12235/Finding J.A.R.V.I.S.: The Heist

Finding J.A.R.V.I.S.: The Heist
Date of Scene:	24 September 2020
Location:	Abandoned Stark Industries Factory, Montana
Synopsis:	A Daring Heist! Bitcoin-Related Humor! Crucial Plot Development!
Cast of Characters:	Iron Man, Catwoman

---

Iron Man has posed:
NOW:

"Okay, so I guess I could see how maybe this might seem like it was my fault. On the surface, anyway."

Bullets hit the concrete wall right where Tony Stark's vulnerable body was only a split second ago. If he weren't at a dead run, he'd have been turned into a vaguely Tony Stark-shaped stain on said concrete wall, but instead the bullets simply take out impressive chunks from the concrete each time they hit the wall with more force than any sledgehammer that isn't being swung by a Thor.

"Huff! Huff! But I think I should... Huff! ... mention that I... Huff! ...DID mention that... Huff!"

Security forces in black BDUs swarm the outside of an abandoned-looking warehouse nestled in an overgrown lot at the end of an extremely long road through the Great Plains of Montana. They're well-trained, judging by the flanking and pincer movements that they're currently coordinating, in an attempt to herd Tony into a trap from which he will most likely not escape.

But fortunately, it seems like their marksmanship practice is in need of a little touch up.

With bullets impacting right behind him, and nothing to protect his body but the dark-colored athleisure that he decided to wear because it looked 'like spy stuff', Tony does his best to run. But he's an old guy with a booze habit and a heart condition, this is probably not going to end well for him.

"... there was a Huff! three percent chance of this happening!"

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman was used to accomplishing these missions as a solo act, but Tony knew the layout of the place better than she did. Plus she wasn't entirely sure what they were stealing. If only he weren't so...So tactless.

She sighs, smacking her head with her palm as Tony starts to babble. "Seriously. You could have warned me. And this is more like a ninety percent chance all considered." she rolls her eyes as she peers around at the security personnel, doing some mental calculations. "Alright, you said there's a back door some ten paces east of our current position, right? " she fumbles in her pockets for something, pulling out some smoke pellets. And some flash bombs. Some of these she hands to him.

"On the count of three, close your eyes and throw these as far and as hard as you can! It should cover us as we head for the door, but I hope you know exactly where it is, cuz this is no longer a covert operation..We're not even inside and they've already spotted us.."

Not that the Catwoman isn't resourceful if nothing else.

Iron Man has posed:
THEN:

"It's gonna be super simple, like stealing candy from an armless baby."

Sitting in a high-backed leather chair with juuuust the right amount of reclining action, Tony takes a sip from the undoubtedly overpriced rocks glass in his hand. It's modern crystal, both heavy and sleek-looking. Japanese, probably, since he's drinking Japanese whiskey and has a weird thing about his cups matching his drinks.

He's also got a weird thing about opening envelopes. And a weird thing about the word 'mayonnaise'. But we could spend all day listing his eccentricities.

With his free hand, he swipes the holographic display that's currently being projected against the top of the extremely old wooden desk that his grandfather used to use. Some might call installing a holographic display on a piece of antique furniture sacrilege. But Tony is an atheist.

The display shimmers, showing a cutaway model of the facility that Tony has for some reason decided to break into. It's a tough pitch to make, but Tony is doing his best Used Spaceship Salesman routine, and dressed as if he were trying to seduce Melinda Gates.

"Incredibly simple. You'll just need to break in through here..." He points at an access point, and the diagram converts to an exploded view. Which may or may not make it more clear.

"And go along this ventilation duct. Which... it looks like your hips can make it through, but mine sure as hell can't." Another sip of whiskey.

"Er... my shoulders, I mean. My shoulders are way too broad. Anyway, you make it through that duct, into this room with the vault. Then bing bang boom! You do your whole... master thief thing, get the box we want, and bring it out to me." Another sip of scotch.

"I'll just be waiting nearby, probably won't even have to go inside at all! You won't even know I'm there, until I hand you a Big Sack of Money."

Time for a refill...

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman warily eyes him as he dares to say it'll be 'super simple'. if she had a nickle for the countless times she has heard that, only to have said 'simple mission' turn out to be anything BUT? Catwoman sighs softly, shifting from one foot to the other as she watches the little hologram, memorizing the pathways, the duct layout, the item she's supposed to steal.

