5974/Pied Piper: Alias Investigating

Pied Piper: Alias Investigating
Date of Scene:	12 December 2018
Location:	New York City
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Doctor Strange, Jessica Jones, Raven, June Connor, Dragon
Tinyplot:	Pied Piper

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Doctor Strange has posed:
    Hell's Kitchen gets awfully dark and quiet during the winter months. Any snowfall muffles the air greatly so it feels like every conversation is in a closet. The air is thick and biting, so many of the more visible members of the ninja clan, The Hand, are grateful in no small part to be working inside the high rise building this evening.

    Up near the top floors, several members of the clan have gathered and are working with a sleeping man in the middle of the room. Nude other than a pair of black boxer shorts, the mystics surround the man with salt layed out in specific patterns and all across the room. The wizards are working on a spell, deep and meaningful.

    Outside the doors, in the hallways and surrounding the elevators are several more mundane members of the clan, not many, but about five, waiting and keeping guard for the event to proceed. Unaware that anyone might be brave enough to try and interrupt or even enter the floor.

Jessica Jones has posed:
Jessica already had a dealing or two with the Hand, enough to know that coming in at ground floor, and introducing herself as Suzy from Secret Santa Sweepstakes isn't going to cut it. These guys will not be moved by a potential winning of a PS4 Pro or whatever. Whatever cover she wears, she'll be stopped at the lobby. Hence, she partook in the power she least enjoyed, and flew her way to the top of the building. Rather than bravely charging in, she took a breather, just relaxing her nerves for a moment or two, and maybe taking a swig...okay, two swigs from the whiskey flask she brought with her. (Hey, gotta gear up!)

Once ready, she knocks the roof access door open, even if it was locked, with her considerable strength, and starts to go down to the floor she already has marked as the Hand's meeting area. Probably not the most inconspicuous, but hey, she's got a scarf, leather, jeans and a hoodie! In an skyscrapper, who would ever notice?

Raven has posed:
    Raven has been... Promoted, for lack of a better term, for a total of two hours. It's been a wild ride, so far. However, duty calls, and though Raven does not have access to the Eye, there are still enough scrying mechanisms in the Sanctum to allow her to get directly to work on the issue that has called her to office. Though every victim of the Black Sleep is of interest, one has caught her eye, and miles away from here, Raven has begun to cast a spell. It's a simple one, admittedly, as they're going where, ostensibly, they are not allowed- and this time, with the benefit of foreknowledge (and a modicum of respect that her new position almost demands) she is going to go quietly. Before she and Wong teleport, there is an aura of serenity about her person.

    Within a shadow in the upport portion of the room, the shape of a great black bird takes form. From it, in silence, emerges Raven and Wong. Raven's posture is casually imperious, for the moment. The pair can hear the proceedings- and Raven, for her part, intends to watch for a time.

June Connor has posed:
    June knows there's something here. She read the files, she traced the connections. It's been a while since she has put herself in black pajamas, but in the darkness of the night, and in the context of breaking into a high rise, it seemed appropriate to go into the dark building in dark clothing. She came in from the first floor. Unlike others, she has no knowledge of anything called Black Sleep. She just knows that there was some data that could leader her to find the leaders of the Hand. She takes the steps. Oh why did she take the steps? She moves up them silently, making her way for the third floor before attempting to locate an elevator.

Dragon has posed:
The Last Dragon himself, Richard Dragon, had been fighting the Hand for a few months, ever since Matt had asked him to help fight the good fight, and since Danny told him more in detail of what's been happening. Thus, this is where he knows something will happen. A snake will strike. the wolf will bite.

Richard wears black robes, in immediate regards to his station. He dresses like a CHinese master of martial arts. long tunic, black pants, some nice shoes, his hands are bare, but a hood has been added to his collar. His hood is over his head as the Master seems to be making his way up through simple use of the stairs. After all, he knew how to fight.

if his title was anything to go by.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    The guards are all condensed onto the eleventh floor, and hidden within the shadows as any good ninja should be. They do seem to be waiting for something, anything. The elevator, the stairwell, they're waiting for any movement as they are obediently waiting for the mages to emerge from the converted office suite to give them the okay to disperse and relocate elsewhere.

    Jessica, June and Richard would all find it unsatisfyingly easy to reach the exactly floor the hand are reported to be on. Raven however would be whisked away into the room with the mages and the victim, laying on the table when one of the wizards steps closer to the victim and puts both hands on the opposite sides of the victim's head and he closes his eyes as he looks upwards, his and the other wizards chant starts to get louder and more ominous, the dark candle lit room growing darker still.

