maskormenacelogs | go on, take the money and run

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go on, take the money and run

WHO: Dorian Gray, the Shade & you!
WHERE: The Nonah First National Bank
WHEN: Wednesday afternoon
WHAT: BANK ROBBERY gone horribly wrong
WARNINGS: Violence? That's about it. Will edit if needed.

Early afternoon, the Nonah First National Bank is victim of attempted robbery by perhaps the most stylish pair of robbers the bank's seen in ages. Shade is wearing his villain get-up, an all black version of his normal suit and gloves. Dorian is wearing an equally nice suit, though the effect is somewhat ruined by the black domino mask he's wearing that just screams Party City. They've got this down to an art--Shade doing his shadow stuff partly to intimidate, partly to help get the money, and Dorian's alternating between being vaguely threatening and simply being the meat shield in case of bullets.

Unfortunately, word starts to spread that there's a bank robbery. And the bank set off the silent alarm. And the police frequencies are all abuzz about the robbery. And some moron probably is livetweeting the whole thing, let's be real.

So, unlike their previous bank robberies, this one is going south pretty fast. If anybody's looking to get a few brownie points by being a good hero, now's your chance.

[ Feel free to start a thread fighting Dorian or Shade, calling Dorian & Shade idiots, trying to help people out of the bank, etc. etc. ]

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[ A superpowered bank robbery? For real? Oh, man, this is Robin's thing. His specialty. (All right, maybe he's just restless and wanted to rumble. Can anyone blame him?)

Of course, it's complicated by the fact that when he gets there (in through the roof and down through the air vents, scoping out the situation before he dives in headfirst, naturally) he recognizes a certain someone who'd just assured him he was retired. Someone who also co-signed his lease, which makes this incredibly awkward. Mannn, he just can't have nice things.

Well, he'll ponder the ramifications of that later. For now: locate the exits, do a head count, take stock of potential resources — aaand go. Robin drops down into the thick of it, a flash of yellow, red, and black landing lightly on the counter — sorry, startled teller. Priority one: give everyone time to get out, which means keeping these two distracted. ]

No one told me this was a black tie event.

[ Shall we tango? ]

[ As he hears Robin's words, Dorian spins around--and can't help but flash a grin when he spots Robin. See? He's wearing a mask. There's a benefit to these things, even if Dorian was constantly worried about dodgy tan lines. At his statement though, Dorian can't help but shrug. ]

Ski masks are so cliche. Besides, if you're going to do something, do it in style.

[ Gee, I wonder how many vain Brits who look like they're in their twenties there are, you're fooling nobody Dorian. Smirking still, he watches Robin, trying to see what he's going to do first before Dorian (badly) reacts. After all, that's only sensible. ]

I wouldn't want to be caught dead looking like I belonged on the streets!

[ He added, leaning against one of the rather showy marble pillars in the bank. His clothes were perhaps a bit too finely tailored, and he waved a few fingers, the screeching shadows bubbling up from the floor, and the corners where the shadows elongated just slightly. ]

Are you coming to save the patrons?

[ He asked, directing his attention toward Robin. He didn't care about the people, in fact, he hadn't harmed anyone -- that's not really what he was here for -- so he only frightened them a little. A screeching construct veered close to one, and one of them shrieked. ]

Good luck!

[When Kid Flash heard the words "bank robbery" come out of Robin's mouth, he was both excited and a little guilty for being excited. Probably should not be excited for crime. That is how criminals feel. However, he is excited about fighting crime, and it's in the middle of the day and he doesn't have work, and Robin's already there and this is gonna be awesome.

But then Robin tells him who one of the perpetrators is, and that takes the wind out of his sails.

Shade? Seriously? He went to all the trouble of hiding that damn book and moving it around place to place to keep the guy from getting bored, but he robs a bank anyway? Sure, they didn't have a standing agreement that the Shade wouldn't commit crimes, and KF is also hoping that "retired" means "will not kill people anymore," but it's not a guarantee.

He's in and out of the porters and racing down the street to the bank within minutes. And he sees the cops out front, which means there's a hostage situation so he gives them the slip and circles around to enter from the roof, like Robin suggested. KF is dropping down from the ducts into the back room, and Robin -because he knows Wally- suggested he make as much noise as possible to distract the two robbers.

So Kid bursts into the lobby enraged and jabs a finger at the Shade. ...who the heck is that guy in a domino mask anyway]

Dammit, Shade! Why do I even bother if you're gonna do this crap anyhow?!

For the fun of it, of course!

[ Shade, on the other hand, doesn't consider this real robbery. He did these sorts of things, looted or pilfered as he chose. Retired meant that he wasn't going out of his way to lure in the cops or even superheroes, but it looks like they did it anyway. Well, if his time volunteering turned into a day job for a bit, than so be it.