"Alright, looks straight forward enough...Assuming security is lax, which it probably won't be, if you're after some invaluable item...What exactly is it, again?" she peers back at him curiously, sizing him up, trying to figure out how trustworthy this guy is, anyway.

Another roll of the eyes as he talks of his 'wide hips'. "Uh..." right. shoulders. Weirdo. He'd probably only slow her down, anyway. "So, you'll be waiting outside? Inside? I assume you have some communication device, phone or other i case we get separated?"or all hell breaks loose or..

Hey, it pays to be paranoid.

Iron Man has posed:
"Ha. Phone. Yeah, Grandma we're gonna use a phone!"

The laughter is almost sincere, as Tony chuckles into his glass of expensive whiskey, splashing some on his mustache in the process. He wipes this on the back of his hand, but discreetly, as if hoping she won't notice.

Opening one of the drawers, he pulls out a pair of what look like modern fitness trackers, velcro strap and all. One of these he slides across the table, the other he puts on his own wrist. Next to the other fitness tracker he already has there.

"I know, I know, they look like regular Stark watches, but that's just the casing. I redid the guts last night on these two, the only two of their type in the world. On a network that only they share. Which... is illegal, I think? But so is stealing, so we'll burn that bridge after we drive over it."

Next up are two very tiny items that look like the very tip of an earbud, but surrounded by a bit of foam to get a really snug fit inside an ear canal. Tony puts his into his right ear, but it probably also works with a left.

"Just pop this thing in, and you're all set. Total communication and situational awareness when we're on the heist, and then we incinerate them after we've won. By which I mean I access the incineration app that I also programmed last night, and they go 'poof!'"

He expands his non cupholding hand to go along with the 'poof' sound effect. Really helps to illustrate the concept.

"But as for what it is we're stealing, well, I say 'stealing'... but it's actually already mine. It's sort of a whole thing, long story, very boring, you'd hate it. The only thing that you really need to know is..."

One last sip of whiskey, and then Tony looks at her with something between a roguish grin and a sinister one.

"... are you in?"

Catwoman has posed:
One thing she can count on is Tony's brilliance in his remarkable inventions. Even if he IS still a couple ants short of a picnic. She smiles faintly, taking the watch thingie, adjusting the strap as she slides it on her wrist. "Excellent." she smiles, wondering how much this is worth. She might just keep it. Afterwards.

Oh, incinerate? That doesn't sound...'"Really? Just destroy them? What a waste.." Catwoman's smile quickly vanishes. oh. Looks like there's no way around that. Ouch. "I really hope this doesn't have a timer on it?" that would be...Problematic..

As for the thing they're..Not really stealing? She blinks slowly, "Wait, wait..If this..Whatever it is, belongs to you, then why are we stealing it?!"

Iron Man has posed:
NOW:

"Close eyes."

Check.

"Throw hard!"

Check!

Behind some obliging concrete cover, Tony chucks the Flash Bomb in the general direction of the security forces. He remembers to cover his own eyes right before the flash goes off, which plays merry hob with the security forces' expensive night vision goggles and whatever other Find Tony Tech they were sporting.

"Dammit! Flash bombs! Get behind cover and call for support! Tell 'em that HYDRA found us!"

There are a lot of shouted instructions as the temporarily-blinded security guys try to regroup in time to thwart the heist attempt. But mercifully, they mostly stop shooting due to the high probability of shooting their equally-blinded buddies who are trying to pincer movement/trap the would be thieves!

"Got 'em! You're my hero, Catwoman!" Tony begins running again, toward the very entrance that his mentor in crime suggested a few seconds ago. They'll have to hurry, as it won't take the security forces long to get backup involved, or to get their eyesight back enough to pose a threat.

"Uh... Huff! No offense! Huff! I know you're not exactly the Huff! hero type."

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman arches a surprised brow, "HYDRA...? What have I got myself into..?" she sighs and shakes her head, ignoring the confusion and chaos erupting behind her, quickly closing the gap between herself and the entry point.

"You got that right. I'm no hero or I wouldn't be breaking in here.." she mutters even as she works quickly, examining the lock before pulling out her tools and gets to work picking the lock.

