It is a Double Treat to Deceive the Deciever - Epic Crossover Event

[Michale CS]

​

Atlantic City is a resort city on New Jersey's Atlantic coast that's known for its many casinos, wide beaches and iconic Boardwalk. Established in the 1800s as a health resort, today the city is dotted with glitzy high-rise hotels and nightclubs. In addition to gambling at slot machines and table games, the casinos offer spa treatments, performances by famous comedy and music acts, and high-end shopping.

Zoom in on the Royal Flush Casino - Currently run by five people:

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.

But into the hotel one day, walked two unmistakable rogues, who give Rayleen and Cassandra reason to worry...

That's where you, our Heroes come in. Sign up for this event on the Discord Server or by conversation with @Michale CS or @Gands

Can the Heroes find out what Arcade and Riddler want with this casino and Atlantic City as a whole and stop their plans?

Private Event for Members of the Epic Mashup clan only. Want to join this? Join there!​

 

[Michale CS]

"Raylene, we'll need access to main security. If he has access to information Ray, what person is going to make him the most suspicious?, one last thing, (( he pulls out a slip of paper)) can you have this analyzed? It might be something Nygma personally wrote. Have it compared to other handwriting samples"

"Isn't the security work what I just agreed to pay you for?" Ray joked, but took the paper. "Yeah, I'll get it to Jack who will get it to SWORD... best I can do. Also, most suspicious? I have no idea... he only got access to the sections of the resort he was working on. You should know... casinos have better security than most banks. If he's tapping anything, he's damned good at covering his tracks."

"Right, prepare to disassemble. Ordnance Disposal mode." Nara said as the Sir Unit Saluted and opened it chest up. Nara shoved the object into the Sir units chest before shutting the door and brushing her hands off. "Hmm.. Scan it while we walk. Come Bazzle." Nara said as the Sir Unit took up its dwarf disguise once more.

The item was, as best she could figure, a multidimensional phase shifter, a part of a FTL engine, if of course, you weren't worried about the gravitation distortion of extreme sudden acceleration - which of course, a race of energy beings wouldn't be worried about at all. Mass becoming energy wasn't going to bother them. But, when this timer counted down, it was set to create a small bubble of pure acceleration via a space fold... and an interesting one. It was like a strange variant on a Bussard Ramjet - it would bring in all the atmosphere for perhaps 50 meters around it then propel itself upward into the troposphere at about Mach 15. Which would have the effect of very localized implosion, destroying an area about 100 meters of width and depth, and a height all the way to the troposphere. Of course, any civilized, spacefaring race, would detect the energy discharges long before such a device could reach critical mass, but we weren't taking about one of those on Earth, now were we?

" I would want to do it in an obvious spot, but make it look like something. The best way to hide something is in plain sight after all. Nobody would suspect it there."

" I can try, I never fully got a handle, but I can try."

Text message
{{ Steph, Lilly, seems likely bad guys have feed into communications and cameras at the hotel. I am Heading to main Security to check. Keep me updated }}

"I'm no Oracle, but I'll put some Waynetech on the job of countering any intrusions on it if you want?"

Harvey gets his food and listens to her pitch. Didn't sound bad, take out an old foe. Maybe gain a favor, considering he was looking for 4 out of town shooters anyway. If not he would at least make a little quick cash.

As everyone went about their business...

First, there was a sickening almost vertigo feeling, and then a sound similar to a crack of a whip, if you cracked that whip into a microphone hooked to speakers at a Metallica concert.

Car alarms went off everywhere up and down the boardwalk, and over what normally are the weather warning sirens all around town, a familiar voice is heard...

"I run in circles for a line; plenty nervous, others fine. Many wish for the sights; festivities rise to greater heights. In the seat, observe it all; merry go round, but don't fall. One watches, another grooves; people go with my moves. All turns 'round the bend; get off this ride, and it will end."



At that point, the Ferris Wheel at Steel Pier, still under construction thank goodness and not open, jostled free of its moorings and rolled sloppily into the ocean, and a white plume not unlike a launch at Cape Kennedy stretched high into the sky as far as the eye could see.

A second voice came over the Civil Defense system now, "The device used for that little demonstration is not the only one in this city. A little bird and her friends can stop any more of them from going off simply by doing... Oh you tell it better..."

"What is greater than God, more evil that the Devil, rich people need it, poor people have it and if you eat it you'll die?"

"...for about three days or so. Really isn't that much to ask? You know they deserve it."

@Angelic Fusion @Drixe @Gands @LuckycoolHawk9 @Sonevar @York

 

[Drixe]

Harvey grabs the counter, keeping his food down he says "I'm sorry I need get a doggy bag. To her "Looks like the meeting got bumped up to today" . Harvey downs his drink and signals for the bartender to give him his card. "Looks like I'm calling it early today".

 

[LuckycoolHawk9]

Lincoln Campbell

Lincoln paused, clearly confused for a second when he heard it. It sounded like they had sunk the Ferris Wheel, but why would they do that? Wouldn't it scare Dillard away in the long run? He wasn't exactly queen on a place that was falling apart and Dillard had left pretty hastily to rescue someone when Riddler was in Gotham. He scratched his face and turned to Grady.

