16161/One Night at the Museum

One Night at the Museum
Date of Scene:	02 April 2024
Location:	American Museum Nat. His.
Synopsis:	Arthur tries to stop Satana. Both try to stop the real villain.
Cast of Characters:	Satana, Crimson Wolf

---

Satana has posed:
    Living after midnight
    Rocking to the dawn
    Loving till the morning
    Then I'm gone, I'm gone

The voice echoes through the halls of the museum shortly after, well, midnight. A thrilling contralto that slithers into the ears and wraps itself around the amygdala, purring, while singing that song. The owner of the voice comes into view in the dinosaur hall, doing a little shuffle as she continues that concert-pleaser from Judas Priest, hips gyrating, feet doing fancy footwork, as the temptress, clad in crimson leather so tight it might as well be within her skin.

It would almost be charming were it not for the half dozen guards littering the foyer of the museum, knocked out for *daring* to suggest that perhaps she was not meant to be inside the museum at night.

Still shuffling and dancing, the crimson-clad culprit starts looking at the displays with a critical eyes, occasionally holding up a gem to her amber eye, peering at displays through it.

Though the body still gyrates and writhes to the music coming from her mouth.

Crimson Wolf has posed:
Arthur, in his guise as Crimson Wolf, was just making his way along. The museum roof was a stop on his way as he trained a bit on his just... going around the city. He was new. He hadn't even met other heroes yet!

But that there was something going on in the museum brought him to go take a look.

It being after midnight didn't matter much to him. He had online courses, and those were just... yeah. Easy. And recorded. He could do them any time nearly during the day. After midnight was prime time for him to get some much needed practice and exercise in with his abilities.

But, he didn't expect to stumble on to a museum robbery of all things. That has him frowning a bit behind his ceramic mask.

So he does the natural thing of slipping in the skylight.

And somehow just... gliding down. His landing is still with the slight click of his boots as he looks at the guards, then walks towards where he hears the singing.

Overall, he's hoping it was just some ray or something that knocked the guards out. Who knew what did it? And he did not have time to check on them to make sure they were alive or the like other than a quick glance.

Satana has posed:
They're breathing. There's no sight nor smell of blood. And the one guard whose face is turned Arthur's way has a very, very, very strange smile on his face. Like he's having a really ... ah ... unsavoury dream.

As he gets closer to the music, the red-clad minx is still dancing from display to display, not even trying to hide herself nor what she's doing, despite the undoubtedly dozens of cameras pointing into this room alone. There's also no mask; no, Taylor Swift is definitely clad in tight red leather, singing ancient metal songs, and inspecting the dinosaur displays.

Wait. Taylor Swift?

It's definitely not a mask, but ... it's Taylor Swift. Except ... she's in Europe doing a benefit concert with Dazzler.

What?

The voice stops briefly only to say, "You know, most people would see six unconscious guards and decide discretion is the better part of valour. Toddle off now."

She's not even looking at Arthur and already dissing him.

She goes back to her singing, only looking Arthur's way with an impish, but definitively malicious, grin, when she sings these words

    The air's electric, sparking power, loaded, loaded
    I'm getting hotter by the hour, loaded, loaded

There may be a warning in there somewhere.

Crimson Wolf has posed:
Arthur has to blink a few times.

Then it clicks. "A shapeshifter." He says simply.

"And sorry, but I believe whatever you are here for would be best left here." He says. The ceramic mask is at least hiding most of his face. His eyes are the only real visible part as he watches her, following at a walk for the moment.

The eyes on the guard has him wary. He knows there is more at work there. A lot more.

Satana has posed:
"What you believe and what is," Satana says with a dry chuckle, "are two different things." She turns back to her work, not seeming concerned by her opponent. "The fools who run this place don't even know what they have."

She stops her little shuffle-dance in front of what looks like a miniature T-Rex. A thicc one. The sign in front of it, should Arthur be curious, reads "Afrovenator".

"And here we go!" the woman says enthusiastically. "If you're not going to be running away in terror, could you at least make yourself useful and help me get over this plexiglass wall?"

