Jaguar Warriors and Lasers (Forcie plus one guest)

Masquerade smiled at what could be considered a challenged and in a poof of smoke he would seemingly disappear when in truth he teleported behind the Bouncer and when he would turn around to face the the well dressed man it would seem he was gone. In his place was another, and it would seem like Bouncer was looking into a mirror. The one looking like him in every way, same height and width, same face and figure, same clothing, he would preceded to say in the same voice and accent though with a tone that could be considered by some as mocking, "I'm meta enough." In truth he found the dwarf most amusing indeed though he would not use such words if asked, and he felt he had more then proven himself as meta of some skill.

With such he would take his true appearance, no matter how some may see his outfit as silly and his mask fruity he would walk past with the words, "I was a magician before Vegas was build my good sir, before it became fashionable. Two-bit jokes like them do not even begin to compare." He found the comparison to Vegas magicians laughable, though outside of England few seemed to understood the purpose and style of his costume. Fair too old fashioned for those that rarely cared about history and what was considered fashionable. His very name would like go over the head of many, both heroes and villains making the mistake of not taking him serious because they did not understand his dress.

The man would then take a seat with Shauna and Forcewave. One what to drink he would say, "Please, if they have it tea for me, though honestly I would be surprised if they had any good tea. Outside of England few compare for my tastes, though I have often taken what I can get." Masquerade found all this most interesting, as in truth he had never been to this place, nor had he known of it. Which surprised him as he always tried to made certain he knew of the places metas, as it seems they were called here, could be found. Though at the same time the world was a big place, and he was only one man even with his extensive lifespan, so really places falling from his social radar were not uncommon... especially a place as unsavory as this.

The waitress Golda scribbles down Wilder’s request and was off. Moments later the Breakfast platter arrived, and Shauna helped herself to a couple of eggs, a couple of hashbrowns, a large sausage and a large serving of bacon, though the breakfast platter still had plenty to spare. A separate plate containing half a loaf’s worth of buttered toast with jam was also available. The individual plates were large, designed to accomodate the large meals the diner served. Shauna ate with much gusto.

“You boys eat up now.” Shauna placed the photos of Mirage, the mirror sorceress, for them to see. Shauna gave them a moment to sift through the photos while eating. Judging from the photos this Mirage woman always posed and dressed flamboyantly, her photos almost seeming like a photo shoot even as she committed her crimes. She seemed like a young, pretty blonde and wore make up; however the last photo was a most unflattering mugshot of her, which showed her to be a middle aged woman who was actually a brown haired jane with uneven features, with deep creases, lines and a few scars on her face.

A couple of the last pictures depict Mirage as a simpler woman, a singer and entertainer here at Billy Ray’s a few years back. Judging from her cowgirl outfit she was a country singer too. There was one photo where she posed for a picture with Billy Ray, the proprietor and the man who worked the bar; and with Golda and Mac...

“So... where to begin. I’ve been investigating a shadow group that’s been stealing minor Mayan and Aztec relics for a few weeks now, and this bit- lady here, Mirage, real name Grandine Lynn Macy, acts like the brains. Not sure if she is or isn’t, but she sure knew there was more to the relics than she let on. I was uh... about to catch her red handed this morning, when she used the relics to summon those Jaguar warriors. She’s disappeared, and now we’ve got crazed warrior spirits loose in the city.”

Golda returned with Wilder’s tea, a blended tea that smelled of bergamot orange. It was a cup of Earl Grey. She also left a pot of coffee and looked at the pictures Shauna sprawled on the table.

“You looking for my mother, Shauna?” She commented, the girl also from Brooklyn.

“Aaah... yeah.” Shauna said, handing Golda her plate, indicating she was done with breakfast.

“Good. Tell that no good woman I’m graduating soon and got a job up in Washington. She can come to my graduation, if she still cares.” Golda said, leaving Shauna a slice of apple pie with ice cream.

“Yeah... congrats, G.” Shauna said, but the waitress already waltzed off. Shauna turns “And that’s pretty much why I was where I was. Now... since she knows I’m coming for her, she’ll be ready for me.” She eats up her dessert.

She turns to her two newfound friends. “This is the part where I’m gonna ask you guys for help to catch her. My sources tell me those relics are the keys to finding either an ancient Inca burial ground of warriors, or a tomb made of solid gold. I intend to stop her from getting the last relic, which is going to be on display at the Mary and Leigh Museum at Northwestern University in Evanston. What do you boys say?”

There was food on the table and Forcewave decided to take full advantage of this opportunity and helped himself to some of it. A decent sized meal was what he would partake in. Especially the pancakes. A personal favorite of his. As he was eating he looked up and saw some pictures that the Sun Queen lady has placed on the table for them to see. They were all of a woman who apparently had been to jail and was associated with this place. Was that why she had insisted on coming here? Was she after this woman? Why though? Was this woman whose pictures they were being shown connected to those aztec jaguars in some manner? Forcewave swallowed his food and was about to ask who this woman was when she started speaking.

