Act 33: Close Calls And Getting Closer

--- Joshua ---

(I’m going to be honest. I don’t think this is our smartest idea.) A little voice in his head warned him.

“Maybe not…” He admitted as he cracked his neck. “But I should still test this out.”

With that said he raised his fists and faced a brick wall before punching it as hard as he could. An impact that caused several cracks to form around his hand, showing that he’d hit it significantly harder than he could’ve managed before gaining his powers. A fact that filled him with a bit of pride.

Right up until the pain kicked in.

“Motherfu~ucker!” He wailed, gripping his hand as he felt tears begin to pour out of his eyes.

(Yeah… yeah, this is what I was expecting…)

“Ouchies…” He whimpered as his hand seemed to grow and contract slightly. “Right, okay… stronger than normal but… hitting things at full power still hurts…”

Deciding that he would rather not hurt himself again, running these tests he instead downed a vial of Red Malice. Hoping whatever physical enhancements it gave him would let him run these tests unimpeded.

As that sweet symphony kicked on inside of his head he founded his posture and his stance shifting around. “Alright, now let’s try this with some proper skill now, eh?”

Rather than hitting the brickwork with all of his strength he delivered a flurry of blows that while weaker than his first one, also notably did nothing to hurt his hands.

“Clearly, the trick is to hit as hard as you can without hurting yourself to wear down your target.”

Whatsmore these blows slowly stacked on top of eachother chipping and cracking the brickwork he was wailing on.

“Then once you’ve worn them down a bit…” He pulled his fist back before driving it forward with enough force to embed it several inches into the stone wall. “You punch straight through their defenses.”

Ripping his hand free in one smooth motion, he couldn’t help but grimace as he noticed several cuts on his hand as well as several quickly forming bruises on his knuckles. Something he was sure would hurt significantly more if not for the Malice flowing through his veins.

“Yeah… might have the skill to do that, but might also want to build up some calluses first before trying it on my own.”

Scene Consequences

-Synergy: Gained 2XP to Brawling and Toon Enhanced Strength.

--Thanks to Malice Vial gained (D6/2=1) additional XP to each.

--Currently: Toon Enhanced Strength Lv. 2 (5/6)

--*Skill level Up*Brawling Lv. 5 (1/12)

-Ability Revealed: Beatdown Combo (1 Stamina) As a long action, wear down your opponent’s defenses with an unarmed combo that deals an additional (Brawling + Toon Enhanced Strength) damage to the target. (Requires: Toon Enhanced Strength and Brawling Lv. 5)

---

Figuring it was best to give his aching hands a bit of a break, he eventually moved on to trying to scout out the targets he’d been given by the Malice Doc. Or at least the targets that wouldn’t result in half of the Masks in the city coming down on him for a screw up.

To start off with, he made his way to the bank and made a few laps around it to see if there were any nearby items of note, but ultimately didn’t find anything of note with most of the nearby buildings being businesses that he had no actual reference to beyond a single hotel that was way beyond his price range and probably wouldn’t rent out to him anyway. (Though I might be able to make something work there if I get someone else to check in for me…)

Depending on how his Ink Flow worked he might be able to use it as a sort of last minute hideout, but that was only if he could work out his range issues first.

Shaking his head, he instead made his way inside of the bank because while he had an idea of its layout thanks to the (really weak) dossiers the Malice Doc had given him, seeing it in person would be significantly more valuable as far as spotting opportunities went.

Inside of the bank was about what he’d expected despite his banking experience being largely limited to movies and such.

Across a large tiled lobby were a series of tellers behind a glass wall -One that he was fairly sure could get through with either his Hole In The Wall or his Ink Flow depending on how things went.- was a series of halls that according to the building layout should lead to the actual vaults. From there there was also a second floor with a number of private offices for anyone seeking a loan or (whatever they use offices for in banks.)

(More crooked things than we can get up to that’s for sure.)

“Can I help you?”

Blinking he turned and found a security guard watching him.

(Right of course a big bank would have a security guard.) He realized, a quick once over also reminding him, (A security guard that has a gun on him… Which will be a pain if he’s not the only security guard in the building…)

“Well?”