The display is separated from public space by the aforementioned wall approximately 2.5m high.

"I won't be a moment. I'll grab the tooth, put in its replacement, and be out of here before the tiresome police officers arrive and make things get messy."

Crimson Wolf has posed:
Arthur hums, looking thoughtful, even rubbing his chin. "How about no?"

He shrugs as he continues to walk forward, looking at her. "Now that I know what you are after, I am willing to bet from the look on the guards, that you are using something other than just shapeshifting?"

She's a talker, so he'll keep her talking. Yep.

Satana has posed:
Satana shrugs and sighs. "Pity. I would have loved feeling those strong hands on me; that whiplike body against me. Oh well, I was intending to do this all by myself anyway."

She pauses then and looks a little bewildered. "But hold on, you're still not fleeing in terror. Were you dropped on your head as a child?"

Looking down at herself she snaps her fingers.

"Oh, now I get it! I forgot to put on the fearsome visage!"

And as she says this, the crimson leather at her back bulges and bursts as a huge pair of bat-like wings unfurl behind her. At about the same time as curling ram's horns escape her temples, tearing through flesh to cover her ears like a pair of earmuffs.

And then there's the eyes. The amber eyes that flood with black until they're like onyx, albeit onyx where the bright red flames of Hell burn where her pupils should be.

"This is the time you leave, mortal," she says, her voice doubling with another, deeper, more animalistic voice nearly a full octave lower, for maximum discordant disconcerting effect.

"When I gather my dragon's tooth I will be on my way. Whether you are injured or not when I do is entirely on your choices now."

Crimson Wolf has posed:
Arthur blinks at that one. Just blinks.

Then he reaches to his coat and draws out a sword. A japanese looking one, but definitely far from ordinary. At least if Satana can sense it.

He moves to hold it ready. "Not the first of your kind I have faced. Just what do you want with a tooth, anyways?"

He asks.

Satana has posed:
When the sword comes out, the demonic visage flicks straight at it as if Satana somehow knows there's something about it that should concern her.

"I see..." she says, warily stepping back and to one side. "You're not the usual tawdry costumed buffoon." Her hands work in strange gestures as she talks before she thrusts them ahead of herself and spreads them wide. A thin curtain of what looks like shimmering, barely-contained flame interposes itself between the pair, wrapping to cover Satana's flanks as well as front.

"But neither am I," she continues, with a triumphant sneer, "the usual tawdry costumed thief."

Her voice goes reasonable, losing the bestial component, returning to that oh-so-intrusively sensual contralto.

"But darling," she continues, in a friendlier mien, "I'm not a fighter. I'm a lover. I just need that dragon's tooth for a project I'm working on." She pulls something from ... actually it's not clear where she's pulled it form given that it's a good six-inch long pointed tooth and her costume doesn't leave any room for IMAGINATION, not to mention actual physical goods. "As you can see I'll be replacing it. They don't know what they have and when I replace this ... assuming you don't do anything rash and make a mess ... they won't know anything has changed. So please, just let me finish my work and ..."

A coy, inviting smile creeps over her face. "... I have ways of rewarding people who please me. I'm accounted very good at them."

Crimson Wolf has posed:
Arthur looks at the flames, then at her. He seems to hesitate. As if unsure for a moment or two.

"Just what is this project for exactly?" He asks. Crouching a little, he actually looks like he might be getting ready to move as he steps a bit closer, looking at her through the flames.

"And so far, the answer is no. Besides, I would rather they know something happened in case I can not stop you." He says in reply.

A small tilt of his head and he glances at a display, "Speaking of which." He brings his sword back, aiming at a display case it looks like.

"If you are not wanting them to know you are here, I can always just break something and throw it at you. I am sure they would love to see you on the cameras." He notes.

Satana has posed:
Satana's voice clouds with peevishness. Not quite anger. (This is likely a good thing.)

"Do you know, little mortal," she asks haughtily, what I think of technology?" Without waiting for an answer--apparently she's being rhetorical in her questions--she continues, "It's degenerate ritual magic; most of my kind despise it. I, on the other hand, quite enjoy it. It's entertaining to work with; an intriguing set of tight constraints requiring creativity to mold to my will."

