both. One titled "PASSWALL". The first name shows "Cordelia", though the last name is blank. The other dossier is titled "TANYA LI", with that filled in for the name spaces as well. There's some basic information, though certain details are missing. Lists of possible powers for Cordelia include phasing through objects, possible heightened agility and speed. Possible powers for Tanya include magic, the extent of which is unknown, though there's a photo of her with her hands and eyes glowing neon pink, hands outstretched to something off-camera. The dossier also has a a photo of Keller meeting with one of the senators notorious for being rather anti-mutant. "As you can see in the records and by that photo," says Keller, "they took a random meeting and made something bigger out of it than there is. That was just a photo taken at a party; I've never seen the man before or since, and I make sure Keller, Inc. isn't involved in anything that could harm the mutant population, but--some fringe lunatics thought that photo meant I was in bed with the anti-mutant groups, and--it snowballed from there, I'm afraid.  Now there's been a hit taken out on me, as you can see from interviews with witnesses near the back.  I have absolutely nothing against mutants, Miss Danielson, I want you to know that, and I know these are just some fringe loons, like you get in any group, but--I have to admit, when one of the investigators learned they were coming here tonight, well--I got scared, and that's when I called for you." He says it easily; he apparently doesn't mind admitting fear, and making sure the bodyguard knows that he doesn't expect any less than the best from her for her sex or any other stupid thing. Near the back of the dossier are the collected interviews and the like that purportedly show these two are part of a violent pro-mutant fringe movement, based on eye-witness reports, records, and other such things. Down in the parking lot... Taking Cordy's hand, Tanya grins and squeezes it. "Alright, let's go. We'll make sure this'll fly about as well as a brick, yeah?" She goes to follow the other woman around, where they'll face their first obstacle, if a minor one--a single guard on patrol, though with a wicked-looking rifle. Complete with the electric stun-gun modification.

"A hit?" asks Heather as she looks through the file and the photos. "And these are the assassins?" She asks with a gesture towards the pictures of the two mutants. "Apparently, they didn't have the cash to go for prime rated hitwomen." It's not that Heather underestimates the situation. She just thinks that if they were serious about a hit, they'd have hired folks that nobody would get info on or whatnot. "Don't worry though, we'll keep you safe. Tell me, do you have any social or public events that you need me to accompany you to?"

Cordelia chuckles softly, at the guard; and that fades at the stun-gun bit. She can phase through bullets, and even the pieces that make up the shocker bits... But the electricity would still zap her hardcore while it passed through her. More, even. "Shit." Ducking behind a column inside the building, she pulls Tanya along, hoping the guard doesn't see. And, at the same time, wondering... She whispers, "Tanya, what's the response time on your electricity-stopping thing? Instant? Right before you touch it?"

In the office... "I know, right? It does make one wonder what it says about me," jokes Keller with a small laugh, and he folds his hands over each other in his lap. Growing somewhat more serious, he shakes his head once, saying, "And no, there's nothing tonight that I need to go to, thankfully. I realize it's a bit out of your usual function, and while I would have liked to have you accompany me to some function or another, I'm afraid that it's just going to be you, me, and the guards here." A little bit of flirting, really, though not so much as to be untoward, and it has the benefit of being true. He's seen photos of her at parties and such, after all. "Now, I don't know when or even if they truly /will/ start anything tonight, but--that's what the rumor mill suggested, and I'm not one to take chances. Also why I wanted the best." A small inclination of his head to her, there. In the parking lot... Tanya almost emits a squeak when she's suddenly yanked behind a support column, though she's not quite so new at sneaking around as /that/, thankfully. She crouches next to the column, looking up at Cordelia. "What do you mean?" she whispers back. "Do you mean how long it takes for electronics to fry when I touch 'em? Umm, instantly, nearly, but I can probably 'pull' away any electricity this guy throws at you, though it has to go /some/where.  Why?  What're you thinking?" She's game for pretty much anything, really, though would like to at least have a basic plan so she doesn't risk failing and letting her girlfriend get hurt.

"Tonight?" asks Heather with a bit of an exasperated tone. She shakes her head, "That doesn't leave us time for any prep-work really. Do you have a safe room? A vehicle that could be used to make an escape if necessary? The primary thing we need to be concerned with is insuring -you- survive this." She doesn't react to the compliment, and barely flirts at all... a testament to how seriously she takes this. She studies the dossiers of the potential attackers to get an idea of how to handle them if they show up. Her first thought is... try to incapacitate the magic user quickly, and just do her best to frustrate the phaser... but the ability to pass through solid objects -does- make for an effective sneaky killer.

Cordelia shrugs, peeking at the guard. "Thinking rush him but... Naw. Not gonna use you as bait." The idea had crossed her mind, strategy going through. It was a pincer attack in theory, but not any more. "Lemme check something." With that, she releases Tanya and drops partway through the floor below her, looking for a basement below. Hopefully, she didn't just drop into cement foundation. Only her fingers remain above, hanging onto it all like it was a ledge.

In the office... "Mmm, my safe room is still being finished; it's still missing the door and the air recycling system," says Keller, spreading his hands a little in lieu of a shrug. So it'd be more of a trap room at this point, really. "I /do/ have an armored sedan, down in the parking garage, if you think we can get to it safely." He's willing to let her handle the details and go where she leads, as it were; he hired her for a reason, after all. In the parking lot... Beneath the open parking lot is--another level. The parking structure extends downward, and here there are few employee cars, likely belonging to the guards, but there's a stairwell in one corner--not too far from where the guard above should be walking in about twenty seconds. Tanya blinks as Cordy disappears; she's still getting used to that. She's barely getting used to being pulled along on such journeys, and just watching is still--different. She peeks around the column to look at the guard, then back to Cordelia. Well, to her hand. "If you can hear me, he's still walking," she whispers softly.