" I know that the riddle seems easy, but I might as well point it out. He wants us to do nothing in stopping them. There's nothing greater than god, more evil than the Devil, the rich need nothing, the poor have nothing and if you consume nothing, you will die. So, are we going to listen or figure out a way to subtley stop them?"

@Gands @Michale CS

 

[Mook-LandStrider]

Invader Nara

Nara after some time managed to figure out what it was. It was then that Nara picked up on the voice. The noise was to say the least... displeasing to the ears. The Irken grumbled and turned down the voice coming over the speakers. Listening closely she didn't know the human equivalent but quickly found the riddles answer on the internet.

"Come Bazzle." Nara commanded as she and the robot began to make their way out of the VIP room. Going outside the car alarms were dying down but the size of the rupture caught Nara's attention. Eyes narrowing the Irken turned back to Bazzle "Register remaining time. Is it autonomous or is it slaved to the timer... or a trigger." Nara asked her Sir Unit.
​

@Michale CS

 

[York]

Replies

Harvey looks over to her, sizing her up. Thinking " badge bunny? Naw too serious has to be be a fed The posture and facial expressions giving her away" " sure, what do ya need"? He looks to her about to offer to by her a drink, then notices the lemonade. It it's self a sign to those who know as a agent's behavior.

"We're a casino. Of course we have cameras everywhere. But, nothing strange came up, at least at first. We found a strange tool he left behind, Jack says it scanned as non-terrestrial origin and I trust him on that. He's on and off again working with SWORD, or in lay mans terms, Sentient World Observation and Response Department. I swear, these government monkeys and their acronyms. We have the device and he's contacting SWORD to get an analyst here. And, well, I'm pretty sure the thing is safe with Jack... the dude can survive in space - I suspect he's on the same level as the big blue Boy Scout. I can call him up if you wanna pull the tapes or see the thing. Oh, by the way..."

She handed him an envelope. Inside was a standard boilerplate contract hiring Grady's company as a security consultant for the next three months - with VIP access to all parts of the hotel and a suite for the duration as needed, and a lump sum $50,000 to be paid at the end of the term.

"I can front the room and access and write it off as an expense. Hopefully everything will blow over and we'll still be in the black in three months. And don't you dare refuse the contract, Grady. We're friends but expenses are expenses and I'm not going to make you work for free." It was clear there was no budging on this for Ray.





"You figure this out, Nara, and we will definitely point you to where you can get the tech for NAOMI. Also known as Nanoparticle Analysis Omnixenoligal Molecule Index. Usually I'm not a fan of acronyms, but in this case it deserves one."


Meanwhile...

Stephanie had dug up all she could on Nicola's parents. Within an hour or so she'd have full dossiers on both of them and even a birth certificate for our Harelquin. This of course was keeping her busy, but as she goes along she sends regular updates to Grady.


Elsewhere in town...

"They're here. I even have footage of Thorne's pet paranorm in town. And it's days before the event. They're bound to unravel it before then. All my work... wasted."

"Not wasted my dear colleague. Let them unravel the mystery of the casino. While our erstwhile heroes are busy with that, we'll simply step up our timetable. We have more of the devices. Tell me, Arkady, have you ever seen a movie called... The Fifth Element?"

"Heard of it, never seen it."

"Well let's watch it... and then you'll know all about our plan... and a little red button..."

@Gands @LuckycoolHawk9 @York @Sonevar @Drixe @Angelic Fusion

Grady Murtaugh aka Murtaugh

Grady seems to have gathered himself. The stakes were large. Substantially larger than the last couple of times. He sat and thought to himself for a moment. If he were putting in a lot of effort to do a nice clean hit, something that by and large would encompass any potential problem or threat. So, first thing I would need is a source of information.

"Lincoln, if you were planning to do something big, something impressive, something right under the noses of the most obvious supers in town ? "

Grady then goes into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small gizmo, sweeping the room for electronics.

"Information, cameras, phones, cellphones."

" Lincoln, can you sense electrical current ?"

"Raylene, we'll need access to main security. If he has access to information Ray, what person is going to make him the most suspicious?, one last thing, (( he pulls out a slip of paper)) can you have this analyzed? It might be something Nygma personally wrote. Have it compared to other handwriting samples"

@Michale CS @LuckycoolHawk9 @York

Lincoln Campbell

Lincoln raised an eyebrow for a quick second before he looked around the room. He hoped that Grady wasn't making himself too sick thinking about this stuff. He looked at the ground for a brief moment. He wasn't sure what to make of this whole mess, but there wasn't anything else that he wanted to say. He paused, thinking about what Grady said for a moment.

" I would want to do it in an obvious spot, but make it look like something. The best way to hide something is in plain sight after all. Nobody would suspect it there."

" I can try, I never fully got a handle, but I can try."