She spoke of an organization that had been stealing relics. That sounded familiar to him for a number of reasons. How many of these organizations like this were out there? He stopped eating completely and just focused on this story he was being told. Something about a lost treasure of some sorts and these relics that were being stolen by this mysterious group being the keys to finding it. They weren't just valuabe on their own. They also presented something of even greater value when brought together. Sounds like they had wandered into the plot of the next Indiana Jones movie or some other fantasy movie. Of course, just like any fantasy movie, there was only one left for them to obtain. This would be her last chance to stop them from gathering all the relics and having that treasure all to themselves. The desperation made her decide to ask them for help even though they were pretty much complete strangers to her. Forcewave and Masquerade were now being left with the option to help her or refuse. What would they even wind up deciding on.

Forcewave thought about it extensively. According to Sun Queen, the last remaining relic was at the Mary and Leigh Museum at Northwestern University in Evanston. That place was about 10 miles from here. Give or take a couple. It wasn't too far away. "When are they going to attempt to steal it from the museum? Any word from your sources on that?" he asked curiously. Speaking of which, who were these sources of hers? That was something he wanted to know.

"Might I offer a suggestion, one I rarely see used which is why I believe so many relics and artifacts are taken from museums, That of have well made replicas shown for public viewing," Masquerade says voicing a concern he has had with museums and why he felt they were not very smart in protecting artifacts before continuing, "if it is suspected that this relic will be stolen, it would make sense for it to not be in plan sight or accessible by any that may happen to be waltzing through the museum."

The man takes a moment to eat a bit, his mask strangely moving away from his face so he could eat though still stay on. Perhaps his outfit was a product of his magic as well, thus making it mutable in many ways... or maybe those before him would come up with their own conclusions.

Finally after eating a bit of the food provided he would continue, "Might I suggest a trap, a decoy that they would find themselves in possession of instead of the real thing. This way we would be allowed the chance of catching them in the act and the relic stays safe." With such the man would smiles, considering what he could do to help in this situation.

Finally, after finishing his plate and his mask moving back into place he would say, "I will request something in return. Don't worry though, it is nothing much, and is not money as I have plenty of my own to take care of my needs," pushing his plate away and neatly cleaning himself up he could continue with a smile, "I require access to the the items stolen once we complete this mission, and I be allowed to studying them for as long as I need to learn the history they hold."

He would then finish by speaking on the woman they were after, "I would even be willing to offer an distraction for Miss Mirage, she seems an interesting sort and quite beautiful." he says this last bit picking up one of the photos and studying them.

Shauna pulls out a brochure indicating today was the last day the Aztec relic was on display along with a bunch of other mundane Mayan objects. "Mirage will probably go after it tonight, when its gonna be shipped out to another location after the evening show. Probably wait for the truck than try the security at the museum, or come in during the show and make off with it under people's noses. We can try to catch her before she makes a grab for it..."

Shauna explained her theories on Mirage's possible tactics, outwardly showing an experienced hero with an understanding of the criminal mind. This was more because she didn't want to give away she planned the heist, and had to come up with alternatives. Also, since she was double-crossed, Mirage would likely change their plan as well.

Shauna takes a moment to listen to Mask's ideas and suggestions, showing he was likely experienced too. "Yeah, that sounds about right, and makes it easier that it doesn't endanger the people attending the display. Chances are Mirage also knows it and go for storage. Then again, we can't be completely sure until we cover all possibilities."

Shauna continues to listen. Wilder had alot of good ideas, and Shauna felt comfortable working with a fellow like that. "That's a pretty smart move, but wouldn't Mirage probably figure out she got a fake? Well... it's worth a shot." She countered, since Mirage had already access to the other relics to have reference to. He also made a compensation request, which seemed reasonable if a bit strange.

"Sure, I don't really mind. That's for you and the university's History Dean to discuss with though..."

Shauna finishes her coffee, and makes the final plan. "Yeah. We could do that, beat the woman at her own game. Now, I only got one ticket... it's too late to get more. Maybe we can cover more ground if I went to the show, and one of you boys cover the service entry. Yeah... I think we got a game plan here. I think our magician here can probably move around the museum the most, keep an eye on the one place we can't - storage where the real relic is. I can keep an eye on things at the show. We can keep in touch with mobiles or blue tooth. Force, you can probably zap Mirage's transportation if it shows up at the back. Sound good?"