Jessica Jones has posed:
Jessica is surprised when she easily makes the designated floor for the 'party zone' as it were, but then she never was especially capable when it came to spotting hidden ninjas. So the coast may not be as clear as she thinks, she walks towards what seems to be the large meeting room where some voices could be heard. She's of yet unaware of the others who will soon make it to the same area, so still operates as if she's on her own. She does have her camera hanging on a strap from her neck, prepared to snap shots of evidence she might come by.

June Connor has posed:
    June goes to the elevator from the third floor, and takes it straight up from there. Of course, she isn't expecting a weird cultist ritual. She's expecting a more normal, boring office area. You know, cubicles and stuff. The elevator music plays, and she watches as the numbers rise. Something...something feels off. She can't put her finger on it. She glances around the elevator, looking for a camera, but she just can't shake the strange tingling on the back of her neck, like all is not as it should be. She was always told to trust those feelings, but she never really listened to what she was told. So when the doors open to the eleventh floor, while she may be ready, she may not be as prepared as she thinks.

Dragon has posed:
Each flight of stairs that Richard almost relaxedly passes takes him up further until he finally reaches the 11th level. He doesn't quite enter yet, taking the time to assert his surroundings. He does take a brief moment to gather his chi, but he also wants to make sure he knows what is happening.

Are they reviving one of their members? Are they attempting to enhance one of their own?

So many questions, so little time, his eyes try to capture as much detail as possible before moving in.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    As Jessica reaches for the door, a chain snaps through the air and wraps around her wrist and is yanked hard back to the shadows where it comes from, pulling Jessica off her feet with the suddenness of the attack and getting her down rapidly as she's such a known and huge threat.

    When the door chimes and they open, a small black ball is tossed into the little room and if June doesn't react fast enough, it's going to be rather bad for her to be in the elevator with the ancient grenade.

    Richard feels the five ninja on the landing, two waiting by the door, two by the elevator and another trying to fight another person. He would also feel several more people within the large open room with ... rather odd chi coming from them as they surround a body with no such life force other than a faint heartbeat.

    Raven is able to watch the man with his hands against the victim's head slowly fall backwards until he lands on the ground. The room nearly pitch black though the candles are still lit. The wizards lower down to put their hands on the exterior salt ring and suddenly the salt catches a weird ominous green fire that burns nothing but does glow.

Raven has posed:
    Raven's hands are buried deep in her pockets. Her eyes are narrowed, and the fact that one of the men seems to fall unconscious, and that the others are not panicking, does not escape her perception. Her empathy allows her great insight- and that is enough to tell her that they're probing the sleeping man's connection to the Black Sleep. "I think... They're trying to have a discussion. That will not go well... For any of us, I fear."

    There is a pause- outside of the small circle of silence about them, she cannot be heard as she speaks to Wong. "I sincerely hope they're not pledging fealty, but either way... I doubt this is a safe bet." Then, her attention shifts to stronger emotions coming from outside of the room. There is a fight- and Raven can tell. Whether or not she should assist, though, isn't entirely clear. Disrupting the ritual is probably not a bad idea... But the new title has her a good deal more wary.

June Connor has posed:
    "Right. Fuck." June says simply as the grenade bounces into the elevator. She was getting off anyway. She leaps forward into a roll, reaching into her sash to pull a flash pellet. She didn't have time to assess the situation, and since she doesn't know where people are, she doesn't want them to have an advantage. As she lands, the pellet flies from her fingertips, and she closes her eyes as the blinding flash is followed by the puff of smoke.
    Without taking time to assess her opponent, she dives forward, the blade on the hook swinging out in her left hand to snag whoever it was that threw the grenade. She's never learned about using non-lethal force, and in her business, it's best if she can say no one saw her, even if she has to rewrite the scene to say it. She doesn't have the best form of any ninja ever, but she knows what move to make and when.
    Regarding the rest of those in the area, she remains fairly pre-occupied.

Dragon has posed:
Richard feels the waves of chi that he can sense by centering himself. Once he has all the information he could use, he takes a breath, and he moves on in! It's more like a calm charge than anything else...before he's sprinting with intent, ready to fight, into the 11th floor! To the two men by the door, he throws a knife with lethal intent, aimed at one of the ninja, going for the head, while attempting to land a strong kick to the chest to the other at the door.

He's basically gonna try and clear the way.

This is the hand. They hurt his students. They are gonna pay.