@Michale CS @York @Gands

Grady Murtaugh aka Corvus

Text message
{{ Steph, Lilly, seems likely bad guys have feed into communications and cameras at the hotel. I am Heading to main Security to check. Keep me updated }}

@York @Michale CS @LuckycoolHawk9

Harvey gets his food and listens to her pitch. Didn't sound bad, take out an old foe. Maybe gain a favor, considering he was looking for 4 out of town shooters anyway. If not he would at least make a little quick cash.

"Isn't the security work what I just agreed to pay you for?" Ray joked, but took the paper. "Yeah, I'll get it to Jack who will get it to SWORD... best I can do. Also, most suspicious? I have no idea... he only got access to the sections of the resort he was working on. You should know... casinos have better security than most banks. If he's tapping anything, he's damned good at covering his tracks."



The item was, as best she could figure, a multidimensional phase shifter, a part of a FTL engine, if of course, you weren't worried about the gravitation distortion of extreme sudden acceleration - which of course, a race of energy beings wouldn't be worried about at all. Mass becoming energy wasn't going to bother them. But, when this timer counted down, it was set to create a small bubble of pure acceleration via a space fold... and an interesting one. It was like a strange variant on a Bussard Ramjet - it would bring in all the atmosphere for perhaps 50 meters around it then propel itself upward into the troposphere at about Mach 15. Which would have the effect of very localized implosion, destroying an area about 100 meters of width and depth, and a height all the way to the troposphere. Of course, any civilized, spacefaring race, would detect the energy discharges long before such a device could reach critical mass, but we weren't taking about one of those on Earth, now were we?





"I'm no Oracle, but I'll put some Waynetech on the job of countering any intrusions on it if you want?"



As everyone went about their business...

First, there was a sickening almost vertigo feeling, and then a sound similar to a crack of a whip, if you cracked that whip into a microphone hooked to speakers at a Metallica concert.

Car alarms went off everywhere up and down the boardwalk, and over what normally are the weather warning sirens all around town, a familiar voice is heard...

"I run in circles for a line; plenty nervous, others fine. Many wish for the sights; festivities rise to greater heights. In the seat, observe it all; merry go round, but don't fall. One watches, another grooves; people go with my moves. All turns 'round the bend; get off this ride, and it will end."

View attachment 146574

At that point, the Ferris Wheel at Steel Pier, still under construction thank goodness and not open, jostled free of its moorings and rolled sloppily into the ocean, and a white plume not unlike a launch at Cape Kennedy stretched high into the sky as far as the eye could see.

A second voice came over the Civil Defense system now, "The device used for that little demonstration is not the only one in this city. A little bird and his friends can stop any more of them from going off simply by doing... Oh you tell it better..."

"What is greater than God, more evil that the Devil, rich people need it, poor people have it and if you eat it you'll die?"

"...for about three days or so. Really isn't that much to ask? You know they deserve it."

@Angelic Fusion @Drixe @Gands @LuckycoolHawk9 @Sonevar @York

Harvey grabs the counter, keeping his food down he says "I'm sorry I need get a doggy bag. To her "Looks like the meeting got bumped up to today" . Harvey downs his drink and signals for the bartender to give him his card. "Looks like I'm calling it early today".

Argent Sentinel (Lilly Briant)
@Angelic Fusion @Drixe @Gands @LuckycoolHawk9 @Sonevar @Michale CS

With one last look around at her surroundings, Lilly decided to speak up, being as brisk and to the point as possible.

"... A Riddler and an assassin are in town. Some contacts told me you'd lend your services. There's some cash in there too, if you're into that sort of thing." She said.

As she listened to Harvey's response, she finished off what remained of her lemonade, and nodded a little... Quietly signalling that she wanted her muffin "to go", as she had some other things to tend to today.

"Right. Then... We'll keep in touch." She concluded, and offering him a brief salute.

While she had initially prepared to head off, the sudden, sickening feeling quickly caused her to reconsider. Though, she had been through the motions of something similar before; these were the telltale signs that something was about to blow, something big.

Soon, she heard the telltale sounds of an explosion, before she heard the distinct sound of something breaking free, and falling, right into the ocean. Though she couldn't see it, she could just as much deduce, based on the Riddler's riddle, as well as the location of the sounds, that it must have been the Ferris Wheel at steel Pier.

Seeing that the Riddler and his accomplice were making cryptic threats... Lilly really only had to ponder for a few moments before she deduced what the message was.

"They're telling us to stand down..." She said, shaking her head a little, looking a little annoyed.

"Over my dead body." She muttered, massaging her temples a little as she tried to focus again.

While she did not elaborate on how she had interpretted the Riddler's message too much, it was pretty obvious that she was cornered a little. She couldn't directly intervene with what was about to happen, without risking more bombs blowing. Though... That could probably resolved with a bit of coordinated bomb defusing.

