11304/Spending Money

Spending Money
Date of Scene:	07 April 2020
Location:	A New York museum.
Synopsis:	Otto robs a museum for priceless artifacts to sell to fund his war effort against the Foot clan. Two bystanders try to get in his way.
Cast of Characters:	Doctor Octopus, Inolda Heffernan, Petra Emreis

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Doctor Octopus has posed:
The war with the Foot Clan was expensive. Soldiers needed gear, intel, vehicles. Technology good enough to go toe to toe with their best was not cheap. The materials alone went up into the thousands, let alone keeping out of the Foot Clans intel net.

Sometimes, you need a large cash infusion that isn't from a bank.... and the next best thing for that for anyone with any mind for money are artifacts. Collectors love artifacts, and pay very well.

It's a night raid, of course. Why would anyone go into a museum during the day with all the visitors? Security had been subdued earlier, and the system itself was being subverted as he went.

Showtime.

Four armed man in balaclavas wielding shotguns come out of the hallways and supply closets in the main foyer. It's just before closing time, so the system wasn't set yet... but there were a couple people still around. "ON THE GROUND!" Comes the order from one of them, several civilians doing just that, with one woman screaming as she does so.

The security guard at the front desk tries to dive behind his desk... only for a metallic, long, tentacle to come from the ceiling rapidly, and grab him up. Another tentacle immediately rips his holster from him, tossing the weapon across the room with enough force to leave a minor crater in the wall.

Up above, attached to the roof by two tentacles, is Doctor Otto Octavius, hanging there in his overcoat and safety goggles, staring down at the man. The tentacle that was disarming him goes back to supporting Otto's weight as he begins to traverse his way towards the museum itself, guard in tow as the three tentacles 'walk' across the ceiling.

Inolda Heffernan has posed:
How lucky for Inolda that she happens to be one of those few people still around. She's just walking out of one of the restroom halls as the chaos commences, but she presses herself against the wall and starts to sidle along it, back into the shadows of the corridor. She reaches for her phone in the front pocket of her jeans. The signal in the building is usually spotty but maybe, just maybe, she can place an emergency call. Being nervous, however, results in some serious butterfingers. Her phone slips onto the ground with an audible clatter and slides a few feet away into the foyer. "Shit." Inolda tries to reach the device with a foot, but it would take a miracle for someone not to have heard that.

Petra Emreis has posed:
Weirdly enough, Petra -wasn't- one of the museum's late night patrons, even with her 'hobbies' and her general nocturnal activities. She was however, sitting behind the window of the nearby diner. A paper file spread out in front of her, the white-haired woman was busy pouring over 'casefile' and sipping from the mug of her second hot chocolate of the evening when she'd seen it on the edge of her perception; panic...and armed thugs. One of the goons hadn't quite hidden his shotgun completely as he'd passed by a window. Chance? Fate? Either way the woman closes the file with a sigh.

Slipping from the diner with a couple bills left behind, the woman's eyes fixate on that very same window for a few moments....and then she's gone, reappearing on the other side in a flare of white light.

Doctor Octopus has posed:
The four in the foyer is busy locking down the room when the phone is heard, "What was that?" "Someone in the bathrooms probably, I'll go check." "The boss has the main score, I'll come with."

About thirty seconds later, two armed mercenaries start to check the stalls of each bathroom, one at a time...

Meanwhile, outside, it's a typical day for the city, and security *outside* has not been alerted; Otto was very careful about keeping up appearances. Still, panic.

Inside the museum proper, Otto is already moving towards one of the expensive vases in it's case... and shoves the guard right at it. The security system activates, tripping an electrical capacitor to shock the guard... who immediately siezes up as the trap expends, allowing Otto to get to work as he drops down... and drops the guard in the process.

"I'm starting work. Keep them locked down for five minutes. We have eight minutes for the police to arrive." Otto states into his headset as his real hands start cracking the security network around the first catch.

Inolda Heffernan has posed:
"Good thing my power comes in handy here." Inolda mutters to herself sarcastically to herself, though she goes silent as she hears the men approach. She looks around herself for anything she can use as a weapon, or to escape. Failing that, she tries her next best idea.

Taking her purse from around her neck, she throws it to make a noise to distract the thugs and tries to make a break for it, running towards the nearest set of doors she's seen. She puts everything she has into running, hoping she might even manage to surprise the gunmen in the foyer enough she might slip past.

