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Audrey Basque	MELBOURNE CITY, CHINATOWN     The rendez-vous point fixed is a small restaurant, a block away from the Badalamenti House of Arcane Goods. This particular Melbourne City is probably freshly unified; there's very little of the Multiverse present, an all-human population with Australian accents, and it looks as mundane as one could ask for. It's two hours out from the time they start letting people in, and then another hour before the auctions begin.     Audrey has come dressed wearing... a black suit. With a dark red undershirt, and a bronze tie. Her hair is loose. It does not suit her like it suits Petra, that much is obvious, but she doesn't pull it off TERRIBLY either. WHITE has also been instructed to come wearing the exact same suit; black, with red undershirt, and bronze tie. Audrey would have been happy to take her to a tailor beforehand if needed. It's the staff uniform, you see?     It's not like the plan is to stay at the restaurant for long, but rather to refresh on the plan before going. This means Audrey treats everyone to some quick food (it's a standard Chinese restaurant), with all manners of appetizers but not full meals that have been ordered (she'll take everyone out for full meals afterwards).     Tones kept low and hush-hush, and staff here being used not to pry, means there's a decent enough privacy level to be whispering.     "So-- if nobody's changed their minds... Malkuth, you'll be mission control and keeping eyes on the area. If there's any odd movement towards or out of the building, let us know. Petra, Love and Sarracenia, you'll be going in as guests there to bid on whatever you see fit. The Last Star is among the last items to be auctioned, so it shouldn't be making it to the floor at all. While this is happening, Kukuru will cause a scene up front pretending to shoot a movie or episode of a show or something, while White and myself teleport in and sneak around the back areas. There ARE wards against teleportation, but not up to the task of stopping us."     Audrey, idly chewing on an eggroll, continues after a pause to recount the details in her head. "There's also a ton of security out back. Which is where Petra, Love and Sarracenia further come in. With some of them having to go out and attend to Kukuru, Petra and Sarracenia, you're going to get into a nasty throwdown and bidding war. When security tries to stop you-- Sarracenia, Love, you go all out, and Petra... Reese Demonte's office is on the second floor. It's unmarked, but I'm sure you'll find it."     She hands Petra a paper copy of the building's floor plan, though a lot of rooms are unmarked. She's circled the likely places the office should be; she send her a digital version too, but a paper copy never hurts.     Finishing the last of her appetizer, Audrey looks at White specifically. "Once the fighting starts, outside AND inside, we get to work teleporting as many of the storage crates right back to my tower while the staff is distracted. And we take care of any guards still left behind. Once everything's out, we wait for Petra's OK, and then level the building." Which is strictly unnecessary, she doesn't say, but was requested by Petra.     "If we have any last minute changes to the plan to make, now's the time. As for what to expect when the fighting breaks out... pretty much everyone who'll be there is some kind of organized crime veteran, or a rich mage of some kind. Expect varied kinds of magic, magic items and artifacts, traps... it'll probably be dangerous in spots."
Sarracenia	Sarracenia arrives to the restaurant in her least showy princess dress. It's just a long black gown that barely counts as royal, though she still has her black gloves and heeled shoes on. And of course her crown.      She sits down at Audrey's table and looks over the appetizers before picking up whatever serving utensil might be available and collecting a generous sampler. She nibbles similarly to Audrey as she listens.      'Petra and Sarracenia, you're going to get into a nasty throwdown and bidding war. When security tries to stop you-- Sarracenia, Love, you go all out,'      ' Once everything's out, we wait for Petra's OK, and then level the building.'      Sarra smiles devilishly. "Going all out against a crowd of evildoers -and- we get to level their evil auction house? Lovely~" Sarra certainly isn't going to complain about gratuitous destruction. She munches more enthusiastically on an eggroll after.      'If we have any last minute changes to the plan to make, now's the time.'      "I have no changes to make, but I would ask for a bit of time before we head in. This dress is perfect for a casual, clandestine meeting, but simply will not do for attending a high-end auction." Sarra is talking quietly, but certainly not in a whisper. The princess really just does not know how to be truly quiet. And the hum of the engines of the Sundew Sovereign can be heard even inside the restaurant. It is hovering overhead a few buildings over.
White	White may be, generally, quite stubborn about adhering to her own sort of dress code... But it's not like she never imagines alternatives. She's not oblivious to how different a black outfit would feel on her, and that vague, untapped font of power is alluring in its own way. The bigger problem is... She can't figure out what to do with her hair, or how she could cover her head without it being strange in a suit. She agonizes over it for longer than she'd admit before her arrival, but eventually when she does show up at the meeting point it seems she's had to surrender her reservations; there's no mantle, or hat. No coil of long braided hair around her shoulders; it's tucked into the back of the suit jacket and made to vanish into a tiny portal so that it doesn't bulge her clothing strangely. It, like nearly everything else she wears, is made by her personally and looks exactly how it should, based on whatever Audrey may have shown her of the design in advance. She's paired it with those short black block-heels that were in her closet gathering dust, and overall, it's looking good! She's visibly squirmy about it though, gently pinching spots around her elbows or her sides, nervous that it's going to ride up if she moves wrong. She had to let the chest out once or twice too, after the initial product didn't quite fit. She could've let a couple of the buttons stay unfastened, but... Well, no she couldn't have. But, at least it has pockets! Tiny, tiny pockets.      The strategic rundown is easy to keep up with though. Her role is fairly one-note and straightforward, and she'd reviewed the plan from last time on the way here in her head, so she's mostly just nodding along and veeeery carefully nibbling at crab puffs, trying her very hardest not to get anything on the suit. She could get it clean again without much time wasted, but altering something meant to hug her body this stiffly meant getting the fit just right again... She knows it's cool, but it's hard to feel cool when she's still adjusting. It's also, maybe, just a little absurd in an almost funny way that they're sitting in a restaurant all together in clothes like this, eating fast food. It's novel, if uncomfortable. If someone stares too long, she might end up giving them a tiny glare with a low-powered Evil Eye of Panic, but surely nobody could fault her for that?