Particularly when there were young heroes afoot that could use a little guidance on how to become real heroes, just like their mentors, and it wasn't that Shade fancied himself a teacher, but he'd crafted Jack Knight into a hero that loved his city -- and he attributed much of Jack's development to himself, instead of the second Mist -- and he had a sneaking suspicion that he could do so again.

So he laughed, and the shadows almost seemed to laugh with him, the beasts that slipped back into the darkness, before a rather large rumbling echoed from the darkness. Something was coming. ]

Because I'm a villain, remember? I've never claimed to be anything but! A retired villain maybe, but we all use our skills after retirement, do we not?

[ On a confusion scale of one to ten, Dorian's about an eight. He has no idea who either of these teenagers are, nor does he know why the Shade knows these people. As such, while Shade and Kid Flash talk, he just fixes the room with an utterly confused expression.

Is this someone from Shade' home? Did he fight children on a regular basis (which was a terrifying thought to Dorian). Obviously they knew each other, what with the annoyed teenager.

It's a remarkable contrast: the Shade who looks like he's enjoying this, being a villain in top-form, and Dorian, who has absolutely no idea what's going on. He's just standing with his hands in his pocket, looking utterly confused by the whole thing. ]

Not all of us are doing this for fun, [ he interjects, like someone who's craving attention and wants at least the smallest part of their contribution to be recognized, thank you very much. ] Some of us are doing this for other, more personal reasons.

[ Like being hella broke. It was a subtle reminder of 'come on Shade, Dorian wants the money.' ]

[ Sorry, Dorian, but you're just being too darn polite. No shadow monsters, no villain banter, no superhero attention. Well. Until he asks for it. Because then Robin's paying him plenty of attention, a wolfish grin on his face as he crouches, ready to spring.

He doesn't like that rumbling sound, he doesn't like it at all, and he's pretty sure it's gonna get ugly here fast. But! The usual protocol does dictate that they take out the lesser threats first. Whiiiich looks like it probably means Dorian. Sorry, buddy. ]

And you'll have plenty of time to talk about it behind bars!

[ Robin tosses a birdarang in Dorian's direction and springs off the counter. What's he gonna dodge: the weapon or the kid who looks like he wants to use him as a trampoline? ]

[KF sees Robin go bouncing after Dorian out of the corner of his eye. Okay. He's got Mr. No Name handled, so KF needs to keep Shade occupied long enough for the people to get out. Shouldn't be too difficult; he lunges and when shadows crawl out after him he swerves around, trying to keep Shade's attention off of the people. He's pretty sure Shade's not out to kill anybody -it's probably too much trouble, from his point of view- but just to be safe. Dorian's an unknown variable, after all.

While KF keeps Shade occupied, the hostages begin to slip through the front doors. Hopefully they can all get out, because KF's got plans to make sure they don't make off with a cent of the money, too.]

So what's this- [SHIT SHIT DODGE] -f- AH!- for? You seriously that hard up for cash, Shadey?

Edited 2014-09-07 07:50 (UTC)

Of course not! This is for entertainment!

[ He laughed, almost another cackle that was echoed by the shadow beasts again, but this time, they swirled closer to Flash, rather than the people. They all seemed to get out safely, or at least there didn't seem to be many left.

Which meant that they could actually joust now, and Shade looked even more thrilled by the moment, while he started to let the shadows tear after Flash, faster than Shade himself moved. A surreal moment, for Shade -- who often moved slow -- was only doing so because he was lazy, and had shadows to do it for him. ]

Can you actually fight me, now that you've done your duty and saved all the normal humans?

[ He asked, sending out a few waves of shadows, that took to Flash, like they would rip out his...Flesh. (they wouldn't, of course, they'd just run into him a little bit.) ]

[ As Robin lunges at him, Dorian jolts out of the way. Which, unfortunately, meant that boomerang...bird...thing impacts into him. He brings up his arms, trying to protect his face, which means that the birdarang connects with his arm, slashing a hole in the suit and leaving a nasty cut on his arm--a nasty cut that heals up almost instantly. ]

Shit! [ The fact that it healed didn't mean that the cut still stung. Add to the fact that his suit was torn and Dorian was now more annoyed than anything else. Turning towards Robin, he lunged towards him, swinging a punch at his head.

It's a really bad punch. ]

Just as one of the employees goes to zip up one of the bags of bills to hang it over, a line of web goes toward it seemingly out of nowhere. It latches on to it and pulls it away, and moments later, Kaine—Scarlet Spider—is leaping in, body large and stance animal-like as he looks toward the two robbers. Despite his dramatic entrance, he's been watching for at least two minutes, having caught wind of the robbery while on his way to lunch. The fact that he shows up to at least one familiar face doesn't leave him happy.