Another few hand gestures and the various displays used during visiting hours light up. Only briefly do they display the contents of their usual blandly-delivered information before an odd red-and-black static takes them over and starts displaying ... Arthur. And Satana. Only in one display Arthur is a woman in a kimono and Satana is a circus ringmaster. In another display, from another angle, Arthur is himself, but Satana is Betty Boop, the cartoon character. In yet another Arthur is a talking dog while Satana is a talking llama. And so on. The angles of the displays seem to match the angles of cameras in the room.

"As a result I'm quite adept at manipulating it. My home defence system is a Wurlitzer, for example."

Satana cocks her head and watch's Arthur's reaction. As does the llama in one picture, Betty Boop in another, a circus ringmaster in the third, and so on.

"Now, before we continue with this pointless charade--and please, I have no desire to destroy these displays, but I will if I have to defend myself which would be rather a shame given how minimal my impact was supposed to be--perhaps some introductions are in order. I am Satana Hellstrom. The Daughter of Satan."

She pauses for dramatic effect.

"Literally. Not figuratively. And you are?"

Crimson Wolf has posed:
Arthur tilts his head a little. His head turns this way and that to look at the displays. That somehow one has him looking like a woman, especially as he has a ceramic mask on even in that picture has him staring a bit. "Nice trick."

Then her introduction has him looking over, "Huh. Daughter of Satan? Like the biblical one? Never followed that, but I understand some of the implication."

He sighs, "As far as I know, the last two of your kind that tried to kill me called me the Crimson Komainu. I suppose Crimson Wolf will work since we are not in Japan."

The sword is moved behind him, and a trail of light comes out of it as he does what looks more like a fancy sword flourish. A bright circle emerges next, covering the apparently young man as he turns from just some guy in a trenchcoat and ceramic mask to what looks like some sort of cross between a samurai and a knight in appearance. The helmet just invokes those fancy foo-dog statues from Japan that guard temples as he settles back into what looks like a traditional kendo stance.

"Do you want to see how the first one ended up?" He asks.

Satana has posed:
"Crimson Wolf." Satana looks down at herself and the clothing she's decided to manifest and then back up at Arthur. "I approve of that name."

As if he needed her approval.

"And I'm sure you've encountered an imp or even a fiend before and did well. But darling Mr. Wolf, I am a full-on Hell Lord. I'm a completely different breed from those. Pit fiends blanch in my presence and ask how they might serve me." She tilts her head, mischief in her eyes. "Shall I summon a horde to illustrate this? You wouldn't enjoy it, I promise."

Her mouth quirks a bit as if she's stifling something.

"There's no reason, however, for us to be at odds. I just want a tooth the fools who run this place misidentified and put in the wrong place. I will be replacing it so they won't even know there's something to miss." She waves the tooth she produced earlier by way of illustration. "When I'm done, I will be on my way; I'm not doing this for tedious things like 'money' after all."

Again she produces something. Again it's really unclear where it's all coming from given this is a very large roll of $100 bills.

"I'm not short of that. Ever. Being a Hell Lord pays well, you see."

She looks Arthur up and down curiously. "Why do you even care? This cannot possibly impact you materially. It doesn't impact the people here materially either given how they don't even know what they have. Why are you so intent on a battle? Are you so addicted to violence and causing pain? If you are, why don't I just fetch my tooth, and then you and I can discuss this like adults elsewhere. I have a playroom that will let you unleash your aggression in a fun way. Ropes. Chains. Leashes. Whips. Even knives if you're so inclined." The demonic form vanishes as Satana returns to the form she was in when Arthur first saw her ... only with a lot more skin showing as panels of the leather catsuit vanish. "I'm quite open to all forms of passion..." she purrs suggestively.

Crimson Wolf has posed:
The wolf helmet gives a sigh, "It seems to be the only language that is understood by those like you."

"Why do you want a tooth of a dragon?" He asks.