"I see." he said cautiously. "I suppose I'm in. You got a plan by any chance?" Forcewave asked the Sun Queen lady or the Masquerade fellow. Either or really. Sure he could have come up with a plan of his own. The problem was, he didn't know the area at all and only Sun Queen knew anything about how the would be thieves worked. He had never even been up there before. All he knew was that it was a bit north of here. Not too far, but still a ways away.

Thankfully, a plan of sorts was being made. They would of course be there too. Whether or not they would succeed in stopping the theft would depend on how it was carried out, and their own execution of the efforts to stop the theft. Both Shauna and Masquerade would be going into the museum itself. At separate times to avoid them being connected to each other by the thieves. As for Forcewave, he would be somewhere outside in the vicinity of the building to be on lookout for their transportation. If he were to see the woman known as Mirage outside it would be easier to know what their plan of attack was.

"Alright. I'll be there. I guess I'll kind of see you both tonight." he said as he prepared to depart. Providing there was nothing further to discuss other than last second information or some other stuff. Speaking of which, he would probably need to make sure he got one of these mobiles she mentioned. That would certainly be of some assistance.

"If you allow me to see your ticket I can make a copy of it that would last until we get in," Jonathon offered in considering of her words that Mirage may not fall for the trick and even thinking up ways to fix such a possible issue and he continues, "and I will need access to the original so as to make sure I create a difficult to detect forgery that might fool this woman, if of cause such would be possible. I actually have a way for us to get to the museum quickly without possibility of delay, thus buying us some more time."

The man had many tricks up his sleeves though he would not reveal them all at once as he took from his vest and intricate and old pocket watch with about five dials along its edge. It was of 15 century design for any that would recognize such though Masquerade was nearly certain that neither of the two before him had such skill. Still though, he had been wrong. It would seem he was checking the time, yet he would also adjust some of the dials just a bit before closing the lid he took out his coin purse and paid for the meal as he says, "I have made the needed preparations for us to get there though I will ask that you both trust me."

The seemed confident, despite not truly knowing what this adventure would hold, though at this point the Sun Queen and Forcewave may begin to suspect that he was always so sure of himself. Moving behind young woman he would offer both to pull out his chair and to help her up with the words, "Please, let me be of service to you in this mission in which you seek to complete Miss Queen." It could be considered odd how he shorten her hero name as if it were a proper name but for the strange gentleman he always looked for a way to give proper respect.

Shauna handed Jonathan the ticket. "Aaaah... a way to get to the Uni? We could just take a car. Since its this early, we could probably be there quick... but if you can get us there now, alright." She readily agreed. Hopefully these two would mess up Mirage's operation enough so something could be gotten out of it.

Jonathan seemed really eager to help them both in this situation, without being specific. "I should probably get changed first. I graduated at Evanston, maybe I can talk to the museum people to see it before the show... though I can't bring superheroes. I'd need to bring students. or Journalists." Shauna excuses herself and heads to the women's restroom. Minutes later she turns in her para-military 'hero' attire for a teacher's business attire, complete with glasses.

"Alrighty. I'm ready to go now. You boys have a change of clothes?"

"Uh, sorry. I can't go to this museum right now." he told them quietly enough so that only they would hear when both Sun Queen and Masquerade started talking about going there right now. It was not until tonight that this robbery they had been discussing about preventing was set to occur, and the sun had just risen only a few minutes ago. This felt way too rushed of an operation to him. Forcewave spoke up again to let them know about a few things of importance. "I'll be at the museum tonight. Don't worry. Or around it I should say. I just can't go now. What time do you want to schedule this for? I'll be there then. I'll even message you both over the communication devicey thingy when I get there just in case you've already entered by that time."

"Speaking of which. Where are these things were going to use to talk to each other?" he asked of her before trying to leave. Forcewave knew he was kind of hindering the operation in some ways due to causing some disorganization, but he didn't have much choice in the matter. He had to be places today. They had plenty of time and he could more than make up for it come the actual relic protection job tonight. "You can contact me about anything that happens in the meantime." he finished talking quietly throughout. It wasn't worth letting everybody in this place know exactly what they were discussing after all.

Masquerade listened to both in consideration, as well as turning the ticket this way and that. One Forcewave saying that he needed to be elsewhere and asking if he may meet them later the well dressed man would wave him off with the words, "that is fine, I and the lovely Miss Queen can handle things until you can meet us. I will give you both my number, so we can be in contact." With such words he would create two copies of the tickets, making sure they would pass inspection.

With such he would turn to Sun Queen and say, "I can pass myself off as a journalist... or a student, it will be your choice. Though it seems Forcewave will not be coming with us." With such he would lose is superhero outfit and his hair would turn black with brown eyes, the image one would expect for a journalist... to that of a student of a good six years younger. He would have the appearance of that of a young man with blonde hair, blue eyes, and wearing a polo shirt with dress pants. All in all the effect being most startling and yet his smile could still be recognized.