In fact, he's the opposite of happy. He knew Shade was bad news. He knew it.

"I thought you were retired."

With that out of the way, he measures the pair of them up, wondering who might be the easier to take down. He figures the younger of the pair would be smarter to knock out for the moment, and he makes a mental note to do that. He just wants Shade's answer first.

Besides, he's also annoyed. The Shade isn't supposed to be here. He's not supposed to be in Nonah causing problems.

What a fucking pain in the ass.

Shade laughed, looking between the Spider-like visage, and Dorian. "My, someone's upset," he offered, in lieu of explanation. The smile on his face said enough, a curl of enjoyment, at the fact that he was here, embroiled in a battle for something so basic -- simply cash, but really, he was in it for the fun.

Shade was bored, after all!

He looked at Kaine, the amusement on his face, although he said nothing, the voice familiar, but Shade was a polite sort. "Formerly retired," he said, with a wave of his hand. The shadows behind him dripped from the ceiling, pooling in congealed masses on the floor, before small fingers started to claw at the edges of the pools, small sharp fingers slipping free and tugging themselves out of the pools. "I thought it might be a little fun, to try something new."

Dorian had been watching, standing on the sidelines as Kaine and Shade had their tete a tete. He was dressed as a...spider? Maybe? The idea of themed superheroics was something that Dorian was still wrapping his head around--it certainly matched the webs, though.

He knew that he was easily the weaker of the two when it came to superheroics. As such, his plan was pretty much get in there and keep the spider fellow distracted, while Shade did his thing.

"Variety is the spice of life," he casually remarked, walking closer towards Kaine.

Despite his animal-like tendencies, Kaine is not an inexperienced fighter. He knows a distraction when he sees it, so the moment Dorian starts walking closer to him, he focuses on the pools of shadows, along with the fingers that seemed to be releasing from them. He doesn't move yet, but he does consider sending a bit of webbing toward the younger-looking of the two, just to ensure that he takes care of his mouth.

But no, he wants to know what he has to say. There might be something of value. There might be a hint that this is a part of something bigger.

Even if he's irritated, he can think. He's capable of that, if he doesn't let his emotions get ahead of him anyway.

"Robbing a bank is variety? Tell me you're joking." He's already noted the formerly retired remark. Even if this is part of nothing big, at least he can punch Shade in the face without thinking twice.

"Of course not! We need to have a little fun, don't we? Does anyone really lose?" he asked, his smile still wide.

In the Shade's opinion, no. Banks were banks. He was stealing paper that mortals put value on, and it was insured paper. He thought it fun, to dance around with this, and he did, stepping back to slip into the Shadows, peering at him over his sunglasses.

Yes, he walked into the shadows with his sunglasses on. Corey Hart had nothing on him.

"And what should I call you? I can't have a proper joust by calling you..." he waved his fingers, the last bit left in the shadows. "Spider-fellow, or terrible tarantula, now can I?"

The other fingers, the ones escaping the pools gave way, and out popped a few small constructs, figures of shadow with wings and fangs and claws. Very "classic" in terms of demons they shrieked when they escaped. Shade had a feeling the gentleman wouldn't find them intimidating, which was why they would be so fun.

Dorian couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at 'Spider-fellow.' What an absolutely terrible name. As Shade walked back into the shadows, Dorian took a step or two closer towards Kaine, still trying to make sure that he's seen as the target, that he's seen as the immediate threat.

"Unlike my companion, I'm perfectly fine having a proper fight with or without names." Mostly because Dorian still had yet to come up with a codename himself--and he certainly wasn't going to call himself Dorian in the middle of a fight.

Swinging back a fist, he threw a punch in Kaine's general direction. Unfortunately, Dorian's a shitty fighter. As such, it was a really shitty punch.

Instead of responding to the fist with punching it, he managed to turn quickly and spray webbing out of his wrist to catch Dorian's hand. A beat later, he stepped closer to Dorian, a spike extending from his wrist toward Dorian's throat. "You're not a threat," he declared easily and angrily. The voice itself was obvious.

He didn't bother to give a name. If he had the ability to be someone else here, he would take it. He didn't want to carry Ben's name anymore. He didn't deserve it.

"Don't bother me," he added, drawing his wrist back and making to shove Dorian. He didn't want to deal with some child who shouldn't even be here.

