2014.09.30 - Money Mystery (Part 2)

Jo says to Clint, "I decided to try helping the investigation because it did not seem to bve going anywhere. They did not know what was going on really. first they got a letter, and then something odd started happening in one of the bank accounts, a single penny would appear and vanish in a pattern like morse code."

Jo adds, "Fortunately I have Ultra Vision, I located an unusual glue on the envelope and was able to determine where it came from and speak to the person who sent it. It turns out he has been getting message from a coin that flips itself since World War 2."

Clint Barton shakes his head, "A coin that flips itself?" he then says, "That remind you of any of the tech from your time or are will dealing with the other side of the coin so to speak?" He smiles just a bit at his bad pun.

Jo continues, "I also checked out several banks where the strange money transactions happened, and spotted the same person at three of them, but when others looked they did not see him."

Jo shrugs, there are at least five ways to do something like a coin that signals, even with a seemingly normal coin. Brainy could probably think of a Dozen."

Clint Barton nods, "Yeah but to have it persist for close to seventy years is an impressive feat." he then says, "Heck to just be alive enough to send a signal for that long takes some doing." he then asks, 'Did you examine the coin?"

"It seemed normal to the extent I could determine with my Ultra Vision," Jo responds. "It did not seem right to take it away for a lab exam."

Clint Barton nods, "No it really wouldn't have been, and really it night not have done any good, there are a lot of things even our labs cannot figure out."

"Even in my time, there are some things science can not explain," Jo replies

Clint Barton nods, "So you have magic there too?" he asks, "So what do you think the next move should be?" he thinks one that matter for a bit himself, "What kind of coin was it? From what mint?"

The coin in question was minted in New York City in 1930. It is one of a very few silver dollars minted that year and actually moderately valuable. It is also in excellent condition with no discernible circuitry or hollow points inside.

Jo admits, "We have magic, there is Sorcerer's World, and the powers of Dream Girl and Projectera were also magically based."

Clint Barton nods, "Not sure who those folks are.' he then thinks, 'Alright New York 1930." he then says, "Well she should dig in the archives to see if there is anything odd happening related to the mint that year.' He shrugs, "It is a long shot."

A check of the archive doesn't yield much directly, but an examination of the serial number of the coin has one interesting note...it was actually minted on Black Friday in 1929. Except, there appears to have been no coins minted that day...except one.

Jo frowns, "That is odd, why would they stop the coin presses at that point in the day?"

Clint Barton looks over to Jo, "Cause the Market crashed. Hard." he then says, "Interesting so we have a coin tied to the biggest financial event in history." he sighs, "Well I do know someone that might be able to help, I know he knows magic people." he then gives Axiom a call, "Hey this is Hawkeye, we have an off case that might be tied to magic and we were wondering if you could help out. We can meet you somewhere or get you a ride to the helicarrier.

It's three rings before Axiom picks up his phone. "Umm, s-sure. I'm just outside Times Square n-now. I'll help if I c-can."

Jo says to Clint, "I can go pick him up if you like."

Clint Barton shrugs, "Or we can both head down there. I don;t think there is a lot more we can do up here and I kind of want to see what we can learn at the Mint."

Clint Barton nods ot Jo, "Sure." he then makes sure he has all the grear he normally carries then says, "Ready to go."

Jo switches to Ultra Strength so that he can easily carry Clint with one hand and uses his flight ring to carry both of the down to times Square.

Shortly after the call ends, Axiom sends a quick address via text. He can be found perched atop a rooftop, cleaning up a small cut on his arm as he waits for Clint to arrive. He's in costume as might be predicted and in a seemingly good mood.

Clint Barton waves to Eddie, "Hey there. How are you doing?" he asks. then he adds, "Thanks for helping us out on this. We have been getting of messages and traced the source to a coin that flips itself."

Jo states, "As there is no sign of technology, no circuits or energy fields I can detect, that suggests some power that is not scientific."

