Harlequin
Note in hand, she sees the two goons. She almost wants to weep at the let down, expecting a terror like the Riddler and getting this pair instead? A mere pair?! Did her old teacher think so little of her? Well this was the hand she'd been dealt, so she may as well have some fun.
She straightened regally for the briefest of instants as the eyes of the Lady regarded the pair imperiously. A pair of team fighters...more pathetic yet, a themed pair. This meant that not only would they be focused on co-operative maneuvering, but they would foolishly sacrifice efficiency to keep in line with their theme. And so the Lady surmised.... If we show immunity to their unity, we can tear them apart with impunity, very soon-ity? But enough of this bafoonery.
The dark harlequin licked the baby doll's lips with a deliciously face splitting smile. She stuffed the razor cards back in her pockets, these two weren't even worth real effort. With a manic glint in her eyes, a low and almost sultry giggle began to bubble in her throat, the same dark introduction that the old man gave when he was about to have some highly sadistic fun. In the tones of a Golden Age movie seductress she simply said "Play Time...".
She charged the pair feinting easily and knee-sliding under their double swing. As anticipated their enthusiastic momentum at executing their combination move, actually carried the maneuver so far overboard that they ended up striking one another. This pretty much set the tone for the fight as the Baby Doll used the confines of the narrow alley like a Parkour playground. Taunts of "Quit hitt'n y'self", "I thought you two was friends" and "that looked like it hurt" rang out as she used evasive dodging, wall flipping, and a few gentle shoulder pushes or side-step trips to drive them repeatedly into striking each other or the walls around them. Once they had beaten themselves silly, the harlequin retook control of the fight, letting her disdain be known.
"You know..." came the silky movie starlet voice. "Mr. E must really not like you two to have thrown you away like this". She brought one exhausted goon to his knees with a kick to the back shin "You see he knows he needs a lot better than a simple pair like you to deal with me" She walked around the man on his knees lining herself up "If he had actually wanted you to succeed against me, he would have at least sent you as part of a full house" She sent a knee into the side of the man's bowed head that would have been the envy of many a professional soccer goalie, causing the other side of his head to rebound off the alley wall before he crumpled. She didn't even need to see the man moving behind her to know he was going to charge, the Lady's analysis had already predicted such a childish response. She side-stepped and allowed the man's neck to fall of its own accord into the crook of her arm as she began the sleeper hold. The sultry tones returning she purred into the suffocating mans ear " you see..'doctor' there's no way that a 'pair' like you can beat me because... well... can't you see it from my lovely skin 'doctor'? I'm Alllllwaaaayssss Flush..." She let out an indecent sigh and shudder as she completed her release and let the unconscious body drop. "Well that was fun!" the exuberant squeal of the Baby Doll shouted to no one in particular as she skipped out of the alleyway to go recover her car.
As she stood under the lighted glare of the gas pump awning, she watched the pump meter eat away the last of her $12.32 as it pumped life back into her hatchback, she began to ponder. For E to ditch her like that she must have been close enough to something to panic him. As for his riddle, did he think she had forgotten their lessons? Maybe he was one of the ones who didn't know...she could not forget... anything... EVER... well almost never. The thing about clues from Mr. E was that the first one was almost always a decoy. Secondly, it was far better to determine the reason WHY a clue was leading you to a certain place or conclusion than to actually find that place or conclusion. He had tried to throw her off his trail, that meant he was doing something big nearby, it also meant he wasn't here for the old man, which meant it was something for Mr. E himself, which meant that someone who had done something that he didn't think they should get credit for, or allow to remain secret was about to have a very bad day, this meant she needed to set up a base near by to figure out what he was up to. All this "meant-ing" was fur-meanting her brain and making her think of pepper-meant. She set about charming her way into the gas station's employee office to use their computer to add herself to the registered guest list at the Royal Flush Casino hotel.
Even at its most basic levels,, the EC-Council's Ethical Hacker Certification textbook could teach you a thing or three if you knew how to read. She tried a simple java password database execution bug and was rebuffed. She then tried new employee password reset...strange that they didn't seem to need to reset passwords for the forgetful employee. Having tried two approaches unsuccessfully she went to an old standby. She would call the Royal from the gas station seeking one of those nerdy types like a French or a Freddricks or a Free... one of those guys who would use the hotel WiFi to download unsecured things from the internet. She poured it on thick in a phone call to the hotel about how she, the gentile southern housewife was so worried that her beloved Mr. Fredrickson might be tempted by the pleasures of the big city, so she wanted to leave him a message of love and commitment... the concierge at the phone desk who had the boyfriend with the wandering eyes was all too happy to listen and be sympathetic, and give her the room number. She watched that room's network activity on the program she had downloaded from the EC-Council training course onto the gas station computer.When an unsecured connection opened, she piggybacked it into the hotel system.