"Do you have a chopper, or could you get one here? I don't want to expose you to a potential threat if we can avoid it. But for the moment, all is quiet. The question is.. if you are a target, is -anywhere- safe?" She shakes her head and stands up to head over towards the window. "Do you have regularly scheduled security check ins? Or do they only check in if there's a problem? I suggest sixty second check ins... but that's just me."

Cordelia looks around the area below and nods, starting to swing back and forth, now gripping the floor above like a horizontal pole, and quickly swings herself to the floor above, back to where she was. "Okay. Distract him. Blind him, flirt, something. Act lost and naive, that works a lot." She's done it before. "Be right back." And she slips down again, this time sliding down the column with her hand partway through it, gradually. "...Don't get shot." She smiles even as her face slides down under the floor, confident that Tanya can take care of herself.

In the office... "Sixty seconds, hmm? Alright," says Keller with a nod. "I'd told them every five minutes, but if you think every sixty seconds is wise, I'll go with it." He pulls out a phone from his suit pocket, though before he uses it, he adds, "And I can have a chopper here in--thirty minutes?" He gives an almost embarrassed smile, there. "I'm not exactly Tony Stark, so I can't have a fleet of helicopters hovering overhead at all times." He grins at her, then says, "If you'll give me just a moment, I'll issue the new orders." He presses two buttons on his phone, then holds it to his ear. "This is Keller. New orders for all security teams--/all/ teams.  New mandatory check-ins every sixty seconds, six-zero seconds.  If anyone doesn't check in, assume a breach is in progress." He covers the phone with his hand, looking to Heather. "Do you think one-man teams are sufficient outside the building, or would you recommend two- or even three-man teams, like you've seen in the building?" No guard inside the building is alone, just in case. He's taking this seriously. In the parking lot... "...flirt?" repeats Tanya, arching a brow and smirking at where Cordelia disappeared. "Right, flirt with the guy with the gun. Okay, Tanya, you can do this." She looks down at her chest, and wishes she had tissues or something to stuff in her bra, but well, she'll make do. The bandanna is smoothed down and she gets to her feet, striding toward the guard and walking more on the balls of her feet. "Umm, 'scuse me, I seem to be lost..." She stops when the guard spins and aims his rifle at her. At least the man is trained, so has his finger resting against the trigger guard, and not actually around the trigger as he walks toward her.

Inclining her head, Heather raises a brow. "You have one man teams on the outside?" she asks. "That's where I'd focus on having two man roving patrols covering each others backs. Plus, make sure each two man team is in view of at least one other team. Overlapping patrol routes. Got alert and caffeinated guys on monitor duty?" she asks with a grin. "And if you can't get a chopper, and the car's somewhere else on site... my suggestion, post a three man detail on the car, have them keyed in to the guard frequencies and if anything goes down, their job is to get the car to -here- ASAP."

At that moment, when Tanya seems to be distracting the guard, Cordelia quickly moves up the steps, making sure to be cautious of other guards - if there's one, there's two. If there's two, then one being gone would be suspicious. For now, though, the important thing is making sure there's /only/ one, or perhaps an unconscious one. So she clambers up the stairwell and opens the door, becoming right behind the guard - if quite a bit away from him. Noting that the gun is pointed at Tanya now, she swears to herself silently, and makes a mad dash over, dives, and attempts to grab the guard's feet as she falls /through/ the floor. The momentum of it would pull the man down, to the floor below this one, while Cordelia swings herself up to grab the above floor as a "ledge" again. The fall would catch the guard by surprise, hopefully, and the intensity of it all would hopefully knock him out... And maybe hurt him quite a bit.

In the office... Keller nods once, then turns his attention back to his phone. "Also, two-man roving patrols, overlapping patrol routes. One team is /always/ in sight of another, okay?  No exceptions.  If one team loses sight of another, assume a breach is in progress." None of this movie crap, where the plucky young heroes get in because the guards are idiots. Nuh-uh. And I want a three-man team on my car, pronto. Their sole job is to listen to the radios. Anything--/anything/--goes amiss, their entire role is getting that car to the lobby. I'll be heading to meet it with my bodyguard. Yes, the one you've all received information for. Yes." The call disconnected, and as he slips the phone away, he smiles to Heather and says, "I took the liberty of distributing a short dossier to my guards, so we could head off any impersonation nonsense, as well as so they know who you are if they us running together." None of this mistaking-a-situation nonsense, either, if he can avoid it. In the parking lot... Tanya raises her hands slowly, smiling a little.  "Umm--I was just looking for my dog...?" she tries, though the guard is silent.  Her attention flickers when she sees Cordelia, but she looks right back to the guard.  Hopefully the guard would be like most people and not be able to tell where her attention was. He's reaching for his radio--when he's suddenly tackled and falling /through the ground/.  An exclamation echoes through the parking structure--cut short by the sudden stop.  Trickles of blood run from his nose and a gash on his head, and it's safe to say he's out like a light. Just then, the radio crackles, and a male voice says, "All guards outside the building, report your position. Repeat, all guards outside the building, report your position.  You'll be assigned a partner and be given new patrolling routes." Then there's a string of voices as guards start reporting in.

"Well, if we know that it's tonight that they're coming... all we can do at this point is wait and hope that the security arrangements work. If they're smart and use their abilities to the fullest, at least one of them could be coming through the walls and we'd never know it until she was in the room. So, from this point on... if I tell you to do something, I'm your boss until the sun rises. Understood Mister Keller?" asks Heather as she does a sly peek out the window through barely parted blinds.

Cordelia can vaguely hear the radio sound off. At that, she points to the stairs down, hoping Tanya sees, and drops down again. The thud to the floor again sounds out in the parking garage, and she quickly looks over the unconscious man for identification, as well as taking his weapon. The radio is next, listening in, to try and report off in her own voice. Hopefully, they have some women on guard duty today so that when she calls out in similar form as the other guards, it will sound legit. And hopefully, she thinks while raising her new weapon cautiously, there isn't another guard to take care of.

