2014.07.16 - Higher Stakes

It's a trap. Of course its a trap since almost everyone involved in the original flight of the Excelcior was arrested or fined. So many avoid, but many others are interested in the idea of Crimecoinz. Still, the attendance by heavy hitters; either heroic or government or criminal is lighter this time around, a lot of B listers with some exceptions. The airship is bigger, more luxurious with a single cabin for anyone on board that is exceptionally luxurious filled with all kinds of high tech comforts you wouldn't expect on a commercial liner. The casino is already running full bore, and there is no 'zero hour' where the host is expected. Folks are just playing games with the odd little chips.

As for Kilroy, this time around, he's here as himself. Given that he thought he owned this company now and saw nothing of this ship on the asset list, and given that he knows his father is back from the dead, he's expecting the unexpected.

Just fashionably late, Mystique arrives for the airship in the guise of a blonde socialite. She highly doubts that their host is going to be fooled, but there's no reason to alarm the rest of the guests now, when they might be more usefully alarmed later in the evening. She arrives with a pistol in her handbag and a knife elegantly camouflaged as part of a filigree pattern on the back of her daring couture gown. She's got a few more tricks up her -- well, she's not wearing sleeves -- but those will do if the airship's security needs something to produce in a frisk or metal detector.

She spots Kilroy immediately as she heads into the game room and greets him with a nod. She's a little relieved to see that Loki isn't present, although the absence of blustery heroes like Stark means she'll have to work for it if she wants a proper distraction.

Forces are in motion tonight. Both good and bad. One of those forces is the cosmic embodiment of hope itself. Adara isn't on the air ship though. No, it's not near but it's out and about tonight. Somewhere out over the ocean, this cosmic force is searching out where exactly 'hope is in danger'. Of course it's doing a little idle ocean cleansing and wildlife restoration too but cosmic forces can multitask.

Kilroy isn't sure who he's nodding to, but nods in return. He does know Mystique might be here, but she could be anyone. Moreover, given his father's vote to hurt and curse the four who saved him before, he's not expecting them to show up. He doesn't try to disrupt the ritual this time. It's too large and the last fiasco took months of cleanup. With talk of a 'surge' likely to happen to the Gold this time around, he's playing it very careful. He wanders in and out of the tables and finally sits at one of the bars, sipping some wine. Waiting. What is his father up to?

Mystique gives a disappointed little flutter of her eyelashes as Kilroy doesn't see through the disguise. She briefly considers making her presence more obvious, but eventually settles on remaining a wild card. If he has some sort of plan to stop his stubbornly living father, she'll probably pick it up faster and be in a better position to hurry it along if she just watches rather than waiting through a tiresome explanation. Instead, she attaches herself to one of the better-looking high rollers in the room, feigning fascination with his barely coherent explanation of a game she already knows back to front. Her eyes are devoted to him; her attention is anything but.

Kilroy is not an expert but the annoyance on her face is uniquely Mystique. He's seen it way too many times and is about to approach when she suddenly goes in a different direction. He doesn't break her cover but he does place himself near her.

And just as suddenly, Mystique would feel a chill, a spell being cast on her but followed by an immediate second spell. The booze begins to flow quicker, tongues wag wider, and bets are being placed at a much faster pace. Kilroy is not an expert but the annoyance on her face is uniquely Mystique. He's seen it way too many times and is about to approach when she suddenly goes in a different direction. He doesn't break her cover but he does place himself near her.

Mystique takes a wobbly step backward from the table, one hand going to her neck. It's a bit of an overreaction, but it does give her a better point of view on the room, and her wild eyes give her the opportunity to scan for the goddamned mystic that is trying to toy with her. With a bit of luck and a tottering yank on her high roller's bespoke blazer -- which she is only too happy to provide -- it might even disrupt the game a bit and slow down whatever gambling-based mysticism their host is attempting.

Kilroy looks strained. His father is already more powerful than he is, but Kilroy is more clever. Rather than a stronger blessing to counter the curse, Kilroy goes old school and surrounds Mystique with a circle of salt. Instantly, the curse is kept at bay. That won't work too good on a Rai stone to the face, but for now Cold is checked.

Kilroy slips in on the other side of Mystique and whispers, "Don't move. The ward only works if you stand still."

Jeebers McJosephat the shipping magnete looks at Kilroy whispering to the blond but doesn't say anything.

"Stand still? That's your advice?" Mystique hisses back. "Suppose I want to stab someone? Purely hypothetically, of course." More loudly, she says to her erstwhile companion, "I'm so sorry, I think all that talk of numbers has given me a bit of a headache. You don't mind if I stand back here for a moment?"

No one else notices but Mystique could, upon moving slowly, sense a circle of salt on the floor. This, by itself is not that weird, but the fact that it MOVES as she moves is a bit of an eyebrow raiser. "I'd stab them very slowly."

Jeebers coughs and nods,smiling sweetly,"Of course." He glares daggers at Kilroy. The up roarous behavior continues, faster and faster. People almost move as if sped up.

Freed of the high roller's attention, Mystique glances downward with a slight twist of her lip. "I don't like being pinned down," she says. "Not even slightly. Is this frenzy what's causing the inconvenience?" She twirls a finger, indicating the entire gaming room. "Because I'll be only too happy to break up the party if necessary."