"I'm d-d-doing a lot better. Just stopped a guy calling himself the Human Thumb Tack," Axiom answers, gesturing to the cut as he places a band-aid over it. With that done, he stands and looks Clint and Jo over. "I'm h-happy to try to help. I can't promise I'll be as helpful as Wiccan would but he's on a m-m-mission already," he explains. Nevermind that the mission is babysitting little brothers but Eddie isn't saying that. He listens to the information about the coin and then nods. "Alright. Umm...c-can I see it?"

Jo says, "I can take you to it, if you like. The place is in new Jursey, not too far away."

Clint Barton looks at Jo and nods, "that might be best, and i will also give me a look at it. never know someone might be up to an old Carny trick." He smiles and looks to Eddie, "Got your passport handy?"

Jo notes, "I can carry both of you...unless you can fly on your own. I think I saw you fly last time we met."

"You guys don't have it?" Axiom seems surprised at that. When Clint asks about his passport, Axiom just blinks. "N-no, I don't have one of those," he says. "I c-c-can if I copy your power but that's different from last time. Brace yourself," he warns Jo. Once the other man's ready, Axiom's eyes light up bright blue. First he boosts Jo and a moment later, mimics him. His costume shifts into a combination of his own and Jo's outfit and he takes a moment to adjust before floating into the air.

Jo warns Axiom, "I have almost all the powers of a Kryptonian, but I can only use one at a time. Stay with ultra Speed or you will fall out of the sky, you do not have a flight ring."

Clint Barton shakes his head, "Sorry just a bad joke." he then says, "And a comment about New Jersey." he then explains, "We left the coin with it's owner."

The home of Jacob Scmidt is easy to find and fairly non descript. Upon the arrival of the three heroes in his back yard, he blinks and nods to Jo Nah,"There was another communication. I didn't act on it this time but no one responded when I called the hotline."

Jo has a moment adjusting to his suddenly doubled powers, but he manages to transport Clint without excessive damage. Upon arrival he says, "What was the nature of this communication? Oh, and may this youth see the coin, he has an expertise that may be valuable."

"I c-can tell," Axiom replies, looking down at his hands a moment. He nods to Jo and Clint though, ready to follow their lead. When they land, Axiom stumbles a bit. "I have a name," he mutters when Jo calls him 'this youth'. "I'm Axiom," he introduces himself.

Clint Barton nods and smiles, "I am just the security detail.' he tells the man, while instead he looks for any tell tale signs that this is a hoax of some kind.

There are no wires or hidden cameras, and the guy seems to believe he is telling the truth. Eddie can sense faint magic on the coin, but not because its magic but because magic has been used on it for decades...oh, and it was created out of magic on a day filled with it. But all Clint and Jo Nah's checks will confirm that it is indeed marked as a legitimate print in the mint.

Jo says, "Nothing I can find. No energy fields or circuitry detectable to Ultra Vision. It appears to be a perfectly ordinary coin...except the detail of being the ONLY coin minted that day."

Clint Barton adds, "On a day in which no coins were officially minted." he then looks around once more, "OK whatever it is, it is not a Carny trick." he then says, "You able to learn anything Axiom?"

Axiom frowns deeply when shown the coin, feeling that little tingle even before getting close to it. He's no expert but even he can feel that magic. Unless he's stopped, he'll reach out to run a few fingers over it. "I c-c-can feel a lot of magic on here. Like someone's been using it as part of a spell. It's practically swimming in magic..." he trails off. "I wonder if..." he trails off. "Maybe I can try to figure out who was behind the magic."

Clint Barton nods, 'Yeah that was going to be my next question, can you trace it back to a source?" he smiles, "Like a wire tap but well not."

Jo inquires, "The coin will no be hurt by what you are thinking about, will it?"