In the office... "I haven't had a boss in--a very long time," says Keller as he uncrosses his legs, only to cross them again in the other direction. "I'll do my best to follow your directions, Miss Danielson." He can't help but glance at a wall, thinking about that little thief coming right through it--and thinking about how she pulled that stupid trick on him before. He does keep his composure, however, as he looks back to Heather. "Like the view, hmm?" he says, trying to make a little conversation that isn't about how two dangerous mutants might /right that second/ be penetrating his defenses. "Not as grand from the top of some of our neighbors, I admit, but--it's still nice to see." In the parking lot... A back driveway that opens to an alley is removed of its guards by Luke Cage, all according to plan. On the other hand, as soon as those two go down, their radios squawk, and a male voice asks everyone to report in so they can be assigned a partner and new patrol routes. The guards report off by section--Alpha-One, Alpha-Two, and so on. One voice can be heard from both the radio and, to the women in the parking structure, coming from a stairwell a few dozen yards away. "Alpha-Eight, reporting in, about to meet up with Alpha-Nine." Footsteps can be heard in that stairwell as well. When Cordelia tries her hand at checking in, the male voice who's apparently the leader of all of this can be heard: "...wait, shouldn't Sanderson be covering Alpha-Nine? Who is this?  And Dieter and Kristoffer should be covering Delta exit.  You have five seconds to report in." Inside a security office, the gruff man pulls out a phone. He might not call the alarm, but this is mighty weird on its own--enough to alert Keller about.

When she's on the job, Heather is all business. She look s down at her choice of outfit and sighs inwardly. Had she been told this would be a... report to meeting and be on the job the moment she arrived... she'd have worn something else and maybe brought a guitar case full of guns or some such. As it stands, she reaches up to take her jacket off and tosses it onto the nearby chair before letting go of the blinds and moving to the other side of the window and peeking out via that angle. "Well, I'm not exactly admiring the view Mister Keller. I'm trying to keep an eye on the perimeter." There's a pause and she asks, "You wouldn't happen to have a snickers bar would you?"

Cordelia looks down to the radio stammering a bit to herself before she replies to the call. "...Sanderson? No, he went home sick. Had a... Really bad headache. And a nosebleed. Didn't he report this in? He should really use his sick days... No, this is Kowalski. Everything's fine on Alpha-Nine." She tries to pull off the 'new girl' thing, where she talks too much to pass off as friendly. Maybe it'll work.

Luke was just about to do the hand-swipe 'Well that's finished' gesture, when the downed guards' walkies squawk. He hears Passwall make her attempt, and smiles down at the walkies, shaking his head. "Worth a shot," he mutters under his breath, and glances up and down the alley. "Not for me though." He spies the dumpster he desperately needs and hauls the unconscious men up and into it, pausing to crush each man's radio into silence before closing the lid on top of them. That job done, Luke strides inside, gets his bearings, and starts to head for the first floor meeting point the ladies had picked out earlier. All in all, it looked like a good plan. And if things went south, it was just some suit's building that got a little knocked around. No big loss there. He'd just go easy on the guards, and have fun. He'd be at the meeting point any moment now.

In the parking lot... "Damn it," mutters the man under his breath, though into the radio, so. "He knows that's not allowed. Well, wait there, Kowalski.  I've got Alpha Eight heading in your direction now; you should be seeing him, actually." And just as Tanya ducks into the stairwell Cordelia had pointed her at a moment ago, a pair of guards exit from the other stairwell and look around. For the moment, their rifles with their electric stun-gun modifications are pointed to the ground, and they have their fingers resting against the trigger guard. Another pair of guards are jogging toward the driveway, though Cage can get out of sight before they see him. They aren't exactly hard to spot, thick boots thumping on the pavement and all. They'll head right for where the other guards /should/ be, and one radios in the fact that they're gone. In the office... "As a matter of fact," says Keller, getting to his feet and going around the desk. Another drawer is pulled out, and he grins as he motions for Heather to come around as well. "Not exactly Snickers, but you're welcome to help yourself..." he says as he slips his hands into his pockets. Inside the drawer are a lot of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and he's allowing to grab as many as she wants. Just then his phone buzzes, so he slips it out and presses a button. "Yes? Wait..." Another button to activate the speaker function, then, "Okay, repeat and elaborate." A gruff male voice says, "I believe we have a breach, sir. Dieter and Kristoffer aren't reporting in from Delta exit, and--wait." The man speaks softly to someone else, then returns to the phone. "Sir, I've jut gotten word that Delta exit is abandoned. And Alpha-Nine is being covered by someone named Kowalski; Sanderson is supposed to be there, but he apparently left mid-shift without telling anyone.  Bad headache and nosebleed." Keller just looks to Heather, there, but gives her a brow-furrowed shake of his head. He doesn't like that; his men /should/ be better-trained than that.

Raising her brow, Heather listens to the comm traffic and asks, "Do we know of a Kowalski on the rotation then? If it's suspicious... did you check out the story?" She shakes her head and suggests to Keller, "It's time we relocate you to a place you would -never- be seen in. I assume you have a secretarial lounge?" she asks with a smirk as she heads for the exit to the office... picking up her jacket which she's filled the pockets of with Reese's cups.

While the guards' supervisor is busy with the loop she sent him through, Cordelia reaches into the radio and pulls out a few random components, then another few, and puts them in her pocket. Less mess means they won't know why it's not responding. then, she takes whatever identification the man on the ground has - leaving the money from his wallet inside his pocket - and bolts towards the stairs. She hopes, by then, that Tanya is there so she can grab her hand and lead her through the wall quickly as she can. Considering all that, the guards shouldn't be able to see her run to the stairs, and if they do, she's gone by the time they would get to the stairs.

Luke walks along the corridors, briefly pausing to check his location against the crumpled up map in his back pocket, before heading off again, and stuffing the page back in his jeans. When he finally turns the corner and meets up the ladies in the stairwell, he shrugs. "Sorry, ran into a little hitch. Pretty sure they know someone's here. What floor did you say that stuff was on again?"

