| Museum After-Dark | |||||
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| What: A meteorite exhibit at the museum is nearly robbed by the freelance peace-keeping agent Death's Head, until he gets more than what he expected out of the job. | |||||
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The museum was closing, and as the night security went in place, it all happened. A simple opiate injected into the bloodstream of each security guard put them out for hours. They would be no problem to this thief. A mechanoid on silent running, one that was being paid seven figures to 'liberate' a meteorite that could easily be used to create energon or rift energy and give it back to his employer.
As Death's Head approached the meteorite he said aloud, the cameras already disrupted, "Talk about an easy job, yes?"
With that he swooshed his cape and it hit one of the alarms. With a electronic sigh he said, "I should have known better than that this was an easy job, eh?" and broke the glass around his target rock.
Slipshift is not all that far away, and when buildings and such are no impediment to you, most places are actually pretty close together. As it is, the young hero is done with a stakeout - nothing to show for the last five hours - and is walking back to a place where he left the satchel with his street clothes in it, when he hears the alarm. A grin appears, and he ghosts through the nearest buildings to emerge inside the museum's main exhibit area, looking around.
When an alarm sounds, it's enough to have a sensitive pair of ears and be close enough to pick it up. The young vigilante had had an encounter with Catwoman just earlier in the night and was finishing his route when...
"Oh great, -another- museum being robbed?"
The cat makes his way quickly, going for the side instead of the main entrance-- all he needs is one window he can see through to Sidestep into the museum... and this he does, becoming invisible as he enters. His ears perked, he starts walking through the corridors towards the main area...
With the rock in his hand now Death's Head smiled, "Not a perfect job, but considering the pay... worth it, yes?"
He didn't like that there was alarms but the truth of the matter was he had completed the contract. That was all mattered to him, he was a businessman after all.
With the meteorite in hand he turned around as his internal systems determined the best exit to use. The cameras now feeding him what he needed to see, reprogrammed over wi-fi to work for Death's Head rather than the people who would try to stop him from completing his bounty.
His internal systems suggested to head for the front door, there was nothing that this time periods police could do to him.
Slipshift looks, figures where the alarm is coming from, and jogs that way, towards the front of the museum. Which would put him about in the same vicinity as the robber after a couple minutes. Seeing the enormous robot-like thing, he swallows but is determined to follow-through. "OK, buddy, drop the rock," he says as he walks up, taking care to go intangible for now, just to see what the thing was capable of...
Vorpal 's ears twitch as he hears a voice. Making his way whilst cloaked, he finds himself at the main hallway leading to the entrance, and two figures there. One clearly issuing a warning, and the other... well, the other one was quite a sight.
He didn't know what it was capable of, and it seemed the other vigilante was engaging him. He stayed back a little, observing. If any threats came in the other vigilante's way, he would do his best to stop them... but for now, he observed to see what this new foe was capable of.
To Slipshift's command he did indeed drop the rock... and the entire hand, "Easily enough, yes?"
Death's Head reached with his other hand behind him and pulled a mace out of his arsenal on his back, "Though granted, I am being paid a lot to take that rock to someone, and you are now in my way. Wouldn't like to be you, huh?"
As he attached the mace to his hand he took a step back and took a combative position. His synthesizedvoice said, "I recommend that you just walk away and forget all of this."
Slipshift keeps on walking. "Nah, I don't think so, Robby," he says, probably making a reference that passes over the time traveller's head. "Don't think I can do that. But first.." the young man walks up and puts his foot on the rock, looking up at the huge thing. "I'll be back." Then he and the rock drop through the floor. Now, Brett being fairly new at this... he's either forgotten or discounted that hand which of course goes with him. Who knows what it can do when he turns solid on the floor below.
Okay, THAT was interesting, Vorpal thinks. Time to make with the illusions and buy his ally some time.
"I'm back!" Slipshift says, emerging from the ceiling again. Or rather... an illusion of Slipshift that Vorpal has created to confuse. "Sorry to bust your rocks like that..."
Ok, maybe he could work on his dialogue....
Death's Head looked at this... super-hero (they are always the ones who get in the way of the job, they were so annoying and had no business sense,) "You do realize that I am over three-hundred years above your current technology. Imagine how much money you just cost me by destroying my hand, eh?"
He then turned in confusion when Slipshift suddenly appeared behind him, "This has just become interesting, yes?"
Death's Head then turned his back on Slipshift, a blade coming out of the wrist of other hand, "I have to admit, I do not like being denied the payday you are denying me."
Slipshift ghosts through the museum floor and appears in the basement below, where he settles the rock (and hand, though he hasn't really seen it, yet) into solidity on the bare cement. Then he steps back a bit, looks up and pushes off the floor just as he goes desolid once more; that should pop him up through the floor in front of (now behind) Death's Head. Now.. the rock might be safe, but how could he fight something like that?