"This one is tricky..Gimme a few. Toss another bomb if needed for cover.." she frowns, wondering what high tech security might give even herself a run for her money..But then Catwoman has yet to meet a lock she couldn't pick.

Iron Man has posed:
THEN:

The nondescript black van casually makes its way down the long winding road through the Great Plains of Montana. Paved roads give way to gravel, and then finally dirt, dust kicking up behind the van as it putts along somewhere near the speed limit.

The van might be nondescript on the outside, but it's pretty sweet on the inside. The back looks less like a van, and more like a lounge. Sure, there's the obligatory spy gear here and there, but there's also some swanky memory foam furniture and a decent sound system that's currently playing something from a band called Wire that Tony insisted was one of, if not THE best art punk/hardcore punk bands of the late Seventies through mid-Eighties.

Oh, there's also a minibar.

Reclining on one of the pieces of swanky memory foam furniture, Tony looks like he's mostly just vibing out to the music, but he's also swiping through a bunch of datafiles that are projected in front of him courtesy of the van's holoprojectors. Once you get used to holographics, it's impossible to go back to physical displays. Just impossible.

"So once the van finishes driving us there, we just need to hoof it about... half a click and then we're... hold on, this is the best part."

In the background, the singer starts chanting 'I've got you in a corner! I've got you in a corner! I've got you in a corner!'

And yes, he said 'once the van finishes driving us', there's no way he'd go through MONTANA in a non self-driving car.

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman is a bit wary of getting into the surprisingly luxurious 'spy van', and she can't help but wonder if it's more equipped for luxury than real spying. Still, it's a sweet ride and not one she will have a chance to enjoy again, probably.

"Are you sure no one's gonna overhear that loud racket? And, uh...Who exactly did you say was driving this thing..?" she peers warily towards the driver's seat.

Knowing Tony, it's probably a robot I'd maybe the entire van is a robot! She should be assured. He's a brilliant inventor.

But still..

Iron Man has posed:
NOW:

The door gives way to Catwoman's unbeatable thieving skills just as the sound of helicopters can be heard overhead. Looks like the security forces were serious about calling for backup. And it sounds like they weren't very far away. This abandoned building must be more important than it looks to warrant that sort of response time.

Once inside though, it's a bit more clear why it's so well-guarded. The building is an old Stark Industries factory, judging by the dusty signs on the walls, but it hasn't been used for production in decades from the looks of it. For one thing, the company hasn't been called 'Stark Industries' in forever.

All through the building, large boxes and crates are set up, with stamps on them that say things like 'Highly Flammable', 'Top Secret', 'Extremely Hazardous', and 'Radioactive' all visible in red ink under the thick coating of dust that's been allowed to accumulate on top of them.

This, apparently, is one of the places that Howard Stark's dangerous old inventions were stored to keep them from falling into enemy hands.

Or his son's hands, it seems.

Tony is already running in the direction of the room that he indicated way back before the whole plan went to shit. He runs pretty well for an old guy with a booze habit and a heart condition, but he's huffing and puffing with every step, and wishing desperately that he was wearing an armor.

"Huff! Come on! It's Huff! this way!"

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman smiles as the door clicks open. "Easy peasy!" she declares defiantly and steps in, peering around. "Wow, this was NOT what I was expecting for an 'old, abandoned building..'" she eyes him warily, "What is this place, again..?"

Catwoman steps towards one of the packing boxes, examining the label at around the same time a helicopter buzzes overhead. "Ohhh, you have GOT to be kidding me...Stark Industries?!" she frowns at him, somewhat accusingly.

"Hey..If this place belonged to your grandfather or whatever, why didn't you just..I dunno, open the front door with your keys? Dont you legally own the place?" unless all those rumours of this place containing dangerous, illegal equipment were more than mere rumours..

She eyes Tony warily and groans, "What on earth have you gotten me into..." well too late to back out now! with a sigh, she follows after him towards the indicated room..

Iron Man has posed:
"Well, you'd THINK that I could just do that... but Nick Fury told me that if I ever came here he'd have my memory erased, and I believe him, because he's a dick."

From the sound of things, the helicopters have landed, and troops are already spreading around the perimeter. It looks like the thieves aren't going to be alone much longer.

But long enough to get to the room they need. It is, however, locked.

Because of course it is.