What perplexed her a little was why the Riddler and Arcade were so confident that their intended target would remain here, despite it obviously being unsafe. However, thinking deeper about it... It was entirely possible they had another bargaining chip or two at their disposal... Perhaps something that even Dillard might stay for, whatever that may be...​

 

[Drixe]

Harvey takes one last bite of the filet mignon savoring the the flavor. He knew it wouldn't be as good cold, pays for his meal and boxes it up. Heading out of the bar he stops long enough to tell the bus boy/bartender/the whole bar staff? ' kept clean buddie".

 

[Gands]

Grady Murtaugh aka Corvus

Grady stopped and listened to the announcements, grimacing as he did so.

" No Lincoln, I was hired to take this project, so unless our client decides otherwise, we are still on the job !. But meantime, I need to clean the casino security system. I suspect they have eyes and ears in the security system. You don't do computers so much and I don't think Lilly is an exert. Stephany makes calls out to get info. But, little miss former badgirl..is a hacker. Come on, time to finish recruiting."

Dragging Lincoln along to *The Harley Quin's* { room. Grady pounds on the door. While waiting, he sends a text to Raylene, Lilly, Steph...

{ Raylene, the situation is getting hard and fast. I need direction from my client in this matter. I think a meeting is in order... to make sure your people still have the stomach for this. please update our fine friend from Gotham on meeting time. }}

@Sonevar @Michale CS @LuckycoolHawk9 @York @Drixe

 

[Sonevar]

THE Harlequin
There would be no answer at Grady's knocks, even if he pounded.
(assuming he found a way to get in out of concern.... paranoia, impatience, fear for her safety) they would find the room OCD tidy except for the open case of chemicals on her bed and the injector pen laying on its wrapper beside it. If they looked in the bathroom they would find the tub caked over with a thin candle wax-like substance with nothing but a pale nose peeking out. Any attempts to scan for a heartbeat would reveal an extremely accelerated heart rate. Any attempts to poke, prod, or break the wax-like cover would result in Nicola bursting forth in a spray of water and wax chips. She would blink, look around, but make no move to cover herself, only start muttering curses in Italian as she continued to blink water out of her eyes.

@Gands @LuckycoolHawk9

 

[Gands]

Grady Murtaugh aka Corvus

After a few moments of pounding, Grady made a grimacing face. He pulled something out of a coat pocket.

" You didn't see this Lincoln "

He slipped a card into the hotel door key slot and after several seconds the green light came on. He quickly slipped the card back into his pocket and opened the door. Looking around as he stepped in and didn't touch her gear. Looking around, and finding... her ? in the bathtub ?
under a wax? covering... What the hell ? He took out a little dental mirror, putting it in front of her nose.

" She's breathing, but I am a bit concerned. "

Grady gently taps her nose, worried that she might be... drugged ?

Of course she then breaks out of her self imposed wax prison, completely nude and cursing in Italian. Grady hands her a face towel and when the cursing stops.

" Pardon me, but they, Nygma and Arcade have upped the timetable a bit, they blew up an empty ferris wheel, and anonymously warned us to not interfere with their activity. I could use your help, and it will be as they say, billable hours, but we need to hurry. I need your computer skills. "

Should Nicola agree, the three of them would rush to Hotel Security in an effort to check the computers and security systems. Of course, Grady and Lincoln, being gentlemen, will wait for Nicola to get dressed.

@Sonevar @Michale CS @LuckycoolHawk9 @York @Drixel

 

[Sonevar]

Nicola Unconcerned with things like modesty leaps up from the tub. Toweling off to avoid dripping on the carpet she carefully selects 2 vials from her case, walking back to the tub as the towel falls where it may she carefully pours a healthy dose from both vials, letting the streams mix before hitting the contents of the tub. Still moving with the speed of an amphetamine high, she dresses in her harlequin body suit, figuring she'll blend in with the theme as the wax and murky water in the tub dissolves back to tap water (unless you're counting parts per million). Then follows after them

 

[Drixe]

Harvey heads into the elevator going to his floor. Ignoring any distractions not related to the "case" once he gets to his room he sits down on his bed and finishes his lunch as he waits to hear from whoever calls.

 

[Michale CS]

...Strange transitional period occurs... Which ends with:

Grady, Stephanie, Lincoln, Nicola, Bullock, Lilly, Rayleen Thorne and Nara all in the Security HQ of the Royal Flush Casino.

• Stephanie has gotten the information she can about Nicola's parents forwarded to Grady, but that was subsumed by the emergency.
• Grady and Nicola have had a quick chance to look at the security of the resort and have agreed that the system isn't compromised, but has been 'jacked into' several times from a laptop or something on site several times.
• Bullock has confirmed his suspicions that the pool guy he saw at the indoor pool was indeed Nygma, and he knows what he was 'working' on, but didn't see anything at the time, maybe the techies can look?
• Lincoln has figured out a semi-reliable way to get into the electrical system but his control isn't more than to open or close electronic locks or fry systems locally.
• Lilly, along with Stephanie and Grady, have looked over the security tapes and decided that Conference Room E which was where the event was going to take place, was worked on heavily by Arcade's people and Arcade himself.
• The "Danger Room" is unfinished and a quick review of it shows... that nothing you didn't expect to be in a Danger Room is there. Nor are there any flaws in the security protocols - presumably, if that was a 'killer' room, it would have to be hacked while active.
• A trace of the hacked Civil Defense System tells Grady and Nicola that Nygma and/or Arcade had to be at either one of the three Fire Stations, or at the Public Works HQ to have hacked the speakers. Fire Station #1 and the Public Works building are the closest to the Steel Pier.
• According to the best efforts of the team, they've determined that Mariah Dillard checked into The Water Club Hotel at Borgata, pretty much the best 5-Star Hotel in all of Atlantic City.
• The whole team has access to maps of town via their various internet connected devices. Presume that the Royal Flush is across from the Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center for purposes of the RP.