"Well, maybe if you hadn't been grabbing things that don't belong to you, you wouldn't have lost your hand. Now get out of here before someone drops a house on you, too!"
That was the fake Slipshift talking. Vorpal sees the real one emerge up from behind Death's Head, and he decides to keep the distraction going to buy him some time. He makes the illusion move, while he remains invisible and moves to flank Death's Head.
"Wouldn't be the first time I picked a bad job, won't be the last time," Death's Head said as the mace dropped of his left wrist and then he reached for a new thing, something missile shaped.
This new attached something was aimed right at the fake Slipshift and the mechanoid said, "This is a five ton missile. I suggest you forget I was hear and move on. Unless you want to have this whole place fall ontop of us. I can survive that... are you sure you can, huh?"
Slipshift pops up through the floor, sees the things back is turned - so he tries to grab one of the multitude of weapons off Death's Head's back and brain him with it - that armor looks tough enough that it'll only put him into dreamland. But then the mention of the fice ton missle, and.. wait, he's talking to.. me? The young hero blinks, hand probably on or full of a weapon. And he's solid.
"Um... hello? I can PHASE THROUGH MATTER?" FauxSlip mouths off, smirking and crossing his arms. "By the time this building collapses, I'll be sitting at the top and calling Superman and the Justice League to come pick your sorry ass up. So why don't you hang up the water gun and turn around like a good little tin soldier and get the hell out of dodge?"
Vorpal was looking at that missile closely. If Death's Head tried anything, the cat would encase him in a construct barrier to try to contain the explosion into that tiny area. His constructs could withstand assault grade military weapons... but a missile like that? It'd contain some of the damage, but not all of it.
He hoped he would take the bluff... or that Slipshift phased the missile out like he had done with the rock...
Death's Head is so distracted right now that Slipshift can grab the titanium axe off his back. To the fauxSlip he said, "I hope your phasic nature is multi-dimensional"
It was a bluff but Death's Head hoped it would be accepted as real, "This missle's payload effects three dimensions, and I don't mean the three dimensions that we all experience, yes?"
I'm a time-traveler, eh? I'm made from technology that is much farther along than this planet is capable of. You really want to guess what this missile can do? I'm only estimating, and as a mechanoid I am safe. I will just download into a new body."
That wasn't true but he had seen it on Battlestar Galatica so he hoped that human science-fiction was correct right now.
Fantastic. My clone has way better banter than I do. I should be writing this down, thinks Slipshift. Who is this guy? But, he has the axe. And as far as he knows, the thing could be telling the truth. "You walk away, we walk away, the rock stays," the helmeted young man says. "No blowing up museums tonight." He pauses. "Or I phase you into the floor and your little mind-transfer thing dhuts down just like everything else." God, I hope that sounded tough, he thinks.
So Slip does his move. Vorpal decides to add a little to the fun by attempting to encase the missile in a glowing purple sphere, if Death's Head is distracted by the 'clone' behind him.
"You know what they say... double-double your enjoyment, right?" Fauxslip quips.
Death's Head considers his situation right now. He had two people, that he did not have in his database. His hand was already a lost cause. And he couldn't not trust his own sensors. "I do not know how you are doing this, but keep this mind."
He removed the missile from his right hand and put it back behind him. Not understanding the 'double-double your enjoyment' reference, "Whoever you both are, you've cost me seven figures. I don't forget that.... ever!"
Death's Head stood in place as the sound of rockets start to sound underneath his feet, "Also I'm adding on the jet fuel cost. This stuff isn't cheep, yes?"
He smashes through the ceiling of the MET and after that he was traveling at nearlt 1000mph. He'd be gone in seconds.
Slipshift goes intangible to avoid any debris, and then looks up and watches the thing, the man, the huge whatever.. leave. He takes a deep breath. A second one. Then he drops the titanium axe and leans against the wall, eyes closed in an obvious 'wwheeww' gesture. Then he looks at the duplicate of him. "So, what, are you from the future, too, to tell me I'm crazy for attacking a robot like a million times stronger than me?" he says, cautiously.
"Marty! You must not marry your mother!" FauxSlip grins, and says "Actually... I'm not real..."
The illusion vanishes just as Vorpal appears "... but I am, good-looking!" He chuckles and walks towards him. "Sorry for the deception, but you were pretty awesome. I decided not to reveal myself unless I had to. I was trying to work the psych games angle. Vorpal, by the way."
Slipshift smiles and moves to meet the cat-man. "Slipshift," he says, offering a gloved hand. His features are pretty much concealed behind his helmet, but at least his smile is visible. "Thanks for that, by the way. And I need to completely steal your banter. Usually I just slip up on people and knock them out, but that wasn't working so hard on that.. whatever that was," the young man says.