He seems really hestitating to attack a Taylor Swift lookalike. Especially with all that skin showing now. "Also, definitely not my thing there. Fun as it probably could be, I would rather decline. Not to mention you will probably kill me later for some stupid reason or another."

"Seriously, we could keep this going or you could wait for the cops and a certain mystic or two I know of that I sent out a message to before entering here. I'm willing to bet they are just trying to figure out the best way to come over or get dressed or something else stupid." He says. And he just hopes that being in a full suit of armor means she can't tell he's bluffing on that one.

Satana has posed:
Satana sighs, clearly and visibly unwilling to engage in conflict. Perhaps she *is* more the lover than the fighter as she claims.

Her body is definitely built more for the former...

"If, darling, I tell you what it's for, will you leave me be, or perhaps even assist me?" she asks.

She pauses a moment.

"I'm taking it away from Mephisto," she says, then, with a frown on her face as she pronounces that name. "A rival Hell Lord who has the subtlety of a ..." Words seem to fail her as she seeks an appropriate simile. "... completely unsubtle thing," she finishes lamely. "I am very comfortable here in the mortal plane, and every time that ham-fisted ... clown! ..." There's a certain strangling rage in her voice and face when she refers to the aforementioned Mephisto. "... starts plotting things for this plane, it makes my stay here less comfortable because mortals, who see no contradiction between two humans not liking each other and interfering with each other can't seem to fathom that I AM NOT HIS TO COMMAND."

Someone is peeved.

"So..." She settles herself down, with the beast lurking within the Taylor Swift form falling back. "...this dragon tooth is going to be used by his cultists to bring him and his army to New York City."

Slow clapping sounds from behind Arthur and to the right.

"The Lady Satana," an elderly masculine voice says, "has the right of it. My Lord Mephisto will be summoned. And unlike the aspersions she has cast upon me, I know full well what I have stored in that skeleton."

The man steps into the glow of the displays still showing the bizarrely altered images from before.

"I am Doctor Fulswaith, curator of this wing of the museum."

Glowing energies start forming, crackling, around the hands of the man.

"And I'm afraid I can't allow either of you to interfere with My Lord Mephisto's plans."

The energy is unleashed, one ball flying toward Satana, one toward Arthur.

Crimson Wolf has posed:
"Well, maybe." He replies to her query.

The flat out truth has him pausing. And then the third voice has him turning.

And that ball is met with sword. That seems to absorb a little bit of it before he moves to brush it aside.

"So no need to fight her, just you? Thank you." Arthur says towards the Doctor.

And he moves to advance on the man, at a steady walk, his sword held up before him.

He calls back towards Satana, "You know, if you can shapeshift, why not just fly over the glass? Oh, and please dispose of that tooth instead of using it."

He turns his attention back to the Doctor Fulswaith. "As for you, I hope you have more tricks than just flinging whatever that was."

Satana has posed:
Santana scoffs as the ball comes toward her, splashing against her screen with barely a noticeable impact. She watches with amusement as Fulswaith's ball is easily deflected by Arthur's sword.

"Oh, that's easy, my darling wolf," she says to his question. "I was planning to, but a nice strapping man like you comes along? I wanted to be lifted and touched." She winks his way (likely not seen given that he's otherwise engaged) and with a few hand gestures raises into the air and easily clears the plexiglass barrier, floating across to the skeleton's mouth.

"NO!" Fulswaith shouts, fury in his voice. "I WILL NOT LET YOU..."

Words that sound very ... ancient language-y ... start flowing from his lips as Satana starts pulling at one of the many teeth of the fossilized skeleton. The skeleton that now starts to move, glowing a pale, baleful blue, its teeth barely missing Satana's arm as she yanks it back.

"Curses!" she mutters, adding a few (likely very choice) words under her breath. "Would you mind terribly much keeping him busy so I can avoid being hurt by this thing?"

The thing whose sudden, blindingly quick motion sends Satana sailing through the air to land face-first and upside-down against the faux rock wall of the display, painted and flocked styrofoam breaking under the impact.