Petra Emreis has posed:
Petra herself? She's got a little more of a practical option when it comes to power, but she's got to work out where things are and what the heck is going on! The young woman in the jeans and leather jacket didn't exactly look all that threatening, but she still moved with caution as she stepped down the length of the hallway towards the sounds of distress and movement.

Only problem? She didn't know where she was going! Either the sorceress would find the way to Otto, or to the bathroom, but she wouldn't know till she got there!

Doctor Octopus has posed:
Inolda gets her chance with that purse toss. Tossing it to the opposite side of where she is in the stalls, the two thugs wheel in that direction, giving her precious few seconds to run out.

Unfortunately for that, that just means she runs into the foyer... and the two other thugs turn their pistols on her "ON THE GROUND, NOW!"

This is also where Petra come in, Inolda just barely coming in in time to distract the thugs from her. She has a clear chance to ambush here...

Meanwhile, in the main exhibit area, Otto is just getting the first vase... and is moving on to the next. Now, his tentacles spread out, starting to collect loose trinkets into his backpack as he becomes a one man thief army in his own right.

Inolda Heffernan has posed:
"That worked well..." Inolda says sourly, trying to keep herself from quaking as the pistols are turned on her. She lowers herself to the ground, but she gets the chance to think a little more clearly now.

Closing her eyes and scanning the room, she finds a presence that she might find useful and concentrates hard for a moment. Though she doesn't move from her spot on the ground, the thugs with their attention on her are the new targets of a line of ants that try to crawl up their legs, seeking to bite what they think is a threat to their nest.

Petra Emreis has posed:
Landing lightfooted as she is, Petra slips up behind the thugs baring down on the young woman. She didn't sense the tricks Inolda was using, she knew nothing of crafty and bitey ants making to tickle at their legs, but the ashen-haired girl can go for a more direct approach when it comes for dealing with gunmen.

There was no whistle, no banter, no warning and not even any fancy martial arts. A sudden glowing flare of her gaze and the two men with their pistols are cast upwards, slammed hard into the ceiling by some invisible force with a grunt of effort.

Doctor Octopus has posed:
"WHAT THE-" Well, he tried to speak, but is easily knocked out by the impact. Two seasoned mercenaries hired by Otto, taken out by unexpected metahumans.

Unfortunately, the two coming out of the bathrooms saw that... and put two and two together fairly quickly. Two pump action shotguns of the M870 variety are leveled in Petra's direction... and they begin to fire shells in her direction.

Meanwhile, Otto has cleared out a good third of the museum when he hears the chatter over the radio. "Great, we have issues." Otto sneers, already turning around and moving to all four tentacles as he races back to the foyer.

Inolda and Petra both have seconds to dodge... and seconds before Otto himself joins the fray.

Inolda Heffernan has posed:
If Inolda is annoyed at the fact her efforts were in vain, it passes quickly as she looks in Petra's direction gratefully. Her little smile is short-lived, however, as the other two come in, guns blazing.

Being on the ground near the bathrooms means they might accidentally trip over the leg she stretches out, also accidentally of course. But regardless of how steady they remain on their feet, Inolda sees this as her chance to get to a better spot and avoid the ammunition while also finding another ally to work with. You'd think in a city with so many rats she could find one to link up with right now.

Petra Emreis has posed:
Caught in the open as she is, all pretext of subtlty goes -right- out the window for Petra. She made one hell of a target and they clearly had no qualms about shooting her. She dives, frantic scrable out of the way and behind the nearest pillar for cover in that first moment as buckshot scatters and splinters wood around her, a sharply exhaled breath of concerntration comes from the woman.

There'd be no fireballs or dramatic spells blasting out at the men with Inolda laying there. Instead the air takes on a sharp chill before she emerges from her cover, a hail of icy projectiles pelting the pair of men. It might freeze them in place, but at the very least it'll hurt like hell!

Doctor Octopus has posed:
It's around the moment the ice is thrown that the double doors into the main exhibit open. One. Two. Four tentacles pull Otto into the room itself, before embedding into into the walls to each side. Moment later, and Otto is 'walking' into the foyer, observing the action through safety goggles.

Inolda manages to trip one of the thugs with her leg... which only means that Petra misses one in his fall as he exclaims going down.

The other mercenary... is not so lucky. He's pelted immediately by hail, being sent off balance as he tries to duck out of the way.

Meanwhile, Otto is already bringing a tentacle around that pillar as he tries to grab onto Petra to bring her over to him...