Kukuru	For once, Kukuru doesn't bring food with her! Not visibly, anyway, or in any kind of cooler since the place she's been told to meet everyone at is a restaurant, and it'd be rude to show up with her own meals! Anyone in the know, of course, can always ask her for something to munch on before or after whatever's meant to happen today, but for now... She's on good behavior, because it's not time to make a scene yet even though she has to shoot one. She's supposed to be shooting a movie today, after all, so she's gone as all out as she can with the Concord's outfitting budget: A trench coat, a little beige vest, a dark green dress shirt with long sleeves, a yellow and red neckerchief, and a fancy leather belt over an argyle-patterned gray skirt over dark hose and high heels. She's even got designer shades on from some company she can't remember. "Mhm! It'll be a documentary on the life and times of the high rollers and the low... Rollers. It shouldn't be too hard getting people to talk about their favorite stories around there, and I can make sure it's aaaall pointed right at the building so everyone knows who it's about." Kukuru samples the shrimp toast and the meat skewers today, because she's a sucker for the fried and the grilled stuff in equal measure. "So when they do come out... Oh, I bet I could even get some of the security to talk. That might make the people inside suuuuper mad, right?" She giggles mischievously at an opportunity to stir up things and NOT get yelled at for it, holding her hand in front of her mouth briefly to try and do that tittering laugh that she's seen on TV so many times before. She's really bad at matching that tone. "And if anyone needs me to join them somewhere, I can get over reaaal quick. And after we... Take care of the guards-" She gives Audrey and Petra a knowing nod, confirming that she definitely has the wrong idea of which 'take care' is meant. "-how violent should we get with anyone else trying to stop us?"
Audrey Basque	"but I would ask for a bit of time before we head in."     "We have a few hours before they open their doors, so, you've got some time to maneuver," Audrey responds. "Take care of the guards-"     "Do as you please. These are crime lords, however much of a little corner of the universe this might be. They'll shoot to kill, I imagine."
Angela	"Right, right, I'll just sit in the van." Malkuth says. "Keeping an eye on a door isn't too hard. Though I'm guessing there's going to be a lot of odd types here!" she uses chopsticks to pop some sweet and sour pork into her mouth. "We'll pretend to be bad...to fight bad... for good..." Love's eyes sparkle happily. "And we get to beat up the goons of the Dark Kingdom. It'll be great." Love is honestly a little excited to get to dress up as a villain, maybe a little TOO excited for someone who is insistent that she's a fighter for love and justice. She is wearing a hoop skirt complete with long BLACK heart patterned gown--the hearts are black for evil and an evil also black skirt with an upside down heart pattern on it and her hair has been pulled up in a bun. She is also wearing glasses. She can't seem to stop her hair from doing the little snake like tendrils at the sides of her head. She looks a bit like a younger Queen Moon from Star the Forces of Evil this way. "OHHHH HO HO HO HO HO" Love ojou laughs suddenly, complete with her hand risen up to only partially cover her mouth. "No that's not quite right maybe...OHHHHH HO HO HO HO HO" She slightly positions her hand so it's more slanted. "That's it!" She claps her hands together. "I'm ready--worms!" She giggles goofily. "That's the sort of thing the bad guys will say to each other." She raises up her wand and says, "PRETTY LOVE DISGUISE MAKEUP." She adds, transforming the staff into a kind of silly little heart tipped scepter. "Okay NOW I'm ready." She says.