In the office... "Did you hear that?" asks Keller as he follows Heather. "Yes, sir. Checking now." Click-clacks of a keyboard. "I've got a--hmm. Ah, here it is.  I've got a James Kowalski and a Tina Kowalski, unrelated.  Tina's shift was up three hours ago." As he heads to the elevator, he turns his attention to Heather. "I don't like it; the guards are under strict shift procedures..." He'll head for the elevator when they get near it, to press the call button. Down below... As Tanya takes Cordelia's hand and they start running through walls into the building proper, she's starting to lose her concentration. When they get to the stairwell that they're supposed to meet Luke in, she has to sit on the steps and rub her temple, the voices in her head starting to get too loud to ignore. So, she starts murmuring under her breath, "Nuapurista kuulu se polokan tahti / Jalakani pohjii kutkutti / Ievan äiti se tyttöösä vahti..." Reciting lyrics to an old polka song helps. And then when Luke appears, she looks up and shrugs. "I--don't know? I'm just along for the ride, remember," she tells him, smiling a little. She keeps rubbing her temple, as if trying to deal with a bad headache--which, if in a more metaphorical sense, isn't too far from the truth.

"Tina huh." mutters Heather. She shakes her head and eyes the elevator, "No. Stairs." she remarks as she reaches to take hold of Keller. She's not going to hurt the guy, but she makes it known that she's strong enough not to take no for an answer. "If they're after you, they might use the elevator as an ambush. It's a tiny little box to be trapped in you know. Now, what floor is the lounge on?" She asks this as she slips the jacket on heading into the stairwell and whips out some peanut butter filled protein chocolaty goodness. She's heading down the stairs herself first, making sure to be between Keller and anyone who might be coming up. She's prepared to duck into the first side door possible if and when someone just happens to enter the stairwell. "Oh, and hand me the radio." When she gets it, she announces over the channel, hoping the -killers- are listening. "We're hunkering down in Keller's office. Keep us updated." She clicks it off and grins to look towards Keller, "Misdirection." She adds.

Cordelia is /way/ further away from any radio than she needs to be. Needs, because they're held by guards. "'Course they know someone's here. Had to take one down back there, they're gonna be on full alert soon enough." She looks frustrated, and thinks quickly, eyes darting back and forth. "...We need a computer, or directory or something. Find out where med research, cold storage, and the offices are. If not A, then B, if not B, then C. We go up." She even points that direction, then looks over to Tanya, and her expression softens. "...You alright? You look in pain."

Luke snap-points at Passwall's reasoning. "Nice, P-dub. I gotta put my money on cold storage though. Research won't give us enough to help people, and I'm betting there won't be anyone in the offices at this hour." Then Luke finally seems to pick up on Tanya's discomfort. He's a dude! "Hey, hang in there, T. You look like you just got beaned in the head with a baseball. Climb aboard, the Cage Train is leaving the station." He holds out his hand to help her up, and when she's ready, helps her swing up onto his back like a child picking up a doll. When she's situated, he nods to Passwall and leads the way up the steps. "Just let me know, P-dub, if one of these door labels catches your eye. I'll get it open so we can go with you." He winks at the pass-through-girl, and grins.

Upstairs... Keller blinks once as he's pulled back. He doesn't fight it, but it's clear he hadn't realized how much a trap the elevator would be. "Umm, the lounge is--six floors down," he says, walking with her even without needing to be "guided"--but he's not fighting it. He hired her for a reason, after all. After handing her the radio, he arches both brows as she sends out that little bit of "misdirection". "That's a good idea," he says with a smile, reflexively straightening his tie. He'll follow her down the stairs, and this time he's readying himself to be grabbed and yanked into a side door. "Do you think we should sound a full alarm?" he asks quietly, to keep his voice from echoing. "Maybe guards running around would--discourage them?" He sounds like he really doesn't think so, but has to voice that thought just in case she agrees. At least he's actually listening to her and following her orders and getting her input. Maybe he's still trying to earn Brownie points. Maybe. Couldn't hurt. Down below... Tanya looks up at Cordelia and Luke and smiles, reaching out to take Cordy's hand. "I'm--fine," she murmurs, not exactly telling the truth and being somewhat obvious about it. She's rather surprised when she's suddenly picked up, though a more sincere smile comes to her face. "Just like Hogarth and the Giant," she notes with a more light-hearted tone as she hunches over Luke's head so she doesn't smack her own on the ceiling. She tries to catch Cordy's eye, then tap her temple and shrug. She's trying to non-verbally remind the woman about the discussion they had on the spirits sometimes just not shutting up. She's not sure where to find a directory or the like, so leaves that to the two people who actually have experience in this sort of secretive running-around.

Heather takes a moment to think about that full alert. She's trained for personal protection, but the tactics of using guards to flush out killers or scare them off.... well she shrugs, "If they can get through walls, they could do it better with the chaos of a full alert. However, if we call your car and have them speed for the front door, they might assume that's where -we- are heading. You have an alternate frequency that the control room monitors, yes?" she asks as she takes the stairs quickly but quietly enough to listen down below. Of course, she's chewing as she talks.. rude maybe, but she's trying to be efficient. "If so, switch to it and have them switch up and individually call guards they -know- are who they're supposed to be, and have them converge on the car... again making them think you're there, and if we are -very- lucky, those guards might be able to handle them if and when they make their move."

Cordelia nods to Tanya, though it's vague enough in direction that it could be at Luke, too. "Right. Cold storage. That would be down, I think. But hey, let's find a computer and make sure before running off. Which... Would be up. I think." She looks upwards at the stairs and frowns; obviously, she doesn't like this. "Something smells fishy, though. That guard was /way/ too easy." With that, she shoulders the weapon she took from the guard before, and starts up the stairs, expecting Luke - and Tanya - to follow.

Luke's muscles ripple under Tanya as he shrugs, clearly uncertain about the reference. "Never read that one..." So sad. Luke needs to see more animated features. Then he's following along with PW's assessment, and nods. "Lead on, girl. Right behind you." He trots along up the stairs, also trying to be aware of not smashing Tanya's head on the ceiling as they go.