And it's got a sign on it that says 'Level 9 Access Required' right above the keycard lock on the otherwise common-looking door.

"Alright, this is it, Catwoman! Moment of truth! Let's see those master thief skills of yours one more time!"

Tony's still huffing and puffing in his dark-colored athleisure, looking very stealthy for a middle-aged man with a big glowing light on his chest.

The light is muted somewhat by his shirt, so there's that.

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman frowns. "That's ridiculous. What right does he have to keep you from your own belongings?" unless..Unless there's something really BIG she's missing here. You know, like, stolen equipment, or illegal dangerous stuff that they dont trust in the hands of a lunatic..

But she doesn't have time to think much on it, because security is closing in and closing in rapidly.

Annnnd of course the next door is locked. She sighs, pulling out her equipment and leaning closer to the door to examine it. "Oh great, a bit more high tech than the last one. Give me a few, this may take some time.."

She pulls out her mini computer which is not much bigger than a notebook, and fairly light too - it's handy carrying around that mini backpack unlike many villains who just look pretty but not practical. ANYWAY, she starts typing stuff into her computer, testing a fancy looking skeleton key card on the door as she tries to reconfigure it..

Iron Man has posed:
"Oh, you know SHIELD... bureaucrats."

There's visible disgust on Tony's face as he says the word, which is perhaps confusing since SHIELD have always been his best customers, and probably the reason that he has never ended up in jail. But to be fair, Tony has never really gotten along well with the pencil pushers who run most of the world, despite being a key component of that system himself.

As he stands with his back turned to Catwoman, he reaches into the small pouch on his belt. It's a belt pouch, in the general vicinity of his posterior, but it is not a fanny pack.

Whatever he's fiddling with in that pack, er... pouch, it seems to be having some sort of effect outside. Judging by the various screams and the sudden weapons fire, and the sounds of bullets ricocheting off of steel. Apparently the soldiers have their hands busy for a few more minutes.

"Me, I'm more of a free thinker. A job creator. An artist, if you will, but my canvas is the entire planet and my brush is technology."

Still turned away, he begins one of his many random musings on his own greatness, before suddenly cutting himself off and turning to look over his shoulder.

"By the way... drinks when this is all done? I'm thinking Marrakesh."

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman sighs, shaking her head. "Well, we'd better hurry, don't think just the two of us can fend off an army of SHIELD..You must have some invaluable...Belongings in this old, abandonned warehouse.."

But she's not an idiot, she saw what was in some of those boxes. As she works, Catwoman is also aware of some of those screams and gunfire and she arches a curious brow at Tony, "Another 'toy' of yours?" she smirks, and is starting to wonder just how dangerous those items..And Tony himself, are.

"Yes..I suppose you could call this art. OF course, I dont have the level of technical know how that you do, but it certainly is an art.." she continues to work, reconfiguring her key, pulling out a new chip and slipping it into her skeleton card before trying the door, this time it goes through smoothly, the light blinking green.

"There we go..Nothing gets past the Catwoman." she smiles triumphantly, gathering up her belongings before pulling open the door. "Drinks sound good."

Iron Man has posed:
As the door opens, it reveals yet another dusty storage room, but this one seems to be where all the best stuff is kept. For a collector of Vintage Stark, that is, though a lot of the writing on the crates is in German. There are even a few HYDRA logos visible on some of the rusty old equipment in the room. Apparently Howard was a collector himself, or maybe he was just keeping up with the competition.

No time to find out right now, is there?

"Okay, somewhere in all of this old junk is the box we're looking for. It should be labeled 'JRT-11-804', it's an old codebreaking device, looks... kind of like a typewriter. But from space. Or... what they thought 'from space' looked like in the Forties."

That helpful description will lead them straight to it, surely. Tony is already digging through stuff, letting out a surprised 'Huh!' when he comes upon an old mannequin dressed in what looks like bondage gear and holding a whip. No time to figure out what that's about either.

"Oh shit! I don't remember if I set the Iron Van to nonlethal mode!" Tony quickly pulls the controller device out of his Action Pouch, and fiddles with the settings before letting out a sigh of relief. Looks like he did, and there won't be any dead SHIELD agents on his conscience this time...