Now it was just a matter of creating herself some administrator credentials. She would have to find out one of the admin-level user's password's... Hmmm What would a rich man with a big ego who stylized himself the ruler of a faux court, set in the context of a gambler's paradise use for a password? The answer came to her simply and without much effort when she found the length of the character string and the format rules. It was almost as if she already knew a twisted ego-maniac just like this man....oh wait... she did. She inserted records for a reservation of one of the top floor suites that had just been vacated, paid for for a full week. She'd go in later and make the actual payments once her monthly dividend check posted, but for now the funny-money of bits and bytes, ones and zeroes would have to do. She also hated the extravagance of a top floor suite, it drew too much attention, but if she wanted a good recon platform, it couldn't be helped.
She packed the gear she needed in a gym bag, threw together a line-cook's ensemble from her many small-town hirings and firings, put on a close cut brunette wig, brown contacts, and tucked her hatchback in a dark corner of the hotel's parking. She started downloading the hotel's key-less entry app onto her phone and retrieving the "entry authorization" for the reservation she inserted as she crossed to the kitchen's exit. She waited a few moments at the edge of the parking structure until somebody popped open the door to take out some trash, slipping inside as the poor sap messed with the bags.
Once inside she slid her bag into one of the covered room service carts, twisting her way around cooks rushing to and fro, she grabbed a tray on the "order ready" counter and covered it with a corresponding cloche moving the cart towards an elevator. To a couple startled looks from fellow line cooks she gave an apologetic shrug with a long-suffering face as if to say "somebody's gotta take it up there and everybody's busy down here", at which point they returned to the chaos of their respective duties. When she got upstairs, she pushed the cart to her room and let herself in with her phone.
Closing the door behind her with b a locking click, she let her heart rest for a moment, then she pulled off her wig, popped out the color contacts and stowed them in the gym bag, she also stowed the cooks jacket and pulled out a blue tank top. Uncovering her dinner she popped one of the long fries from her plate of Steak Frites and chewed. It was good, but she could have cooked it better. She sighed like a teen who didn't want to do her homework as the adventure loving spirit of the Baby Doll finally gave way to the practical mind of the Lady. She opened her laptop and spent a few hours modeling predictions and then maneuvering corresponding assets within her more fluid investment resources so that she could allow her trading portfolio to ride the sweet spot in the wave of chaos that her former instructor was about to unleash.
After closing her laptop, she shuddered on the bed at the thought of attempting to take down Mr. E. by herself in a prolonged encounter. Catching him alone in an alley was one thing, but if he had time and resources to prepare?.... He was one of the big names, one of the villains people KNEW about... she had always left such things to the likes of the old man and the Bat-brain. She wasn't ready for the big leagues was she? She was just a poor imitation of a ghost woman that the old man couldn't let go of... Regaurdless, she knew of no one else in the area willing to take on an Evil like Mr. E. she was going to have to do it herself. She just hoped she didn't run into any of the other hotel guests... IF she was going to do this...try to do this on her own, the last thing she needed was a bunch of normal Norms and Nancys trying to chat her up as she attempted to do recon.
She rolled over on the bed with yet another sigh and stared out the large windows at the electric lit night. She was normal too right? Of course she was, the other hers in her head told her so, so she had a duty to her fellow normals to protect them from the nut-jobs like Mr. E. She needed to think, she needed caffeine. She slipped off the bed and slid out of her room, her cook's work shoes padding silently as she snuck down the hall, she wasn't even aware of the act of sneaking, it was just muscle memory (and the Harlequin's paranoia) at this point. And so it was that she crept up on the soda machine, in the perfect position to strike one of the glowing buttons... when she remembered that she was out of money. Her hand closed into a fist of self mockery and defeat reaching half way to the machine as she smiled at her own rotten luck.
Rayleen Thorne - The Queen of Hearts
Jonathan "Jack" Hart - The Jack of Hearts
Harlan King - The King of Hearts ( Harlan has no powers, unlike Rayleen and Jack, unless being rich is a power. He's the money behind the casino. )
Cassandra Sandsmark - Fomerly Wonder Girl now operating as the Ace of Hearts. She's befriended Rayleen and only dons the "Ace" costume for public appearances related to the casino/hotel.
Mark Tennyson - 10 of Hearts Ex-Con, trying to make things right ( According to him ). Has the ability to split in to 10 distinct versions of himself. He's a part owner because he invested his whole trust fund but currently works as the entire waitstaff in the bar and grill in the Royal Flush Casino.