Rayleen is available for speaking with, and Nara was told by Cassandra that Rayleen is also one of the owners of the resort and will be working with her to fulfill the contract she made with the casino.

@Angelic Fusion @Drixe @Gands @LuckycoolHawk9 @Michale CS @Sonevar @York

 

[Gands]

Grady Murtaugh aka Corvus.

" So, I'm open to suggestions on exactly how to catch these two fine gentlemen before they can do more damage to this city, this hotel or any of us. Lets go over our to - do list however".

"One...a patch for the security system to prevent further incursions at least in the short term.
I would suggest Nicola take this on. Then perhaps, you can try and see if any location cameras have picked up our boys"

"Two....Check the pool area for whatever Nygma was doing there. Clean it out if possible. I think Lincoln and I will check it out."

"Three...Determine if Conference room E can be trusted. Miss Nara, can you check there ? And, can we develop a way of tracking these devices before the bad guys use them. "

Four... Is it possible to contact the target and convince her to change location somehow ? Lilly, Steph, this one's yours. Pick up anything you can on why the bad guys seem to think they won't change. Watch out for her bodyguard, he's an ex con, fairly smart and dangerous. They have nasty firearms with bit anti- meta bullets that make big nasty holes.

Five...Check with street contacts to try and get leads on the terrible duo's location. Detective Bullock, I'll leave this one to the professional.

Try to remember, the bad guys are clever and damned dangerous. They will be familiar with some of us, and aren't happy we are on the job.

@LuckycoolHawk9 @Sonevar @Drixe @York @Michale CS

 

[Drixe]

Harvey nods "on it, i know a few Gotham "exiles" that owe me". He gets up and goes outside to make a few calls." If you need me you got my number, this may take a while". He heads out figuring the others can handle the tech stuff better

 

[Sonevar]

As they move through the halls from their rooms to the security room, Nicola begins applying the white face-paint around her eye-mask as well as ruby red lipstick. Anyone who looked closely enough would notice that she is extremely careful never to let the face-paint and the lipstick touch, neither on her face, nor in their respective application containers. As she listens to Grady's briefing and is assigned the task of computer security, a subtle shift overtakes her, her posture becomes more erect and her speech and mannerisms become more cultured and refined, there is even the lightest trace of an unidentifiable European accent as The Lady takes over...

"Whilst I am loath to put forth a contrary opinion Mr. Murtaugh, especially seeing as how the shoring up of system security IS a most sensible course of action, I would like to put forth that we would be better served by laying a 'Honeypot' trap." Seeing skeptical looks in the room she attempts to explain. "Classically, a 'Honeypot trap' is a strategy by which one offers an intruder a tempting enough prize such that they cannot resist attempting to purloin it... at which time a trap is triggered by something associated with or connected to the bait in order to capture, incapacitate, or neutralize the intruder. In the practice of Human Intelligence..." she glances at Nara "or rather should I say Earth humanoid information gathering? The practice is modified to offer an agent of the appropriate gender, physique, and temperament to attract the target's interest, for the purposes of building a false trust relationship in order to have the target voluntarily give away information or resources to the agent in the hopes of winning emotional or sexual favor with them."

"In terms of cyber intrusion, or more to the point in our case, full-fledged cyber warfare, a "Honeypot' refers to a dummy server or fabricated partition in an existing server which is made to appear as though it contains valuable data or system access points. Once a would-be intruder accesses this false area, several options become available, including alerting us when the intruder makes a move, as well as trapping the intruder inside an extended version of the falsified area, thereby limiting their presence in the system and thus the damage they might do to the digital equivalent of a fun-house or movie-set recreation of the actual system. Additionally we can trace the intruder back to their own device and, if enough skill and forethought is brought to bare we can infect their system with malware or use remote access to manipulate their system directly for the purposes of spying on or dealing damage to the intruder or their system."