Catwoman has posed:
Selina Kyle steps into the next room, eyes widenned in wonder..And something else. Oh yes, there are dollar signs probably reflected in her somewhat greey eyes as she wanders a bout the crowded room, looking at this and that.

"Mmm, this is quite the stash, Mr. Stark. More like a vertiable bonanza! Why don't you have legal rights to all this stuff? why aren't we just strolling in here without threat of beign arrested? Doesn't this stuff legally and rightfully belong to you?"

Oh yes, she is definitely missing a large part of..Something, she suspects, anyway.

Still, Catwoman is getting off-topic, and they DID come here for something in particular. She nods, peering around for the device they are after. "Typewriter, huh? Shouldn't be too hard to find.."

She pauses only briefly in the digging to peer back at him with a slight frown. "Sooo...What, if anyone gets too close to your van, they'll get blasted to smithereens?" That weird (shady) mannequin he's holding causes her eyes to narrow a bit, clicking her tongue. "Dare I ask waht that is?!"

Iron Man has posed:
"God, I hope someone sent this to him as a joke. In fact, I'm just going to live the rest of my life believing that that's exactly what happened. Just a little jokey joke, between... hm?"

Tony has a bad habit of monologuing when other things are happening around him, or when other people are trying to get his attention. He usually gets back to reality eventually, and that's exactly what occurs this time. His brow furrows, he looks up, and then turns his head in the direction of his co-criminal.

"Oh, half the stuff in here could wipe out all life on the face of the Earth. The other half would crash the global economy. Howard was weird like that, always with the Doomsday weapons and the ideas the world wasn't ready for... he was weird."

Still digging away, Tony hasn't found the prize he seeks just yet.

"So why keep ANY of it, right? I asked Fury, and he just said it's classified. He's probably got it all stashed away in case he ever tries to take over the world or the Chitauri come back. Whatever, I stay out of it, I just want to get this doohickey and bounce."

Tony walks past a file cabinet that simply says 'Active Hydra Agents', and just kind of ignores it. What he's looking for looks kind of like a typewriter, from space.

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman picks up a random device, appraising it, wondering how much it might be worth..When Tony drops another bombshell. Her eyes widen, very *carefully* replacing the device that looks like a little sattelite dish and frowns.

"Are you kidding me? So I'm basically standing on a giant landmine? Thanks for telling me." she rolls her eyes as she more carefully digs through stuff this time, pondering if any of it is worth stealing if a) she doesn't know how to use it, and b) it might just blow her face off.

Ugh, bad idea. "I really hope the payout is worth it.." Catwoman mutters aloud as she keeps searching for the typewriter. "Honestly, how hard can it be to find this darn typerwriter thing? And let me just say, your grandpa must have been quite the lunatic.."

Iron Man has posed:
"Yeah, well, your grandma was an Abyssinian..."

Whether the stuff here could 'actually' end all life on the planet is probably debatable. Salesman that he is, Stark has a gift for hyperbole. But he's certainly not handling this stuff with the care it deserves, regardless of how dangerous it actually is.

Of course, he's on a bit of a time crunch, as the sounds of shouts and vehicles reinforces once again.

But just when it looks like perhaps Howard Stark wasn't the only lunatic in the family, Tony apparently finds what he was looking for. Or at least he sounds like he did.

"HA! Found it!" Holding up the box triumphantly, Tony gets an enormous smile across his face. Soon he's jumping over piles of secret stuff and making his way across the room, to hold it up and show to his new bestie, the Catwoman.

"Beautiful, isn't it!? This is going to save me soooo much time decompiling some code..."

But he doesn't have time to celebrate. The voices are getting nearer. The agents will be on them in just a few seconds!

Tony suddenly gets serious, and looks at Catwoman a little nervously.

"Okay so... how do your teleportation powers work? Do we have to hold hands or something?"

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman rolls her eyes. "Riight, whatever." she sighs though, turning over yet another leaf so to speak, but finding nothing that resembles a typewriter.

"Umm, are you sure we're even in the right room? Looks like this place is just full of a whole lotta junk that'd be more at home at a Sci-Fi convention.." she smirks at the very thought though, which honestly is quite amusing but unhelpful.

And finally he finds the device in question, but she is definitely NOT his bestie! "Oh great, all this trouble for that tiny little box. And what again did you say this box was capable of? I do hope we're not using it to blow up the sun.."