“I don’t suppose you’ve seen this woman rocking a punk aesthetic?” He asked, deflecting things with the first thought that came to mind. “I was supposed to meet my sister outside once she wrapped up some business here, but uh, after… half an hour I’ve gotten sick of waiting on her and wanted to see what the hold up was.”

“No, I haven't seen anyone like that.” The security guard admitted with narrowed eyes.

(He’s still suspicious, which makes him want to look away.)

(Right, uh, punk aesthetic wards people off in this city…)

“She’s wearing this hoodie covered in like neon paint or something. It’s supposed to be some weird uniform for her job.” He told the guard.

“Neon paint?” The guard frowned before his eyes widened and he turned his eyes darting around the lobby as the man recognized the closest thing the Gamer Guild’s had to a uniform.

With security’s attention temporarily deflected from him he turned on his heel and started making his way out the exit before the guard could detain him any longer.

(Right, okay going to have to be a little more stealthy if I try to case this place again.)

Scene Consequences

-Basic information on the Bank job raised.

--Money: High-Very High

--Madness: Very Low-Low

--Threat: Med-High

--Current Bank Heat: Low*

--Point of Interest: Hotel Nearby

*A/N: Heat raises the Threat response of a location and increases on failed security checks, but lowers as Turns pass without being caught. (Which is more difficult the higher the Heat and Threat of a location.)

---

In contrast to the bank that was relatively awkward for an unaccompanied teenager to be wandering around, entering the museum was significantly easier. Especially since said museums seemed to be running a special all month long where anyone with a student ID could get in free and schools were giving free class admissions. (Lucky me.)

And so he sat about through the museum trying to find anything that might be worth stealing. A task that didn’t really work out in his favor when he had no idea what any of this was supposed to be, or what was legitimate and what was just a display piece.

He contemplated this for a moment as he followed a tour group through the halls, as while several things looked interesting he had no idea what was a priceless artifact that could sell on the black market and what was a completely worthless plastic replica.

(Actually, do they even put the real stuff on display or is this all fake?) He couldn’t help but wonder.

Pulling out his cell phone he searched that question, figuring that asking a curator or any other member of the museum staff would result in him raising a few too many red flags for his first visit.

(Okay, let’s see… Museums usually attempt to maintain real artifacts as a matter of reputation, and typically only put replicas on display when the actual artifact is at risk of damage from doing so. That said, due to the rise of Deviant events over the last few years what constitutes as ‘at risk of damage’ varies from museum to museum depending on the techniques available to them, with many using a mix of spark tech and magic to restore ancient artifacts to pristine condition. It has also allowed the discovery of which artifacts truly are cursed or enchanted in some way, with these objects typically being reappropriated by Sanctuary for the safety of the public.)

“So most things are legit, but anything ‘fun’ is probably not going to be here…” He figured.

(And if they’re involving magic in this they’ve probably got some way of tracking anything stolen as well.) The devil on his shoulder reminded him.

“True…” He sighed, figuring if worse came to worst he could just steal whatever was in the gift shop register. (But that’s so… bleh.) (Yeah, definitely not what the star of the show should be going for.)

“And here we have our newest exhibit!” The tour guide told the crowd with enough enthusiasm to draw his attention back to her. “A series of exhibits on the Voodoo Wars, the infamous gang wars of the prohibition era that up until the rift riots were thought full of superstition and exaggeration, but are now recognized as one of the first publicly known displays of Deviants in the last century.”

(Okay, heist or no heist that does sound interesting.) He had to admit.

“For instance here we have the now decommissioned tommy gun of the infamous criminal kingpin, and arguably one of the first masks, the Cheshire Killjoy.”

His eyes snapped to the stage where a mannequin was dressed in a old suit and fedora while holding a tommy gun in its hands, but what stood out the most was the half skull mask sitting above a grin that was just a little too wide to be sane, and a little too vicious to be kind as a hauntingly familiar laugh filled the air.

The world snapped into focus and he was once more staring at an old mannequin rather than… whatever he’d just seen.

“Okay… that was… weird…” He admitted, wiping at his nosebleed. “Even for me…”

(...)

Scene Consequences

-Basic information on the Museum job raised.

--Money: Very Low-Med

--Madness: Med-High

--Threat: Low-Med

--Target of Interest: The Voodoo War Barons Exhibit