Crimson Wolf has posed:
"Not a problem. If this is anything like fantasy... well..."

Arthur shows that he is not just a swordsman as he leaps forward suddenly, and instead tries to flat out punch the cultist Doctor in the face. Like completely. And he probably cleared at least twice what a normal human should have with that forward jump, too.

"Hope that disrupted the spell, if not this will get messy!" He says, as he looks to make sure the doctor is out. Literally.

Satana has posed:
The doctor is an elderly man with a few spell tricks up his sleeve. Arthur is a trained combatant in a suite of armour.

The doctor is definitively out. And probably concussed.

The *spell*, on the other hand, is not out. And while Satana is climbing to her feet after falling to the floor from her rather embarrassing pratfly, the Afrovenator skeleton makes a lunge for her, forcing her to dive to one side as its speed precludes her casting any magic; simply lacking time.

"Now would be a very helpful time!" she calls out as she scrambles to her feet, trying to run from the skeleton in a too-small enclosure. "Check his pockets. He must have a fetish keeping it going!"

Crimson Wolf has posed:
Arthur starts to check the pockets quickly, looking as quickly as he can. And trying to find something.

"Doing that. Keys, wallet... come on. What would this thing look like?" He yells over.

Then deciding on something else, he leaps over the plexiglass and goes for jumping on the skeleton himself and trying to slice into it's neck.

It's basically an animated skeleton, so he tries to cut into it and hope his sword will do a lot of the work. It worked against demons, after all, and it deflected whatever that spell was, so cutting through whatever is animating the skeleton? Should be easy, right!

Satana has posed:
The skeleton is stone. Hard, compressed stone. It just happens to be in the shape of bones. So while the sword does manage to do something unclear to the field keeping the skeleton alive, given the faltering of the blue aura where the sword was, it's not enough to stop the skeleton from moving with amazing alacrity.

It does, however, give Satana the time she needs to cast a spell as the skeleton switches targets, its horrific jaws snapping at Arthur, the razor sharp points trying their best to tear into his flesh and rend him limb from limb.

Satana gets to her feet and with a triumphant noise, throws her hand in the direction of the unconscious curator, gestures, and yanks out what looks like a chess piece, tearing out of the professor's pocket and flying in a direct line to her outstretched hand...

...only to get embedded into the plexiglass separating the pair from the rest of the displays.

A few very choice words escape Satana's lips.

"Keep it occupied, I have to get over the barrier again to cancel this!"

Crimson Wolf has posed:
The armored knight reaches out to grab a leg and pulls himself out of the way of the jaws of death just barely.

"Easy for you to say!" Arthur calls back towards her.

Then Arthur realizes where he is, and turns to swing hard at the thing's knee. And he channels qi into it to boot. Perhaps taking out it's footing will work better as he moves to get away afterwards. And hopefully he didn't shatter a knee there.

Satana has posed:
"Yes, it is," Satana says with more than a hint of dark humour. Again she opens her arms wide and rises into the air, to come down on the other side of the barrier. With a quick wrench of the piece she yanks it from the plexiglass, inspecting it briefly before eldritch words start to flow from her mouth.

Meanwhile, inside the enclosure, the knee strike accomplishes its aim, causing the skeleton to fall over sideways. Its mouth snaps shut beside Arthur instead of over him, sparing him being swallowed whole by ... well ... bones. Or, more alarmingly, cut in half while being so swallowed by sharp teeth.

"OK," Satana says, "I think I have this." She continues the eldritch words, enveloping the chess piece in a red haze, a haze that starts to form around the skeleton too.

"Keep it busy. It will stop soon."

Crimson Wolf has posed:
Arthur shrugs, then leaps upwards to the top of the enclosure away from where Satana is.

Balancing carefully on a corner, he taps the enclosure a few times with his sword to get it's attention.

"How soon is soon?" He asks as he watches the skeleton, hoping to keep it's attention at least.

Honestly, he has no idea how sturdy the plexiglass is. He's just up there to try to keep the thing on him rather than disrupt whatever Satana is doing.