Upstairs... Pulling out the radio again, Keller nods. "Alright, I'll have them do just that." He switches frequencies on the radio and turns down the volume, so he can murmur into it and have them do what Heather suggested. Heather can hear the return comments; the car is on its way, as are the men. They'll all be assembled in front of the building in a matter of minutes. Downstairs... As they make their way up the stairs, the sound of running footsteps can be heard below, and it's at least five or six individuals, though with the echoes it's hard to tell for certain. "Maybe we've created a stir after all?" Tanya murmurs, hunching almost so her head is even with Luke's. He's tall, and stairwells weren't exactly made for piggy-back rides. "Where do you guys think the computers would be that the jackboots wouldn't?" she murmurs to the others, asking them since they'd have the experience for this kind of thing.

Not saying a word now, Heather pushes the bar to open a door in the stairwell and reaches to gesture for Keller to go through it. Whatever floor they're on, she's going to search for a place to secure her principle. She does take a moment however, to ease the door shut by hand so it doesn't close loudly. After all, at this point she's hoping they have no idea the two of them were in the stairs. Once the door is shut, she turns to look at the hallway she's in. "This way." she murmurs softly as she gestures one direction, heading there but now making sure Keller is in front of her. "What's on this level?" she asks.

Three more flights up, and Cordelia is looking a bit frustrated, looking through a door each time. On the fourth flight, she opens a door, and decides 'screw it' and heads in, looking around. Computer... Computer... Has to be one around here somewhere! "Okay, getting frustrated, guys. Spread out a bit. Find something. Anything. Not leaving without that vaccine." Maybe she's a little harsh with it, but she's serious - it's important to her. She heads down the left in that room, quietly searching while also being cautious with her weapon pointed forward, just in case of guards.

"Sweet Christmas," Luke mutters under his breath. "That sounds like a whole mess of jackboots at that." He sets Tanya down gently and makes sure both women are heading up the stairs in front of him. "If they're comin' up from behind, like I bet these jokers will, I want just me between them and you two. And P-dub, I think you might wanna just pick a door, sweet cheeks, or some of those boys are gonna get /hurt/." Yeah, it's true. Luke doesn't actually /like/ hurting people. But that doesn't mean he won't do it. Lots of people aren't crazy about their jobs. But you do what you're good at. And great! She picked a door. Once Cordelia is through, Luke holds the door open for Tanya too, while keeping a look out in the stairwell. Once everyone is inside, he'll follow in and shut the door behind them. He'll help search some, but his primary focus is keeping an eye on that door.

Upstairs... "Mmm, one of our main laboratories," answers Keller as he looks around. "Cold storage, too, I think. We had it in a sub-basement, but that got taken out a couple of months ago by--I forget who.  One of the supers.  He was fighting some monster or something; the punchline is that it was tunneling underground.  We're still rebuilding." He considers, then motions down the hall in the direction Heather was pointing, "Cold storage is this way, on the right. I rarely have any reason to be there, since I have staff I can trust to keep me informed." Downstairs... After being set on the ground, Tanya grins up at Luke. "You're handy to have around, you know?" she says as she heads out onto the fourth floor. There are offices aplenty, with plenty of computers to choose from. One's even been left on, from some inattentive office drone or another, so that bypasses the need for logging in and authentication. Tanya won't touch it, but when menus are flicked through and such, it's discovered that the cold storage has been temporarily moved to what was once a laboratory, a smaller one across the hall from the larger, main lab. And, yes, there's a shipment labeled merely "MEDICAL SUPPLIES" that's scheduled to be inventoried in the morning in preparation for shipping it out. Tanya will peek around a bit in curiosity, though keep her hands to herself and stay near Cordelia, just in case any of the guards come running. Thinking about guards, the door opens to the third floor, and three pairs of boots can be heard to start ascending. They're calm, though; the guards are just on patrol. They're just about to patrol the fourth floor...

"Right." says Heather as she unwraps another hunk of chocolate and peanut butter, or is that peanut butter and chocolate?! Either way, she gestures for Keller to lead on and she follows while glancing back every couple seconds. Head on a swivel, is what the military folks call it. She thinks of it as situational awareness. Either way, she's heading right where she thinks nobody would go to find Keller, not realizing nobody's looking for the guy in the first place. Boy this dude is going to have a pissed off bodyguard when this night is over.

The boots. "Damn!" Cordelia files the where and what of the Cold Storage away in her mind quickly, and gets to stepping. "This way!" She's off, down the rows of office - or rather through - and stops once she reaches the far wall, looking for a stairwell to go up. "Just follow me!" Once another stairwell is found, she's up, up, headed up to Cold Storage. Shouldn't be hard to find, knowing /where/ it is.

Luke nods when Cordelia bolts for the far stairwell, and then comes to his senses and shoots his hand out. "Wait!" he calls. If she goes crashing into guards he's way too far to protect her. But there's Tanya too. Luke jogs for the door closest to where Pass went through, but he goes slow enough to give Tanya time to go through the door ahead of him. If she does, he'll follow her upstairs, or at least as far as she goes.

Upstairs... They'll pass through a few doors which Keller unlocks via hand- and retinal scanners, the decor changing from the soft earthy tones of the outer halls to the stark and sterile whites of laboratories. No one's working late, so they have the place to themselves. Which is probably just as well. "I wish I could show you some of what we do here," he says with a wistful smile as they walk along desks and counters and the like. "I know you're not here for that, but we do take pride in our work. Ah, well.  The actual cold storage is in the back, not much farther." Downstairs... Tanya takes off running the moment Cordelia does, glad she wore her sneakers. They're quieter, but more importantly, they're easier to run in. She almost skids to a stop at the stairwell, looking up at Luke. She doesn't stick around long, though, going to race up the stairs as fast as her feet can take her. When they get to the proper floor, the first door they might have a problem with is locked with a bio-lock--scans the palm and the eye. "I could short it, but I don't think it would work like it does in the movies..." says Tanya, breathing a bit heavily from the mad dash. In the movies, the door would spring right open. Somehow, she doubts that would work, here.