And THEN he gets 'serious' and she just stares at him. "...I dont have teleportation powers.."

Iron Man has posed:
"Heh! Good one." Tony laughs nervously, getting a little closer to Catwoman in case they actually do have to hold hands. You can never tell with teleporters after all. Sometimes you have to hold hands, sometimes you don't. Thor doesn't require hand holding, thankfully.

"It sounds like they're getting reeeeeally close though, so we should really be getting on with it. Just pop us off to... wherever really. I'm not picky."

Holding the box tightly, Tony looks back over his shoulder as if expecting the agents to pop in Any Minute.

And from the sound of it, they're about to.

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman folds her arms as she continues to stare at him in disbelief. "Okay, are you sure you don't have me mixed up with someone else? Cuz I'm not some superpowered pink haired, fairy-winged teleporting magical girl. I'm The Catwoman. An incredibly talented thief, but no more than that."

And she's also eyeing the door nervously, because she's not so sure they'll be able to come out the way they came in. But it's not like they have much of a choice.

"Okay..." Catwoman sighs as she peers around. "Do you have...I dunno, remote control ability over your fancy van? Think you can fend off at least some of the SHIELD agents who might get in our way?"

She glances upwards and points to a grate in the ceiling. "We should be able to escape through that air vent, although you *hopefully* know the layout of this building better than me.."

Iron Man has posed:
"Wait, how are you so good at stealing shit if you can't teleport?" Tony seems completely flummoxed, but his nervous laughter has completely dissipated only to be replaced with abject horror.

And he's right to be terrified. Sure, Fury probably won't have him killed, he's Tony Stark. But he'll probably give him a stern lecture or cancel a few contracts to teach Tony a lesson. There goes the Christmas Bonus for all the girls on the Eighteenth Floor.

Tony snaps back to it, the realization that the mission isn't over yet causes him to sober up and activate those parts of his brain that always take over whenever there's something heroic to accomplish. Sure, this time the heroic thing he's doing is actually a crime, but it's for a good reason. Honest.

"Right... the air vent. Might work. I can give you a boost?"

Tony looks very unenthusiastic about the idea of crawling through an air vent. His knees aren't what they used to be, for starters.

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman groans. "Come on, give me a break, have you *never* heard the name, Cat Woman before? If you have, you wouldn't even ask that question!"

Yes, Tony, be very terrified. Not only for your life, but for your sanity too!

Fortunately, Catwoman is the mistress of improvisation and getting out of sticky situations, which makes her as infamous as she is.

When he offers her a boost she just chuckles and shakes her head, pulling out her whip and swinging it up to expertly catch one of the bars on the ventilation grate. She uses this to pull up on the whip, rappling up to the grate and kicking it in, flipping gracefully and effortlessly to land on the other side.

"Here, grab the whip, I'll pull you up!" she pulls the whip down again so it dangles at him at about waist level.

Iron Man has posed:
"Pull me up? But you're tiny..."

Tony does as he's told, despite his logical argument against it. It's a bit tough for him to hold the whip and hang onto his precious Decoder Device, but he manages somehow.

A bit awkwardly. Geniuses don't normally do especially well in gym class even under ideal circumstances, and Tony went to a school so elite that they didn't even have gym.

The van continues to keep the majority of the would-be Tony Arresters busy, though they've started to catch onto the idea that the van is just a distraction, rather than an actual threat. It won't be long before most of the agents are back to searching the entire grid, leaving only a small contingent to deal with the Iron Van.

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman sighs, shaking her head. "Tiny? I'm not tiny! I'm well above average height, I'll have you know..Besides, I'm far more athletic and stronger than your average woman." Why, she almost sounds insulted!

Plus, it's not like they have a lot of other options open to them..

And with that in mind, she does her best to pull him up, and it seems Catwoman actually tied the other end of her whip to another grate in the wall of the vent for extra leverage. So it's not nearly as difficult as it might seem.

Unless of course, Tony has been putting on the extra pounds lately.

At any rate, once he's up, she will carefully replace the grate, switching to night view on her goggles as she peers around, although there is decent lighting in this tunnel as it is.

"Alright, looks like we can either go left or right. You got a map of this place, or at least a general feel for the layout? otherwise, I guess we'll have to retrace our steps to the best of our knowledge, based on how we first came in here."