Once everyone got everyone else’s numbers, Shauna stood next to Jonathan waiting for him to do his magic. Shauna waves at Forcewave goodbye. “We’ll inform you if there’s any change. Otherwise, see you tonight at the 8pm show.”

Shauna looks at Jonathan, waiting for him to do whatever he meant.

The sprawling university Campus was still sparsely populated at this hour, mostly half-sleepy students headed for their dreaded 7am classes, the first cars coming in. Walking around as a teacher from off campus with an eager academic student was fairly easy to do, and Shauna directs herself and her partner to the museum offices. The guard present was an aging man who recognized Shauna and allowed her entry.

Shauna entered and went straight to the administrator’s office. At the table was a European woman roughly Shauna’s age and looked the part of museum staff, wearing glasses and her dark hair tied neatly into a bun. “Jillian? You’re the Museum administrator?” Shauna exclaimed, recognizing her classmate and friend.

“Shauna! You look fabulous! Of course I am! What have you been up to?” The woman got out of her seat to embrace Shauna. Jillian spoke with an English accent, and from her surname on her table’s name plate, had the full name of Dr. Jillian Fairbrooke, Ph.D.

“In and out of jobs. Hey Jill... could you do me a favor? I got a member of the student press from out of the University and...” The two ladies exchange pleasantries and other small talk, turning to a conversation in that impenetrable secret language females shared and men could not comprehend without going mad.

After about twenty minutes of talking about everything under the sun from shoes, bags, dresses, men, diets, Mexican food, Texan food, exercise fads and so on, Jillian the Administrator got out from her table and brought along her security tag. She beckons the two to follow her to the museum storage spaces underground.

They take the stairs and pass through secure areas requiring electronic card, retinal and fingerprint security features, as well as many hidden countermeasures; Shauna took note of them quietly, a look of stoic, grave concern. It wasn’t that the University’s security came from the formidable Wong Enterprises, but that Shauna had already scouted these for Mirage. Talk about irony.

“Follow me then. You know it’s always a pleasure to have more interested young folks interested in other cultures’ history. What University did you say you were from, young man?” Shauna nudged Jonathan slightly to answer. Jillian was now going to chew his ears off, the chatty woman inquiring about everything about Jonathan’s life as a student, to what medium would it be featured on, then somehow somersaulted to if Jonathan had a girlfriend, or if he was the type to be close to his teachers... which elicits a snort from Shauna.

They arrive at the final place, the vault which Shauna’s vision couldn’t penetrate due to simple lead lining in the walls.

The vault room was filled with many, many impressive pieces from different cultures; The relic in question was safe so far behind a large, transparent security window, in the corner of the room relegated with minor displays. “Well, this is it. Exclusive access! What pieces did you want to cover again, mister...?” Jillian asked, Shauna not mentioning that they were looking for a particular piece.

Shauna averted her gaze, not wanting to finish the work she started for Mirage.

She looked around the room, her focus on the more impressive and larger pieces- statues, paintings, blocks of stone from ruins, and so forth. The relic they sought seemed to be no more than a piece of stone the size of a brick, with the bas relief of ancient Aztec inscriptions and pictograms.

Now, he had their phone numbers and they had his. What was with him and giving out his phone number recently? He wondered if after this whole artifact protection and treasure theft preventing mission was over, if he would ever hear from either one of these two again. Forcewave wouldn't be remotely surprised if he were to never encounter Shauna or Masquerade ever again. With their numbers now in hand, he departed the cafe. The short gnarly bouncer leered at him as he left. Perhaps the assumption was that he was dine and dashing even though Shauna was the one paying. That or he just didn't like him.

After a long day of having to do stuff that he had to do, he was able to leave for the museum to do this whole mission thingy. Such fun this ought to be. The drive up to this place took nearly half an hour. Luckily he had given himself some extra time to get there. Forcewave was the type to leave early because he hated being late. He arrived at the intended destination and parked his fairly obscure and cheap looking car in a free parking lot. Then came the part where he to sneak around without being thought of as suspicious in order to get into position. This was going to be a hassle and was probably the reason he left so early. Forcewave looked at his watch and saw that he had about 15 minutes until the place opened. He then checked his phone and saw that there were no new messages. All was going well so far it seems. Perhaps the thieves have yet to make their move. Hopefully this was the case. Otherwise this trip would have been a complete waste of time.

From a relative distance he could see the museum was somewhat crowded. That wasn't too much of an issue for him though. It did not take too long for him to finally get into position and as prepared as he would ever be. With only a couple of minutes to spare before the set time he was now well hidden in an area behind the museum. If the thieves were planning on stealing the thing via the back entrance, he would witness it happening and be able to interfere. Forcewave quickly texted both Shauna and Masquerade that he was in position and would send them further information if anything were happening before settling in for what could be a long wait.