Kilroy considers how much to mention, but she saw him before. "There is a ritual...creating a powerful currency but ...faster than last time...with more power. I want to stop him but don't dare. There is some kind of 'surge' thing so messing with the ritual might make things worse, but not messing might be worse. He's blessing the economic activity here in the extreme, and cursing you. I've countered it but my ward," or salt...,"is hard to move with you. But..."

And just like that, everyone stops. Well, everyone else.

All of the tokens briefly glow and then vanish. Destroyed by Cold Hard Cash.

A video screen of Ascot's face appears on the screen,"Hello folks. Thanks for helping me create a brand new currency that will come in handy for me. I'm afraid that's done now, so time for a bit of revenge."

Where is he? Kilroy isn't sensing him. His father actually has no money on him?

All of the mirrored surfaces in the room change to show Cold Hard Cash's face. "Reading the fiction of other timelines is amazingly handy. Especially the graphic novels. Shoot as many as you like. I'm already fifty miles away on a jet. I just needed you to finish the ritual. Oh, hello Kilroy. Shame really...but you see at this point I'm only getting revenge. You will find the ship encapuslated by a coalition forcefield...with a good old fashioned atomic bomb from Pakistan that will go off when I'm done talking to you. It's amazing what you can buy when you have all the time and money in the world."

The people in the lobby are running around panicking at this point. Kilroy sighs,"Move as you want at this point. I'll make sure the sa...ward follows you. I hope you have a teleporter?"

He should be angrier. He's just...tired at this point. It's...just childish. He begins to follow the money locally, trying to find if someone on the ship was paid to place the bomb without a lot of luck.

Kilroy looks about, "Where is it? I'm not finding it..."

Cold Hard Cash smiles,"Really? Well all I have to do is hangup and you go boom. No timer...no hope at all."

The audience has gone completely fruitloops at this point. They are running around with Kilroy stopping some of the worst accidents. But he is tracking down finances. He finally finds it. "There! It's right there under the roulette table."

"Excellent work my boy. Perfect timing. Did I mention no hope? Goodbye."

The screen goes off...the bomb primes and sets to explode.

"Lick my blue ass, you jumped-up accountant," Mystique says, putting her hands on her hips and facing the roulette table. She'll be damned if she loses her cool right at the end. Well, she's damned either way...

Oh, Mystique...you probably should have not said that about hope. Because hope is coming. Rather quickly in fact. There's a brilliant blue glow sighted from the windows and a hawk's cry before something punches through that forcefield like a bullet through a tissue. The glow gets brighter and then suddenly it's in the room, bathing everything in a sapphire light. For a moment, there's a huge bird-like figure in the room by that roulette table. The bird fades away to reveal the costumed hero Axiom, his costume far more blue than usual and sporting that lantern-like symbol. He's also glowing rather brightly. He offers a smile to the room and a feeling of general calmness, hope, and optimism starts to come from him. "All will be well," he offers, his voice sounding a tad more like Adara's than his own. The roulette table gets touched and vanishes to reveal the bomb and Axiom frowns. "This is the second one of these I've st-stopped..." now he sounds more like himself. Taking a deep breath, he lifts his hands and places them on the bomb and there's another bright blue flash. When it clears...no more bomb. In fact there's something else entirely.

A make your own sundae bar. With attached soda fountains for floats. Axiom lets out a sigh and then grins. "There w-w-we go."

Kilroy looks at the Sunday bar, looks at the bird, looks at Mystique in her blue form, and smirks. His father might have hung up....but he won't be happy when he finds out about this. Kilroy? He goes and has a Sunday.

Mystique's mind is not like other minds. Sure, she can feel the care bear stare Axiom is putting off, but she's just far enough off the usual psychic wavelength that she does so as a casual observer rather than a wholehearted participant. She narrows her brilliant golden eyes at the sundae bar and taps her fingers against her hip. "Three minutes and a screwdriver would have sufficed," she says coldly.

Axiom, glowing with Adara's power, brushes his hair back. He can't help the care bear stare...even if Eddie himself has no idea what a Care Bear is...it's just an effect of being so close to the cosmic force he's currently housing. He waves to Kilroy as he recognizes him but then his attention snaps to Mystique...and there's the creepy cosmic voice again. "The risk was too great. And hope burns bright. The being behind this has caused much harm, torn the hope from many. I had to act," Adara's voice speaks. There's a pause, Axiom shaking his head. "Umm...s-s-sorry to ice cream and run but there's something b-b-big trying to break into our dimension I have to go stop. See you," he offers, glowing blue wings spreading from his back and emitting another flash. When it clears, he's gone. But hey...free ice cream.

Mystique morphs herself a shoulder holster and stashes her pistol, safety back on. "You, I owe, much as it pains me," she says grudgingly to Axiom before he leaves. "So I suspect we will be seeing each other." As the beacon of hope vanishes, she turns to Kilroy with a sneer. "I assume you can steer this thing. I'll be getting off here, though. Jets can be tracked, but not if I sit around eating ice cream all night." She pushes open one of the airship's windows, letting a gust of cold air into the room. "I'd wish you and your family health, Kilroy, but it's going to come across as really insincere when I choke your father to death on a white-hot rod of plutonium." She leaps through the window, already shifting into the form of a great bird of prey.