Inolda Heffernan has posed:
While Doc Ock is otherwise ockupied, Inolda makes her way to try and get behind the reception desk, trying bit by bit to get closer to the door. On her way, she also goes to try and grab the shotgun of one of the incapacitated thugs.

This does result in an awkard pause as she stoops to reach for the weapon, but one shotgun vs. a mercenary and a mad scientist counts for at least a little. Failing to find any larger or more helpful creatures in the vicinity, the good doctor may at least find several annoying flies buzzing around his ears.

Petra Emreis has posed:
Glowing light, chaos magic flickers and sweeps around Petra's hands as she advances on the mercenaries. They'd brought guns to a 'magic fight' in her mind and she had this handled.

At least...she thought she did!

"Stay down!" she calls down to Inolda, unaware of her own animal-summoning actions and taking her for just another bystander she needed to protect as best she could. Mercs with firearms weren't exactly night horrors, but she was in the middle of it all now! Turning her hand towards the thug voltage crackles around her fingertips threateningly.

"Drop the gun or -eek!"

Suddenly it was a little less threatening as she was yanked off her feet and upwards into the suprising metal coils.

Doctor Octopus has posed:
"Stay out of this, or I'll put you through the wall, little girl!" Otto sneers at Petra, whom is dangling by the foot by this point only a dozen feet in front of him. "I'm only here for some of the artifacts." Otto doesn't seem to be interested in hurting her at least. Yet.

Meanwhile, Inolda grabs a shotgun... and she can immediately see another tentacle going *right* for her gun from her side.

Those tentacles are *fast*, durable, and Otto is a master at controlling them. Meanwhile, Otto is already slapping around his face with both his real hands.

Might be amusing for Petra, at least... to watch her captor swat flies in front of her.

Inolda Heffernan has posed:
Inolda is, unfortunately, not fast enough to avoid the tentacle. That isn't to say she doesn't call Otto an extremely unsavory name in the process. It does serve to distract her from her connection with the insects, though a couple stick around in an annoying fashion anyway.

As the gun is ripped away, Inolda takes that as her cue to try and flee instead. She's not taken into account his other two tentacles. Or she has and she's hoping she can outrun them. Either way, it's a foolish venture for the young woman.

Petra Emreis has posed:
Amusing it might be, but more importantly? It was distracting to the man dangling her upside-down. "Try auctions like everyone else!" she bites back, the best 'quib' she can come back with as she brings her hands together and then...vanishes. Another bright and blinding light, the sorcereess teleportation spell has her appearing behind the multi-limbed villain, hands once more glowing with crackling voltage before she thrusts a palm forward and looses a bolt towards Doc Ock. It wasn't a true lightning bolt, more like the jolt of a tazer, but she didn't tend to resort to killing humans easily.

Doctor Octopus has posed:
"What is thi-ARGH!" Is the immediate response to Petra's jolt. Otto's real body goes limp with the 'taser'. It's right on time to allow Inolda to run from the foyer, what with the thugs mostly distracted by the *other* civilians trying to flee following her example.

Unfortunately for Petra... those tentacles aren't affected by electricity easily, and Otto can still control them.

The tentacle Petra left lunges backwards for her again, trying to randomly grab at *something* to pull her away rom him!

Inolda Heffernan has posed:
Inolda starts to scramble away, but with the remaining thugs focusing on the other civilians, she tries to be the main distraction to them and allow the others to get out.

Escaping the tentacles has given her some misplaced confidence. It has also given her enough time to focus on the insects again. While she makes a show of keeping the thugs occupied, those ants are going for Otto, ready to bite. It's not as immediate as the flies, but a hundred or so crawlies focused on attacking your legs is a decent distraction all the same.

Petra Emreis has posed:
Eep! Petra's moving again. Lightning worked...but not really. Telekinesis against four roboting limbs was probably a little too difficult when you're trying to avoid getting snared or crushed...and fire was still a really -really- bad idea in the middle of a museum. What was left? Running! All she had to do was keep things busy until the cops arrived!

Easier said than done, she's left diving and weaving, trying to scramble back and get enough distanct to telekineticly pelt the seeking steel tendril with whatever debris she could find!

Doctor Octopus has posed:
The tentacles are titanium alloy engineered by a (at the time) sane scientist. The debris doesn't do much but obscure the visual of Petra a bit as she dodges and weaves. Inolda's ants are ignored, as the only legs Otto is standing on are two tentacles latched onto the wall while Otto keeps his eye on Petra herself.