Iron Man has posed:
"Yeah, I've got a map. You... wait... did you not put your contact lens in?"

Still trying to catch his breath from all the running, and now all the climbing (even though Catwoman did most of the work there...), Tony looks through the info that's being beamed directly into his retina. Very futuristic. He's a futurist.

"Dammit. I forgot to give you one. Well here..." Tony reaches toward his face, and for a second, it looks as if he's about to pull the contact lens out of his eye. But instead, he pinches his fingers together right before they touch his eye, and then sort of pulls out a shimmering holographic image. Which he then tosses toward Catwoman, where it expands in front of her into a fully-rendered three dimensional breakdown of the building that they're in.

It even has little icons representing their individual locations in the place.

Tony's is a little 2D cartoon drawing of Iron Man's head.

Catwoman's is a cropped image of a very busty female torso, wearing a Hello, Kitty brassiere.

"Looks like we should go left, right?"

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman quirks a curious brow towards him as he pulls out that futuristic looking contact thingy..And then suddenly he's got that fancy looking map.

"Ah, excellent." she smiles as she peers at it, quite impressed at his fancy technological skills (albeit begrudgingly).

"Wait a minute, what the heck is THAT supposed to be..?" she glares at him, pointing rather agressively at the busty hello kitty. "I do NOT look like that!" Sheesh, get your head out of the gutter, Tony!

Ahem. Back to business. "Left it is..Let's go!" and she starts to lead him down one of the narrow tunnels which twists and turns this way and that, tighter and a bit cold in places, a bit too warm in others. She pauses every so often to check the map and then suddenly stops, holding a finger to her lips.

Down below, a foot before her is another grate and should he peer down below, he may see some SHIELD operatives pacing around. Not good. They'll likely hear them if they make a move.

Iron Man has posed:
Nowhere near as sneaky or athletic as Catwoman, Tony does his best to keep up while making as little noise as possible. Stealth isn't exactly his thing, normally, but he's a pretty quick study. Just don't ask Mrs. Gunderson from his third grade class, she'll disagree.

The glowing data display floats before them, leading them on like some sort of shimmering, partially-translucent digital compass. Only way better, because holograms.

Tony stops dead in his tracks when she gives the signal, and the display goes dark. Good thing, because now it's harder to see the worried look on his face.

"Who do you think it is this time, Roger?"

"Man... probably college kids again. Whoever came up with the idea of telling the public that this place is an abandoned cosmetics lab really ought to be spanked in public."

The operatives go about their business, holding the spot as a chokepoint to intercept anyone crazy enough to be roaming around trying to steal shit from SHIELD.

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman holds her breath, frozen in place as she peers carefully through the grate at the two operatives below. This is probably the scariest part of stealth missions. Staying as quiet as possible, not moving an inch for fear of being found out. Getting trapped with nowhere to run.

Still, Catwoman's been in worse scrapes than this. She bites her time, not moving an inch, waiting to see what they'll do. But of course it seems that they are here to hold a post rather than simply passing through.

Which is not a good thing. They could be waiting here for a loooong time.

Alright then, time for plan B. She very slowly, very carefully pulls out a pellet in one of her side pockets, and once both the agents have their backs turned, she tosses it through the grate, releasing a soft orange cloud of sleeping gas that quickly blossoms down below.

She covers her mouth, motioning for Tony to do the same, although it'll still take some time for the gas to reach them, and even then, its a low enough dose that it shouldn't rise too far but should dissipate quickly.

With any luck they didn't think to pack any breathing masks, and once they are (hopefully) out, she will motion for Tony to follow her quickly down the tunnel.

Iron Man has posed:
As the agents begin dropping like flies, Tony pulls the collar of his stretchy athleisure shirt up over his nose and mouth. Not that it's going to stop much, but at least he's paying attention.

He can't help but let out a trimphant laugh as he moves up a bit closer to watch the agents all going night night. It's a pretty impressive display, particularly the throw placement, and Tony is suddenly very glad that he decided to outsource the actual thieving part to a professional...

"Ha! That was awesome! What was that, a magic bean?"

Catwoman has posed:
Indeed, it is quite amusing, but Catwoman is always one step ahead, already moving quickly down the tunnel up ahead. Who knows how long that will keep them out? And even if it does, who knows when more agents might show up?