"Right." remarks Heather. "Then get in there and lock the door." She stops and turns. For now, without guards to patrol, she'll have to make do with setting up a perimeter herself. "Check with the guards, see if they've confirmed a breach while you're in there. If they don't show up at the car soon, it might be time for a full alert." she remarks. She has a backup plan, and a backup to the backup plan too.... but for now she's hoping to secure the area, and doesn't even respond to the guy's words about 'what they do' here.

Cordelia scoffs at the door. It's not /that/ dense. "Hold on a sec." She peeks through the door, just her head, and looks around. Maybe she'll see something of interest, or even a button to open it from the inside... Well, maybe she needs to get her whole body through - it's a thick door. So she steps in, hands on her hips, looking around and frowning. "Too easy. Something's up."

Imagine, if you will, the kid inside for a moment on a hot, summer afternoon. Suddenly, from out in the street, the siren song of the ice cream man. The kid bolts for the open door, barely hip-checking the screen door to get it out of his way as he passes through. The imagine that kid is a 6'4", 280lb Luke Cage, and that screen door is the security door. While the screen door banged open with a clang and skreak of old springs, this door here collapses in on itself at the impact point of Cage's shoulder, and then tears free of it's moorings, and hinges to land flat on the floor inside the room, creating a jagged hole for Tanya to follow through. Stepping through himself, he brushes rubble from his bald head, gets the dirt of his shoulder with a flick, and generally looks pretty pleased with himself as he glances around to help find whatever Passwall was looking for. "Any clues, P-dub?"

There'll be another scanning rig on the inside; cumbersome, perhaps, but it helps with security and efficiency. People are less willing to pass through doors for inconsequential reasons when the passing-through is made considerably more difficult than turning a knob. Also makes them think about safety a bit more, too. Though now it's a moot point when the door is taken right off the hinges. Further in, the sound makes Keller arch his brows. "I think it's time for that full alert..." he says to no one in particular as he retrieves the radio and brings it up to his mouth to order every guard in the vicinity to the cold storage room, /now/. At least he'd followed her orders and locked himself in the storage unit. Where, if his plan is working, is where that bitch and her friends will be heading. He starts shimmying around the tanks toward the back of the room, trying to get to his own little modification. He'd been planning this for months, and now was the time to hopefully see everything pay off. "Damn, man," says Tanya, looking up at Luke, about as impressed with the man as he himself is. "Didn't even break a sweat. You must be real handy when a pickle jar won't open." She'll step through and look around, leaving computers to the others. She'll flick through notes, papers on clipboards, and other such things that won't go fizzle if she touched them. They'll have a few minutes to search and find the cold storage room when an automated female voice can be heard from the speakers that would, normally during the day, be playing soft music or the like, "All guards report to cold storage. Repeat, all guards report to cold storage.  This is not a drill.  Repeat, this is not a drill."

Well, Heather is not charging that sound, but she does make a mental note of it. The sound of that was a -heavy- impact. So she inclines her head and tries to do the most important thing she can in a crisis... think. Could she have slammed a door open here? Probably, but it would have taken a -lot- of force. She backs up into the shadows so that she can hopefully get a look at the potential attackers before they get a look at her. But she also wonders how they know exactly where to go... inside job. Crap. And she doesn't have a radio... great.

Cordelia cringes at Luke's "warning shot" of a door opening. "Well, there goes sneaky. What the hell, man?!" She throws her hands up in frustration, not even bothering with subtlety anymore, and speaking loudly. "Your brawns are getting ahead of your brains, dude! Just... Augh. Find the fuckin' vaccines and we'll get out of here." She's wading through - yes, through - things as she says this, looking over items to see if they're what is being looked for. True, none of them will /be/ what she's looking for, but perhaps she can find that shipment she saw about on the computer?

Luke Cage shakes his head at Tanya. "Nah, sorry. Won't open pickles just on principle. Those things are gross." All the while, Luke is helping poke around as well, but he knows even less about what they're looking for or how to find it. He owed Passwall a little 'moral support' and this seemed like a good way to pay it back. When the announcement goes off though, he sighs, and sags his shoulders a bit. "Why does that always happen?" And then there's Cordelia's well-deserved ire. He picks up the broken door, leans it against the busted door frame, and reaches up to pinch the metal of the door to the metal of the frame, squeezing it together like a pie crust until the door is pretty well wedged in place. "Sorry Pass, they were already onto us. Figured speed made more sense. Don't worry though. I'll get you out of here safe." Luke's voice returns to normal volumes as well, the depth of his causing it to carry further than most feminine voices. His voice is probably pretty identifiable, as well.

A manifest can be found easily enough, pointing to the "medical supplies" being kept in a tank near the back, tank F-Epsilon. The tanks are small and stacked, but they're all clearly labeled, so one can look through them just by a quick glance. Further out, Tanya thinks for a second, then turns to Cordelia. "Go find--whatever it is. Me'n Luke will hold the guards off.  Go." For once she's actually taking charge, but in a way that makes sense. She can't even /touch/ anything back there, so would be all but useless in looking for anything. She can, though, add her magic to Luke's brawn. So she hurries back to stand near Luke, looking up at him with a smile. "Bet this is the first time you've ever been backed up by someone about as big as your pinky before," she says with a small smile. It's small because there are the thunderous sound of boot-steps running into the room beyond the door. And then there's a female voice, "Alright, split into teams! Alpha and Beta teams, flank! Estevez and Jenkins! Get benches from the hallways, then Gamma and Delta teams get this door down /now/!" All of this can surely be heard by the woman in the shadows, since no one's even trying for stealth anymore.