"I don't know who you think you are, little girl, but you don't have near the acumen to best Doctor Octopus." Otto declares as he starts to walk his way over to both his fallen mercenaries... and uses both free tentacles to scoop them up before he uses the other two to 'walk' up the wall to the ceiling entry he came in from.

"We have what we came here for. Get out!" Otto orders over the comms, rapidly exfiltrating himself.

Petra Emreis has posed:
Acumen? Perhaps not, but now that the attacking tendrils are pulling away from her and she's got room to 'breathe'? The sorceress brings her hands together and a flare of bright light crackles between her slender digits. "I'm quick enough," she begins, the sentance ending as the white-haired girl reappears atop the ceiling, brandishing the ball of chaos magic, "-and I'm annoyied enough to try!"

Of course, perhaps magical talent will bridge the gap, but at least it was going to hurt as the concussive force is hurled not at the tendrils, but the man himself. Metal didn't really respond to blunt trauma and given that the criminals hadn't quite killed anyone yet? She wasn't quite ready to escalate to killing yet!

Doctor Octopus has posed:
Otto certainly wasn't expecting *that* from a little girl!

The chaos ball hits Otto square in the chest, completely unprepared for the attack, with a no doubt satisfying "ARGH!" given off as he is launched from where he was on the wall, downward.

Of course, Petra probably doesn't realize how *strong* those tentacles are, as the two latching onto the walls keep their grip -just barely- on it... and they are stretched to their limit as they firmly keep Otto from landing on the ground.

That being said... that's *all* they do, with Otto momentarily stunned and just keeping enough focus to keep the one pincer tied to the wall.

The two mercenaries? Dropped to the ground as they, too, collapse from a lack of Otto's mind guiding them for a few precious seconds.

Petra Emreis has posed:
That was the problem with Magic, likely a frustration for a mind such as Otto's: it was hard to quantify and know the nature of. More than perhaps most, it fittingly always seemed to come with another 'trick' up its sleeve! Now there was a window for Petra, a means to press the attack and with every moment both police got closer and civillians got further away. If she managed the 'rescue' part? That was a win enough for the sorceress...she had no idea what the Mercs or the villain were truely after!

Those tendrils keep him upright, but they also mean the 'Doc' is suspended in place and that was just perfect for Petra, another glowing ball following the first for what was obviously intended as a 'one-two punch'.

Doctor Octopus has posed:
"Ugh. That *hurt* you little cretin!" Otto suddenly shouts as he recovers partially. "Grab my men and GO!" Otto orders of the thugs in the room.

Then, those safety goggled eyes look right to Petra, and both tentacles come up suddenly and begin to lash out towards the ceiling at *incredible speed*.

Seems like Petra has managed to anger the insane Doctor.

Petra Emreis has posed:
A sudden lashing out of metallic limbs was dangerous enough, but as they begin to impact at the ceiling itself? Well, that was a whole other thing! She moves, an attempt at a third blast discarded as she's forced to spring backwards and away from the snatching and smashing robotic limbs. To her credit, she's actually seeming to weave out of the way pretty good...right up until the ceiling cracks beneath her and her footing gives way, sending her tumbling with a sharp exclaimation of suprise!

Doctor Octopus has posed:
Which was part of the plan. Either dodge... or let the ceiling collapse, since she was 'sticking' to it. Those tentacles are more than capable of digging big gaping wounds in the materials around here, so jackhammering into the ceiling was childs play.

"Serves you right, little girl." Otto sneers as his tentacles come up, and all four suddenly begin a rapid ascent as Otto uses the sudden hole to simply go to the rooftop... and make his escape.

Those police? The sirens can be heard through the hole. They're coming. But they probably won't be fast enough to catch someone as fast as Otto... and the mercenaries have already started to leave via the main doors.

Petra Emreis has posed:
There'd be another day, another moment for her to go after such a notorious and recognizable villain...but it wasn't today. The hostages were clear, that was enough for her...and then there was the matter of the roof.

Sitting herself up with a groan, there's moment enough for her to catch Otto's barb and taunt, but her eyes go wide and a shadow falls heavily down towards her as further collapse threatens to crush the ashen-haired girl. The noise of her cry echoes out, but the bright flash is faster.

Petra was gone....

But she wasn't hurt. Instead, halfway across town, the young woman lands heavily on her bed back in her appartment, still raising her hands to protect herself after the reflexive jump. A blink, her eyes widen and she looks around, then down to the dusty mess she'd left.

"Crap."