Either way she continues down the pathway, stopping only briefly as they come to another two way branch, pausing to check the map. "Hmm, this one on the right should get us closer to the outside. Looks like a chute that leads to the back parking lot. Think you can position your van to pick us up there? With any luck, it wont be too far a drop." At least they're on the main floor of the building.

As for the 'magic bean', she doesn't even bother to comment on that..

Iron Man has posed:
"Already doing it, C.W."

That gentle tapping noise was just Tony typing away on his wrist-mounted holographic keyboard. Which has a bunch of weird symbols instead of letters, because... actually, that's probably not a high priority question right now. But it's for one-handed efficiency...

As the building fills with SHIELD agents, leaving only a small force guarding the Iron Van, the van suddenly drives away, taking a circuitous route around the building as it attempts to shake as many agents as possible before ending up right in the path of the imminent drop that Tony and Catwoman are going to have to take.

Good thing there's a nice soft van roof to break their falls... Or... wait, what's happening to the roof?

The van's roof panels begin retracting, one after another, until virtually the entire van top is gone, and the nice soft memory foam furniture is clearly visible below them.

Maybe try to land on that, then?

"So uh... kiss for good luck?" Tony looks expectantly for a little over a second before giving up and just jumping down toward the van.

He manages to mostly land on the soft, soft furniture. But only because the van moved slightly to catch him.

Catwoman has posed:
Well. Thank goodness for technology and smart weirdos! At least that's something to rely on. And as Catwoman leads them down the last bend, she's well aware of the sound of SHIELD agents spilling into the building.

Fortunately, its busy and loud enough down below that their shuffling in the ceiling is not so easily heard.

"Phew, almost there..I can see light up ahead!" And yay, memory foam! That's always a welcome luxury that's not often had!

She smiles as she glances at Tony, relaxing, "Almost there!" And she pushes open teh final grate..Then pauses, glaring at him. "Not on your life, old man!" she shoves off, leaping and landing more gracefully on the nice soft furniture and rests there for a couple seconds, grateful for the comfy mattress.

"Alright, let's get the heck outta here!" cuz you know, they're probably gonna find 'em sooner or later if they waste a moment longer.

Iron Man has posed:
"Punch it, Iron Van!"

The van roars to life, which is pretty impressive since it doesn't really have an engine, and begins zooming away from the old factory on a predetermined escape route.

College kids, indeed.

As the van zooms away, it doesn't take the SHIELDies long to figure out what's happened, and the helicopters are no doubt already being scrambled to intercept. For all the good it'll do them.

"Man! That was intense! No wonder people like to steal shit, it's fun as hell!" Clearly amped up from the night's caper, Tony appears to be full of adrenaline. And good spirits, since the mission was a success.

Cradling the prize that they came to get, Tony looks a bit like a kid who finally got a Red Ryder B B Gun for Christmas. Here's hoping he doesn't shoot his eye out with it.

And speaking of good spirits...

"Iron Van, do me a solid and open up the Victory Champagne. Ms. Woman and I earned it."

The van complies, and a robotic arm extends from one of the wall panels, producing a bottle of champagne and some crystal flute glasses.

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman chuckles a bit as she peers out the back window before relaxing some. "Well, I couldn't see you getting very far in the thievery business. For one, you would really have to work on being more stealthy."

Her eyes glimmer with amusement however at the mere thought of Tony in a skin-fitting catsuit, sneaking around tight places. Scratch that, what a horrifying thought!

Then there's mention of champagne and she arches a brow. "Well, I don't really drink on the job, but I would like to talk about payment.." Still, that was a close one, and she's all for relaxing. With a slight smile, she reaches for the glass.

Iron Man has posed:
"Oh. Right. Sorry, bad habit. Usually I just get my friends to do stuff for me for free..."

With the pop of the bottle, the glasses are filled with fizzy substance, and Tony greedily takes his as well.

Of course, he lets her get hers first though. Like a gentleman.

He taps something on the holographic display that appears on his wrist, and there's some sort of confirmation of an email being sent. A few moments later, he's sticking a standard USB drive into a slot, waiting for a few seconds, and then handing the USB drive to his tour guide through the world of high-paying crime.

"There you go, Four Hundred Bitcoins. Don't download it all in one place."