"I'll try. Wiccan'd be better but..." Axiom trails off, taking a few things out of his belt. A pad, a pencil with a couple runed carved in it, and a lighter. "No, only r-risk is me burning myself like the last three times I practiced this spell," Axiom admits with a faint blush. He quickly and carefully draws some arcane symbols on the paper, the ones carved on the pencil glowing faintly. Stuffing the pencil and pad back into his belt, he murmurs quietly to himself before lighting the paper. The flame stays normal for a moment before flashing blue and the flash-burning the paper. "Woah..." Axiom murmurs. "A g-g-good guy made the coin...and he's with the boss..." he trails off, eyes still closed as he concentrates on the spell and tracing the magic. "It was minted in the 30s...I think. But it was c-c-created the same day it was given to Mr. Schmidt's grandpa...there's a lot of g-g-good magic in there but...something has b-b-been...I don't know. Tainting it...lemme see if I can figure out..." he trails off, murmuring quietly again as he tries to focus the spell on the origin of those darker uses.

Clint Barton moves closer to Axiom, looks over his shoulder concerned as the spell is preformed, "Tainted, that does not sound good." He looks over and smiles to Mr. Schmidt, "Well the good knews is that you have an official magic coin."

Jacob looks in awe at the coin,"Really? I was starting to think it was all just...a trick or something."....he holds it with a little awe.

Axiom nods faintly as Clint speaks, too busy with the spell to talk more. He can feel a slight headache building as he pushes more but he gasps faintly when he touches the deeper magics. "Okay..." he murmurs, tensing. "So not good..." he mutters. And then he notices he's been noticed. Cutting the spell quickly, he lets his faith powers flare up as a little warning to anything dark and evil. "Drop the coin, quick! S-something is coming!" he says, reaching out to try to knock the coin out of Jacob's hands in case it comes through the coin/

And there is a flash.

And then a headache. Jo Nah is in a crater in the ground over ten feet down. Jacob is injured but alive, barely, shielded by an unconscious Axiom. It came from nowhere. One minute Axiom says to drop the coin, the next Jo Nah hurts all over and is in the crater and Clint is on a roof four blocks away with no idea how he got there and out of Explosive, Acid and Incendiary arrows.

The coin is gone and the house is pretty damaged.

Clint Barton says, "blinks then pats himself down checking for any open wounds he calls out, "Alright two questions, what happened and is everyone alright?" he asks over the SHIELD comms. He then starts to head back towards the house."

Jo looks around, checking for fires and people in immediate threat of being hurt. If he finds a fire he will use Freeze Breath to put it out. If people are in danger, he removes them. THEN he answers Clint, "I am not sure. Looks like something hit me hard, then tried to hit Jacob, but Axiom intervened. Whoever appears to have taken the coin."

Axiom's out cold and injured. He'll need a little while before he wakes up. And have a hell of a headache when he wakes up.

Forensics and Medical Report: Humanoid. Teleported in. Moved faster than Jo Nah. Hit with slightly more force. Hit axiom first, then went for the coin. Jo Nah hit 'them' and no initial effect. Clint fired arrows, no effect at first, but a sustained barrage of three kinds of arrows left a trail of blood, still being analyzed. Some kind of blast was used, and seemed to wipe the last 30 minutes of their memory. Light damage, will heal in a few days. Repeated exposure would cause much more damage, maybe even personality alteration.

Axiom groans as he starts waking up. "Okay...ow..." he trails off, only managing to sit up. When he sees what's happened to the house, his eyes go wide. "Okay....even worse than n-not good," he mutters, looking over as he hears Jo and Clint approaching. "N-not just something. A god," he pauses a beat. "Goddess. No idea which one...I d-d-din't recognize her..." he trails off. "Tell me when the world stops spinning please," he groans, closing his eyes again. He'll be okay, he just needs rest. Magic use, rapid power mimicry, taking the brunt of an attack...it hit him hard.

Clint Barton winces, "Well likely not one on our side." he then says, "Sadly there are a bunch of them, but that does explain at least some of the magic involved." He sighs, "Well at least this will be a quick combat report to type up."

Once any fires are out and any buildings n danger of falling are reinforced, Jo checks the injured. When Axiom awakes Jo listens to what he says, "Met a few beings who had really hig power levels, even one or two that claimed to be Gods. Last one was Darkseid. Perhaps someone could talk to one of the local experts to find out more."