"As for Edward, I would like to point out that this is the second time, once to me individually, and once to the collective group of any who are intrepid enough to stand against him, to abandon any efforts to interfere with his activities. Now, knowing Edward as I do, having trained under him, he has a pathological need to display what he views as both his showmanship, and his superior intellect. This need has become so overwhelming as to be a weakness that those such as the Bat Man have exploited repeatedly to their advantage in dealing with him. Thus it is that I can say with confidence that the majority of his riddles and puzzles are meant to be time-consuming distractions that serve the two-fold usage of wasting time not only in determining the answer to the riddle, but then again as one tries to deal with the effects or outcomes of that answer. As I stated to you previously in the hallway Mr. Murtaugh, it is of far greater importance and benefit to determine why the showman is choosing to use the smoke and mirrors by ignoring both entirely and instead pulling aside the curtain. I would therefore like to offer up the educated guess that Edward, being a man of considerable intellect, though not as much as he believes himself to be, would know better than to assume anyone who would challenge him, myself included would be so easily dissuaded. Therefore I believe his true intent in using those riddles is actually the reverse, a taunt to get us to focus all of our time and resources on him... thereby leaving his associates un-survailed and unhindered in whatever tasks that they have been set to. Bearing in mind that this is only an educated guess, and thus has the potential to be incorrect, but for myself... I would think not."

She glances to each face in the room in turn attempting to gauge their reactions to her words.

 

[Michale CS]

"...thiiis... isn't the Harley I knew. Not by a longshot. But man, TL;DR. You could have just said something like this..." And at this point, Stephanie put on her best Shaggy Rogers accent from Scooby-Doo. "Like, man... what we need to do is like, put out something he really wants, like a supreme pizza with everything! And then when he comes to take it, that's when Scoob and I spring the trap!"

At the strange looks she no doubt got, Steph said, "What? You know we were all thinking that. Well not exactly that but... fine, shutting up now. Come on Lilly, let's go talk to a brick wall named Dillard, huh?"

@Angelic Fusion @Drixe @Gands @LuckycoolHawk9 @Michale CS @Sonevar @York

 

[York]

Replies

Harvey takes one last bite of the filet mignon savoring the the flavor. He knew it wouldn't be as good cold, pays for his meal and boxes it up. Heading out of the bar he stops long enough to tell the bus boy/bartender/the whole bar staff? ' kept clean buddie".

Grady Murtaugh aka Corvus

Grady stopped and listened to the announcements, grimacing as he did so.

" No Lincoln, I was hired to take this project, so unless our client decides otherwise, we are still on the job !. But meantime, I need to clean the casino security system. I suspect they have eyes and ears in the security system. You don't do computers so much and I don't think Lilly is an exert. Stephany makes calls out to get info. But, little miss former badgirl..is a hacker. Come on, time to finish recruiting."

Dragging Lincoln along to *The Harley Quin's* { room. Grady pounds on the door. While waiting, he sends a text to Raylene, Lilly, Steph...

{ Raylene, the situation is getting hard and fast. I need direction from my client in this matter. I think a meeting is in order... to make sure your people still have the stomach for this. please update our fine friend from Gotham on meeting time. }}

@Sonevar @Michale CS @LuckycoolHawk9 @York @Drixe

Grady Murtaugh aka Corvus

After a few moments of pounding, Grady made a grimacing face. He pulled something out of a coat pocket.

" You didn't see this Lincoln "

He slipped a card into the hotel door key slot and after several seconds the green light came on. He quickly slipped the card back into his pocket and opened the door. Looking around as he stepped in and didn't touch her gear. Looking around, and finding... her ? in the bathtub ?
under a wax? covering... What the hell ? He took out a little dental mirror, putting it in front of her nose.

" She's breathing, but I am a bit concerned. "

Grady gently taps her nose, worried that she might be... drugged ?

Of course she then breaks out of her self imposed wax prison, completely nude and cursing in Italian. Grady hands her a face towel and when the cursing stops.

" Pardon me, but they, Nygma and Arcade have upped the timetable a bit, they blew up an empty ferris wheel, and anonymously warned us to not interfere with their activity. I could use your help, and it will be as they say, billable hours, but we need to hurry. I need your computer skills. "

Should Nicola agree, the three of them would rush to Hotel Security in an effort to check the computers and security systems. Of course, Grady and Lincoln, being gentlemen, will wait for Nicola to get dressed.

@Sonevar @Michale CS @LuckycoolHawk9 @York @Drixel

Harvey heads into the elevator going to his floor. Ignoring any distractions not related to the "case" once he gets to his room he sits down on his bed and finishes his lunch as he waits to hear from whoever calls.

...Strange transitional period occurs... Which ends with:

Grady, Stephanie, Lincoln, Nicola, Bullock, Lilly, Rayleen Thorne and Nara all in the Security HQ of the Royal Flush Casino.