For some reason, he lets the armor disappear in a brief white glow back to wherever it is stored, not to mention his sword goes back to the first form it had.

Then he decides to hop down to the floor instead of staying a big target.

Satana has posed:
"When you stop entertaining me with your prattle," Satana says with a glower, "I'll finish it. While I'm still amused, you'll dance with it."

She's probably joking.

Probably.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

The creature skitters to its feet again, looking around and silently bellowing (which is probably the eeriest part of the fight: how silent it largely is!) spotting Arthur's motion and lunging his way.

"These creatures had very bad eyesight except for motion. Perhaps you should have stood still."

Timely advice from the Demon Queen.

More eldritch words pour out of her mouth and the skeleton now glows a fiery red. Literally fiery, it seems, given that some of the styrofoam fittings are now melting in its presence.

A presence that's rapidly closing in on Arthur.

Crimson Wolf has posed:
Arthur looks at the melting styrofoam and sighs, "I can see that."

He backs away from the plexiglass, scanning around where he is before leaping backwards a good distance as he slides the sword he has back into a scabbard in his coat.

Moving carefully, he makes sure he has a clear path as he keeps moving a little to make sure the skeleton stays focused on him with an occasional wave.

He is just waiting for the plexiglass to fail and for the thing to come his way as he crouches a little.

"At least it seems to only have 'eat someone' on it's mind." He says.

Satana has posed:
And with a cry of triumph, Satana seems to shatter whatever hold the chess piece had on the dinosaur skeleton. She throws it to the ground hard, then stomps on it with force that cracks the tile beneath. The piece is shattered into a thousand pieces which...

... uh ... this is probably not what Arthur wanted. The dinosaur skeleton also shatters into a thousand pieces. Thankfully the red glow fades rapidly and the heat is gone, so minimal extra damage is done to the enclosure (and there's no fire), but there is now a disassembled fossilized skeleton all over the floor.

"That did it!" Satana says, again going over the wall to join Arthur. Immediately she steps up to the cranial part and pulls out a tooth, replacing it with the one she'd bandied about earlier.

"I trust there's no objection to my keeping this little bauble this time?" she asks Arthur with more than a little sarcastic acid in her voice.

Crimson Wolf has posed:
A shrug is given from Arthur. "I suppose not. If you have some sort of incriminating evidence that can be planted on the doctor there, I would not be opposed to that as well. At least something to get him locked away so we do not have to deal with it again?"

He shakes his head, turning to go the same way he came in. Namely the skylight.

"This has been one strange night. Wonder if Dresden can fill me in on this one." He says to himself more than anything.

Satana has posed:
"Oh, tell Harry I said hi!" Satana says with a smile. "And tell him my invitation is still open, like my legs will be if he takes me up on it."

She winks at Arthur. "Just tell him Satana says 'hi'. See how long it takes him to flinch and maybe even run away."

She glances over at the curator and narrows her eyes. "Don't need to incriminate him. His soul is forfeit for his sins. I will claim it now."

The eyes wander over Arthur's way. "You might want to leave for this. Mortals find the process ... disturbing."

Crimson Wolf has posed:
A frown might be given towards Satana. "Um... fine... I guess..."

He looks uneasy at that one.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just plant evidence than do the messy part?" He asks, then sighs. "Never mind... I forgot. Demoness."

Turning, he decides the skylight is not the best way but instead goes for a back door. And an emergency exit that he purposefully trips the alarm on before walking out into the night.

Satana has posed:
It's probably fortunate that Arthur lacks Astral awareness, because the scream of tortured hopelessness of a soul being consumed, its remnants being excreted practically straight into Hell, is one that, while being music to Satana's ears, is a horror to those who do not share her proclivities toward punishing sinners. The press will have a field day as leaked details later come out about the museum attack that broke apart an assembled fossil skeleton, burned some of the scenery, damaged an enclosure, and left six unconscious guards and the desiccated corpse of a curator in its wake.

Satana? She just prepares the dragon tooth for some of her own machinations. Ones that will stymy Mephisto, her father, all while doing what she loves doing best: sowing playful chaos.