Cordelia finds herself wandering off, towards Cold Storage, gun cautiously pointing forward but still rather lax. "Found where it is, guys, just hold them off for a bit!" She's not particularly caring of what she has to walk through to get there, as she can just phase through it, and so she makes a straight line for that door.

A beeline towards the door. There's movement off to Passwall's left as Heather steps out now. After all, she wasn't here to watch her client die. She steps right in front of the door, dropping one of those paper cups the Reese's things come in. Her hair's been tied up and back in the brief time she had and she says, "Hold it there, assassin. One chance... drop the weapon and leave. You won't be given another opportunity."

Luke just shakes his head and grins at Tanya. "Nah, not the first time. Everybody has their own talents, right? All shapes and sizes." But with Cordelia off to search, Luke just leans with one hand pressed up against the poorly repaired door, and continues to make conversation with Tanya. Or would have anyway, if not so rudely interrupted by Heather's... interruption. Still leaning on the door, Luke raises his voice to be heard in the back. "P-dub! You ok back there? What's up?"

The "fixed" door is pounded, quickly and heavily, by the guards, using the benches as battering rams. They're sturdy enough to do the job--though the door was also designed more with safety and security of things walking out than being broken down, so it starts to bow rather quickly. Granted, the "repair" work means it won't be going down in a flash. Tanya just smiles up at Luke, then flexes her fingers like a gunfighter from an old Western flick. "You want to go high, or want me to go high?" she asks as she watches that door bow inward farther and farther, cracks starting to appear around the "repair" work. They'll have, at most, another few seconds before the door comes down. For a second time. And while the two girls are conversing, the door to the cold storage room so very quietly opens, just a hair's breadth. There's no noise from the lock, though the red light does blink out, indicating that it was unlocked from within--if anyone's paying attention.

Cordelia notes the woman that has peeked out from the shadows, just as the door's light flicks /off/. Well that's strange. But to Heather, she notes. "...You kidding? I mean yeah, sure, here." She then dips the gun downward, halfway into the floor, and leaves it there, stuck. "See? No gun. No weapons. Everything's chill." Her hands are raised in a defensive manner, just near her shoulders, and she's smiling. That fades quickly. "Except for you, ya nut! I don't fuckin' /kill/ people! I steal from arrogant assholes like this company, hoarding medicine. Th'fuck are you /on/ about?" Oh, this is loud enough for Tanya and Luke to hear, easily. "Why the hell would I be going to the /Cold Storage/ if I wanted to kill someone, anyway? No one is even in there!"

"Step one, weapon down... okay way down. You're forgetting step two." Heather understands misdirection, and she assumes that this smiling assassin is simply trying to buy time or put her off her guard. She inclines her head... back to the door so she doesn't see the light of course. She simply steps forward and invades Passwall's personal space, a hand reaching for a shoulder, arm, or neck if she can get hold of it. "Allow me to show you the door." she adds.

Luke perks up when he hears Passwall shouting, but he's a bit preoccupied here at the moment. He leans his whole body up against the door to buy some time, using all of his strength to reinforce the door. The problem with that though is that he can take a lot more punishment than the door can. With the door twisting and buckling around him as he tries to hold it in place, he calls back, "You go low," and then Luke finally just shrugs the door out of his way and stomps back to fill the broken door frame with his full bulk. "Are you people outa your damn minds? I'm -Luke Cage-!" He shouts in their suddenly revealed faces, as if this explained why everyone on the other side of that door ought to just turn around and head on home now.

The door opens farther and Keller appears, leaning on the door jam. He's got a small tank in one hand, which he looks at then looks to Cordelia and Heather. "No need, Miss Danielson, to show this little thief the door. And let me say now that I apologize, for lying to you.  You'll be paid double for tonight--the money has already been wired.  This is what this little thief was really after, though..." He drops the tank to the floor, and it rings--hollowly. "Nothing in it, I'm afraid. There's plenty in /this/, however." Stepping out fully, he holds up a large rifle, but not one quite like what the guards are carrying. This one is bigger. Almost "over-compensatingly large", one could say. Gleaming in a silver-ish metal, it looks deadly. And it's pointed right at the phasing woman. "This is where a movie villain would explain, in long and monologuing detail, why you're here. In the meantime, your friends would sneak around, or overpower my guards, or whatever else.  I am /not/ a movie villain.  You stole from me, and that's all you need to know.  Well, that and this weapon has been designed /just/ with /you/ in mind..." He doesn't smile as he aims the rifle; this isn't something he actually /enjoys/. It's just something that has to be done. Meanwhile, when Luke gets the door out of the way and makes damn near all the guards stare up at him, Tanya's hands, eyes, and the flame "sleeve" on her right leg all glow with a pulsating, pink light. The boots of the nearest three are--on fire, interestingly enough, which of course makes them start to panic and get the hell out of the way--but the other few-dozen guards, well--they start to get over their surprise and aim their rifles. A few look downright unhappy to be in this position. Another time, another place, they'd likely be asking for autographs.

Well, Heather may not be one of those intellectuals out there, and definitely no Reed Richards. But... she does think quickly on her feet. When the guy flat out admits to lying to her, she stops in her attempt to seize Cordelia. She looks back over her shoulder towards Keller and she doesn't take the time to scowl, threaten, or anything. When the rifle comes up, and the trigger is being pulled... she just turns and steps right in the way of the blast meant for Passwall. The rifle fires, and a capsule impacts her chest... then ruptures as she says, "I told you to leave..." towards Passwall, the ending of the word 'leave' trailing off into a yell... she's not screaming in pain so much as yelling in rage. Pain is something she's handled a lot of, but this fucking -hurts- as ultra-corrosive acid eats through her jacket, her shirt, her undergarments, and then her flesh in moments. The flesh is healing even as it's burned, but the burning is moving a bit faster. More shots might end this blonde... she goes down to one knee as a rib or two get exposed, but she's... holding on, barely... to the little strings of consciousness she might have. Fighting the pain...