• Stephanie has gotten the information she can about Nicola's parents forwarded to Grady, but that was subsumed by the emergency.
• Grady and Nicola have had a quick chance to look at the security of the resort and have agreed that the system isn't compromised, but has been 'jacked into' several times from a laptop or something on site several times.
• Bullock has confirmed his suspicions that the pool guy he saw at the indoor pool was indeed Nygma, and he knows what he was 'working' on, but didn't see anything at the time, maybe the techies can look?
• Lincoln has figured out a semi-reliable way to get into the electrical system but his control isn't more than to open or close electronic locks or fry systems locally.
• Lilly, along with Stephanie and Grady, have looked over the security tapes and decided that Conference Room E which was where the event was going to take place, was worked on heavily by Arcade's people and Arcade himself.
• The "Danger Room" is unfinished and a quick review of it shows... that nothing you didn't expect to be in a Danger Room is there. Nor are there any flaws in the security protocols - presumably, if that was a 'killer' room, it would have to be hacked while active.
• A trace of the hacked Civil Defense System tells Grady and Nicola that Nygma and/or Arcade had to be at either one of the three Fire Stations, or at the Public Works HQ to have hacked the speakers. Fire Station #1 and the Public Works building are the closest to the Steel Pier.
• According to the best efforts of the team, they've determined that Mariah Dillard checked into The Water Club Hotel at Borgata, pretty much the best 5-Star Hotel in all of Atlantic City.
• The whole team has access to maps of town via their various internet connected devices. Presume that the Royal Flush is across from the Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center for purposes of the RP.

Rayleen is available for speaking with, and Nara was told by Cassandra that Rayleen is also one of the owners of the resort and will be working with her to fulfill the contract she made with the casino.

@Angelic Fusion @Drixe @Gands @LuckycoolHawk9 @Michale CS @Sonevar @York

Grady Murtaugh aka Corvus.

" So, I'm open to suggestions on exactly how to catch these two fine gentlemen before they can do more damage to this city, this hotel or any of us. Lets go over our to - do list however".

"One...a patch for the security system to prevent further incursions at least in the short term.
I would suggest Nicola take this on. Then perhaps, you can try and see if any location cameras have picked up our boys"

"Two....Check the pool area for whatever Nygma was doing there. Clean it out if possible. I think Lincoln and I will check it out."

"Three...Determine if Conference room E can be trusted. Miss Nara, can you check there ? And, can we develop a way of tracking these devices before the bad guys use them. "

Four... Is it possible to contact the target and convince her to change location somehow ? Lilly, Steph, this one's yours. Pick up anything you can on why the bad guys seem to think they won't change. Watch out for her bodyguard, he's an ex con, fairly smart and dangerous. They have nasty firearms with bit anti- meta bullets that make big nasty holes.

Five...Check with street contacts to try and get leads on the terrible duo's location. Detective Bullock, I'll leave this one to the professional.

Try to remember, the bad guys are clever and damned dangerous. They will be familiar with some of us, and aren't happy we are on the job.

@LuckycoolHawk9 @Sonevar @Drixe @York @Michale CS

Harvey nods "on it, i know a few Gotham "exiles" that owe me". He gets up and goes outside to make a few calls." If you need me you got my number, this may take a while". He heads out figuring the others can handle the tech stuff better

As they move through the halls from their rooms to the security room, Nicola begins applying the white face-paint around her eye-mask as well as ruby red lipstick. Anyone who looked closely enough would notice that she is extremely careful never to let the face-paint and the lipstick touch, neither on her face, nor in their respective application containers. As she listens to Grady's briefing and is assigned the task of computer security, a subtle shift overtakes her, her posture becomes more erect and her speech and mannerisms become more cultured and refined, there is even the lightest trace of an unidentifiable European accent as The Lady takes over...

"Whilst I am loath to put forth a contrary opinion Mr. Murtaugh, especially seeing as how the shoring up of system security IS a most sensible course of action, I would like to put forth that we would be better served by laying a 'Honeypot' trap." Seeing skeptical looks in the room she attempts to explain. "Classically, a 'Honeypot trap' is a strategy by which one offers an intruder a tempting enough prize such that they cannot resist attempting to purloin it... at which time a trap is triggered by something associated with or connected to the bait in order to capture, incapacitate, or neutralize the intruder. In the practice of Human Intelligence..." she glances at Nara "or rather should I say Earth humanoid information gathering? The practice is modified to offer an agent of the appropriate gender, physique, and temperament to attract the target's interest, for the purposes of building a false trust relationship in order to have the target voluntarily give away information or resources to the agent in the hopes of winning emotional or sexual favor with them."

"In terms of cyber intrusion, or more to the point in our case, full-fledged cyber warfare, a "Honeypot' refers to a dummy server or fabricated partition in an existing server which is made to appear as though it contains valuable data or system access points. Once a would-be intruder accesses this false area, several options become available, including alerting us when the intruder makes a move, as well as trapping the intruder inside an extended version of the falsified area, thereby limiting their presence in the system and thus the damage they might do to the digital equivalent of a fun-house or movie-set recreation of the actual system. Additionally we can trace the intruder back to their own device and, if enough skill and forethought is brought to bare we can infect their system with malware or use remote access to manipulate their system directly for the purposes of spying on or dealing damage to the intruder or their system."