Shade laughed softly, and if Dorian fell, he'd find himself slipping into the shadows beneath him, before being deposited a touch more gently onto the ground off to the other side. It was barely a wave of his cane, before he focused on the fellow, the smile on his face said it all. He was enjoying this, a lot more than perhaps a guy should.

"Would you prefer I come up with a name? Black Widow may be too feminine, but perhaps..."

He mused out loud, the entire time he was waving his fingers, like a conductor with an orchestra, shapes drifting out from the shadows, small animals and large, fiendish with sharp teeth and gaping maws, and chitters that echoed from their mouths. Their eyes flashed with something more fiendish, and Shade kept talking. "Tarantula, perhaps?" he asked, a large spider slipping from the shadows, large legs stepping out.

"Or how about the Wolf Spider?" he finally finished, the creature's mouth opening with a shriek that almost sounded like a laugh.

As the webbing catches his hand, Dorian looks at it with more confusion than anything else. He's utterly bewildered by this, mostly because the spider man was actually using webbing. There's having a theme and then there's taking that theme way too seriously. However, as the spike extracted itself towards Dorian's neck, that look of confusion still remained on his face--with an added touch of fascination. There wasn't any trace of fear.

As Kaine shoves Dorian back, Dorian tensed up, as if preparing to hit the ground, but then found himself gently deposited on the ground. Ah. Shade. Standing up, Dorian started to brush off some imagined dirt on his suit...but then realized that there was still webbing on one hand.

"How disgusting!" he said, more to himself, as he attempted to yank some of the webbing off. "Do you think he makes this?" The implication was 'makes this organically'. Shade was having too much fun with this. Dorian was now just concerned if organic spider gunk would stain clothing.

Big mistake. He should have knocked the younger one out. The fact that he continued to keep speaking just grated on Kaine, even in spite of what The Shade was actually saying. There was a time in Kaine's life when he had been called the Tarantula, and he had once thought it was one of his more monstrous moments. Of course, that passed; he was more of a monster now, and inside his head, The Other itched to show them what a true spider happened to be.

"You aren't thinking big enough," he said decisively, giving in to that feeling. He was a true spider, a truly monstrous being who could rip them apart. The good (and bad) thing was that they weren't pushing him.

But still, he wasn't interested in keeping this up. He leaped up and lunged for The Shade, trying to do his best to plant his foot hard on his face, heal even positioned for his mouth. Maybe he could kick out a few teeth while he was at it.

The blood would be nice, wouldn't it?

"Am I not?" he asked, the shadow spider's skin bubbling under the surface, and it started to grow larger, its legs thumping against the ground heavily and wetly, like there was a slick, soupy inside, and he turned to Dorian with a smile on his face. "It's rather disgusting, isn't it? The fact that he must be creating something, and throwing it at us? It's like a spitting camel, or --"

His face lit up, and he looked right back at Kaine with a smile. "How about the Camel Spider?" he asked, and the spider continued to grow, before it was three times their size, and it looked at Kaine with wide, violet eyes that glowed in the shadows, lighting them up even brighter.

But that was far less important, when Kaine was taking to him, and he fell back, with his boot on his face. He could have, perhaps, stopped it, but that wasn't sporting, was it? The Spider-figure reached out, and grabbed at him, while Shade seemed to sink into the floor, no blood, but instead a smile on his face, all-too perfect teeth still there, until he vanished.

"Do you want to leave me with dental damage for an eternity?"

It was astonishing how little Dorian knew about Shade's powers. He had paused in his attempts to yank off the webbing to watch the other immortal fight that Spider fellow. And really...the more Dorian saw, the more cautious he was becoming. Shade had power, actual power behind his belt. Dorian had absolutely nothing like that.

It was an odd feeling, feeling so utterly inferior after years of thinking him superior to everything else.

Well, if he couldn't actually fight this spider person, at least he could make sure they got out with their money intact. Turning to one of the bank tellers, Dorian smiled a wry little smirk. "That's going to happen to you if you don't keep moving and put the money in the bag."

"Like hell it fucking will!" Kaine wasn't going to help their stupid fucked up system here. The moment that spider-shadow caught hold of him, he was unable to move, but he caught to break free of the hold. He leaped upward quickly, planting himself between Dorian and the tellers. "Don't be stupid enough to put anything away. And call the damn police already." He knew the latter was risky, but he wasn't going to let them get away with the money.

He hated that he was even here, but it was simple enough. With himself planted between the two asshole robbers and their idiotic victims, Kaine extended his hand to send another piece of webbing toward Dorian's mouth. What he wanted to do with this stupid smirking asshole was web him up upside down, but he had a feeling his agitating shadow-filled friend would have something to say about that.

"Neither of you have given me any kind of fight yet. Want to really do this?"