At this, Cordelia jumps. Well, dives, really. The initial fight-or-flight response must have gone towards saving the misguided woman - not a bad person, after all, as she didn't do much to force Cordelia to leave immediately - who just got blasted. The dive is aimed towards straight under Heather, and she uses the momentum from that to swing whilst holding onto the floor she just jumped into, and come up on the other side, feet up for a full on kick to the face of that gun-toting bastard, Keller. Or at least, that's the idea. Once the shot went off, she kind of lost her perception of distance in a fit of desperation and justified anger. And of course, that anger has given her some /choice/ words to say... In Polish. "Rzuc bron, draniu jebany koza!"

"Oh, damn," Luke says, as several of the guards catch of fire. He looks impressed. A couple of the new guys even take a couple of shots at him, the bullets just crumpling on his chest, tearing little holes in his shirt. "Last chance, and then you all know what happens next. Now get on outa here before someone gets hurt for real!" His tone of utter indignation at being confronted is unmistakable, as is his shortening patience. Good thing he can't see what freaky stuff is going on around the corner with Cordelia there! Luke continues to try and fill as much of the doorway as possible, and remove Tanya as a viable target.

"...shit," says Keller. He realizes in that bare second he has that everything's gone to hell. There will be no revenge. There will be no retribution. All of this, and that damned /thief/ still wins. All this planning, all this careful plotting--and /she still wins/. He's so far gone in his need for vengeance that he doesn't even immediately register the fact that Heather is on the ground--but then he doesn't register much of anything except for two feet to the face. Blood spurts everywhere from a broken nose, a split lip, and a few teeth go flying. He drops the rifle as he gets sent back--right into some tanks. Liquids of various colors pour out from cracked canisters--and he starts to fight to get up again. Even if left alone, he probably won't be able to do it. But the need for vengeance is that strong, that even as he can't see much of anything, even as his face is made of pain, he won't stay down. The guards in front actually hesitate; whoever didn't know what Power Man could do, they sure as hell know now. The female apparently in charge of this group looks up at Cage defiantly, and calls out, "Switch to stun, maximum charge!" There are soft *ka-chuck* as the guards switch over to the stun-gun modifications--and open fire. Tanya can only redirect so much; glowing like a light bulb, she tries to "pull" as much /around/ Luke as possible, but--there are too many guards, and she can't direct all of the electricity to safe places while still trying to focus. Hands outstretched, electricity swirling around her before shooting off into the walls, the ceiling, and the floors, she tries to keep Luke from taking hits--but fails. Some get through and find their target as she sinks to one knee, breathing heavily.

The scream of rage and pain comes to an end, only because Heather is out of air to exhale. It's a good thing she had that protein Keller gave her earlier... but she's also a bit short on air in total... If Passwall looked back she'd see the actual lung exposed in one spot as it inflates, and Heather surges to her feet as she cries out now in more rage than pain... the flesh is healing and without additional acid to add to the mix, she'll eventually be alright. As she surges to her feet.. she doesn't pause to speak, to gesture... the surge is right into a sprint as she pounds her feet into the floor. Her scream ends though as she needs all her air to move her body. Her body that so wants to just give up, lie down, and rest and heal... but noooo Heather doesn't do things halfway or the easy way. She simply sprints at top speed, pushing her legs until she actually tears muscles in her need for speed and force... until she slams right into Keller while -he- is trying to get up and her movement carries her, and a now heavily impacted and potentially broken Keller, through the tanks, through the room, and right out a window on the... what floor were we on again? Oh well, elevator to hell, going down!

Cordelia watches Heather, aghast, as she gets to her feet. The rage... "Dear fucking god." She blinks, and does a rather Catholic cross about her chest, shaking her head as she quickly picks up that gun from inside the ground that she left before, and nicks the rather dangerous battery acid gun as well, hauling them off towards Tanya and Luke. Maybe she can get there in time to help?

It takes a lot to wind Luke up. Surprisingly, he is a very patient man. But gritting his teeth against the multiple, high voltage streams, he has finally reached the end of that patience. His movements are a little jerky, but in the end, he's able to go to work. He pulls all of his punches, except for one where one taser caught him off guard and he sticks his fist through the reinforced concrete in the stairwell. But other than that, Cage is currently hip deep, punching out guards who stay and stand their ground. Anyone who turns tail and runs is allowed to, and no one will come away with worse than a serious concussion. He is in turn, shot, shocked, and knifed, all of which are turned aside by his ridiculous skin. One brave man even flips his rifle around and turns it into a club. It results in an impressive flash from it's power source as it shatters against Cage's back, but it doesn't really do much beyond scorching his shirt.

Spitting out whatever the chemicals are, Keller tries to get to his feet, grumbling in anger. "No..." he murmurs, "...not like this..." But that's all for naught. He can't even get upright before he's suddenly slammed into by a woman who's as half-gone as he is, only in a much more literal sense. He roars in rage as he's carried backward, which is cut short when they smash through a window. He claws the air as he falls, as if trying /will/ this to turn out differently. Somehow, some way... And about a second and a half later, there's a dull--to those so many stories up, anyway--thump, followed by the high-pitched keen of a car alarm. By the time the phasing girl gets out there, Tanya is on both knees, trying to re-route the electricity bolts that the guards are firing--when they're suddenly occupied by a mountain of pissed-off Power Man in their midst. When they stop firing their electricity bolts, Tanya slumps to her hands and knees--then falls right over, barely conscious. The walls and ceilings are all scorched where she tried to dissipate impacts, so there wouldn't be too much damage on any one spot. As for the guards themselves? Their boss just got taken out--no one could miss his scream--Power Man is pissed off and aiming his fists /at them/, some of them were /set on fire/, and now another girl is joining them. Isn't she the one who can phase through things? And she's holding a weird rifle. The guards that Luke /didn't/ get to--which is a rather low number, all things considered--turn and run. After that, the three are left pretty much alone. When they leave? They'll have guards drop weapons and hold doors open for them. It's safe to say that no one is in danger of being reported to the police tonight.