"As for Edward, I would like to point out that this is the second time, once to me individually, and once to the collective group of any who are intrepid enough to stand against him, to abandon any efforts to interfere with his activities. Now, knowing Edward as I do, having trained under him, he has a pathological need to display what he views as both his showmanship, and his superior intellect. This need has become so overwhelming as to be a weakness that those such as the Bat Man have exploited repeatedly to their advantage in dealing with him. Thus it is that I can say with confidence that the majority of his riddles and puzzles are meant to be time-consuming distractions that serve the two-fold usage of wasting time not only in determining the answer to the riddle, but then again as one tries to deal with the effects or outcomes of that answer. As I stated to you previously in the hallway Mr. Murtaugh, it is of far greater importance and benefit to determine why the showman is choosing to use the smoke and mirrors by ignoring both entirely and instead pulling aside the curtain. I would therefore like to offer up the educated guess that Edward, being a man of considerable intellect, though not as much as he believes himself to be, would know better than to assume anyone who would challenge him, myself included would be so easily dissuaded. Therefore I believe his true intent in using those riddles is actually the reverse, a taunt to get us to focus all of our time and resources on him... thereby leaving his associates un-survailed and unhindered in whatever tasks that they have been set to. Bearing in mind that this is only an educated guess, and thus has the potential to be incorrect, but for myself... I would think not."

She glances to each face in the room in turn attempting to gauge their reactions to her words.

"...thiiis... isn't the Harley I knew. Not by a longshot. But man, TL;DR. You could have just said something like this..." And at this point, Stephanie put on her best Shaggy Rogers accent from Scooby-Doo. "Like, man... what we need to do is like, put out something he really wants, like a supreme pizza with everything! And then when he comes to take it, that's when Scoob and I spring the trap!"

At the strange looks she no doubt got, Steph said, "What? You know we were all thinking that. Well not exactly that but... fine, shutting up now. Come on Lilly, let's go talk to a brick wall named Dillard, huh?"

@Angelic Fusion @Drixe @Gands @LuckycoolHawk9 @Michale CS @Sonevar @York

Argent Sentinel (Lilly Briant)
@Angelic Fusion @Drixe @Gands @LuckycoolHawk9 @Michale CS @Sonevar

It seemed like they had their work cut out for them; as expected from a duo like Nygma and Arcade, their plans were shrouded in mystery, and quite tightly knit. However, this didn't mean that they didn't still didn't have some weak points there. If they all struck at different aspects of the plan, whatever other bombs and the like Nygma and Arcade may have had would likely not have the chance to play out, but there was still the risk if they couldn't pull things off just right.

Looks like the Sentinel had her work cut out for her, though admittedly she was caught a little offguard by Stephanie's spontaneous Shaggy impression. (Granted she probably would have laughed in a more light-hearted scenario.) Nonetheless though, she cracked her knuckles and nodded.

"Let's hope it's not... Family business." She said, rather gravely.

While naturally, they'd have to find out for themselves, the Sentinel had a distinct feeling that Nygma and Arcade might just have an ace in the hole... In the form of hostages, but hopefully it wouldn't have to come to that.​

 

[Sonevar]

The Lady offers a bemused smile at Steph's comment "Although I do find the antics of the Era-stunted ameture mystery solvers to be most entertaining and diverting, I was endeavoring to make my point come across more clearly..."

The Lady's refined cadence slides seamlessly into The Babydoll's jarring New-York-ian " 'cause as adOOOOrable as the cutesy talk'n puppy is... 'Ruh-Roh Raggy re need Relp' is sometimes kinda hard ta make out... ya know?"

 

[Mook-LandStrider]

Invader Nara

Listening to all the humanoids speak Nara waited. Gauging her answer while all the while keeping her alien form hidden. They may know she is in a disguise, but... surprise is best left to that... a surprise. Smirking the Invader realized she was going into her head and came back in time to hear her name. Looking up Nara fixed her eyes on Grady and listened. "Conference room.... sure." she responded before the others spoke up.

At the mention of devices Nara's Sir Unit revealed itself. The robot opened its chest to show the device inside of it. Nara glanced over and then at all the other faces. "This is what went off when that wheel hit the water. It's a brilliant piece of four dimensional technology." Nara rolled her eyes at the word brilliant. Trust be told, she hated the device and those that made it. "Think of this like an Impulse Drive. Just made smaller by technological means and constructed by a non physical species. It is on a timer, I believe I can disarm it, given time." Nara finished.
​

 

[Gands]

Grady Murtaugh aka Corvus

He listened intently to everyone as they made their points. Watching Detective Bullock leave without much ado to scare up some information.

He then turns to Nicola.

"I don't think your wrong on either of those points. First, we know Nygma's partner is quite successful on his own. Why bring Riddler on board at all? Few people know much at all about the assassin known as Arcade. He, like Riddler is dsmned smart, and has his own big ego. Second, if you believe you can lure one of them in, to our advantage, thats great. But, bear in mind the time involved. Perhaps you can use what they've already done ?

As far as those devices Miss Nara, can you rig up a portable detector ? I am certain, these guys will have a backup plan ? There are probable some scattered in the city somewhere, so that lives can be threatened. "


@Drixe @Sonevar @Angelic Fusion @Michale CS @York @LuckycoolHawk9