Petra Soroka	"But, since this is a big hideout for the Dark Kingdom, we'll have to disguise ourselves to sneak in. You'll have to pretend to be evil like I am so that we can slip undercover without getting into a fight right when we show up."     Petra, honestly, cares less and less about actually having Audrey's plans go the way they should. If not for the other people involved, then Petra might insist that Audrey figure out some way to do the heist alone, so that she can't get away with relying on people as she was just saying at White's place earlier. But, since she's coming, Petra will make the best of it, as a day to hang out with Love and blow up a building. She forgot why she was annoyed enough to want to level the building, but she's sticking to it now.     And so, Petra brings out an outfit she liked quite a lot, that no one else has seen and remembered, because she's made arrangements to attend this auction *legitimately*. Designed like a slutty Victorian noble, Petra's casual decision to pull out the stops on her presentation is staggeringly different from her usual. High waisted black velvet pants are form fitting down to her ankles where they sharply flare out to cover all but the tips of her thick heeled boots with each step. A binder flattens her chest for a lacy white shirt and gold-buttoned waistcoat to fit seamlessly overtop, with a mantle hanging off of one shoulder, embroidered with dark floral patterns all the way down to the end that stops just short of her gloved hand.     Rather than letting her hair scruffily fall down almost to her shoulders, or pulling it back into a ragged ponytail, she's gone through the effort to brush it until it shines, with a brief pass through with a curling iron so that the waves accentuate the color. It's among the most well-dressed anyone's seen Petra look, and she would genuinely fit in at any high society function.     And now she's in a fucking Chinese restaurant being told to eat appetizers.     "You have the least class of practically anyone I know, Audrey." Petra doesn't sit down at the table, opting to fold her arms and mantle across her chest and lean against a pillar near the table. Her eyes flicker over to Sarracenia as she amends her statement, "Almost the least."     "But seriously, fuck, not even a fucking hotel room or something? Did you think about how I have to show up there looking like I'm *not* some trash wandering in off the street? I know that's never been something *you've* thought about, but I pay attention to my image. Are you thinking I would just *walk* in there?" "Petra and Sarracenia, you're going to get into a nasty throwdown and bidding war."     "Yep. I've got several ratbots ready to scout, I'll be dripping Silver before we even get to that point to see if I can't get a ping off the computer, and, like, if I have to drag some security guard into a closet and choke it out of him, then I've always wanted to do that. Won't be an issue."
Petra Soroka	"Once everything's out, we wait for Petra's OK, and then level the building."     "Specifically, the goal's to make it come across as poorly-done insurance fraud." Petra holds up two fingers, flipping them back and forth in an esoteric gesture that doesn't help explain anything. "Items are all gone, and the building's standing? Well, they just got robbed. Building goes down and almost every item besides the Star's accounted for? Terrorism or a freak accident. If the building goes down *and* all the stuff's conspicuously missing from it, then... well, you know. I wanna do insurance fraud-fraud." "Going all out against a crowd of evildoers -and- we get to level their evil auction house? Lovely~"     Tragically, Petra can't disagree with Sarracenia here. One of the few things they agree on is the catharsis of violence, even though Petra has a different set of thoughts on it than the princess. Instead, she mutters under her breath, "My enemies are ontologically evil and there is no act against them which is wrong." > No coil of long braided hair around her shoulders;     To Petra, White looks fine. Very cool, even, with the stark contrast of black on white. But there's just one detail that makes Petra vaguely aghast, for the sake of someone who isn't here at all. "Oh, Lilian would be fucking furious that Audrey made a plan that involves you hiding your hair like that." "No that's not quite right maybe...OHHHHH HO HO HO HO HO"     Love is such a beacon of light and hope in this situation. Petra can't help smiling at her, and then tries to match her villain energy by closing her eyes and nodding.     "That's a way better villain laugh than the one I have, Love. So, whenever I need an evil laugh, I'll snap my fingers and you can fill in for me, like an evil duo."     Then, completely unrelatedly, Petra snaps her fingers and looks at Audrey impatiently. "Alright, give me your teleportation. I'm *not* fucking walking there."
White	White seems briefly taken by surprise when she first sees Petra's outfit, but the longer she examines it, the more she settles back into peaceful neutrality. Eventually, she gives Petra one of her silly thumbs-ups, which once again has a completely different vibe when it's given just in front of the black cuff of the suit's sleeve. Getting a thumbs up from, like, a businesswoman or a casino staffer? There's almost never a good reason for that! Still, the sentiment about her hair prompts her to glance over her shoulder as if to look at the base of her own neck (which her special eyes can actually do, anyway). She doesn't seem to follow why Lilian would be upset on her behalf, and tries to shrug, though this turns into some awkward shoulder-wiggling to resettle her clothes after. "I tried... A few... Styles." Sadly, it's hard to make hair like hers look natural in these clothes when it's trailing all the way to the floor behind her.
Audrey Basque	"OHHHH HO HO HO HO HO"     Audrey smiles at Love. Well, someone is taking this very seriously! "I think you'll fit right in, Love." Designed like a slutty Victorian noble,     In stark contrast to Petra's tone towards Audrey, Audrey actually needs a whole minute of staring and concealing her sudden case of blush before she can respond to any of the bites. It's pretty dire. Petra may have hit something without intending to, but Audrey has just enough awareness of it to have cupped her hands together and sunken the lower half of her face into them. It could be more subtle, but also way less! "But seriously, fuck, not even a fucking hotel room or something?"     "O-Oh. We do, actually! Of course we do. Come on, I'm not that out of it." This is also a pretty expensive restaurant but that doesn't do much for class. "I got us a suite that overlooks the auction house. We have *time* before it's time to go, and it'll be a good spot for Malkuth to eye us from. We'll drop by in five minutes so everyone can do final prep. And I can teleport you down from the hotel room too, as can White." "Oh, Lilian would be fucking furious     "L-Listen, it's not my fault the staff is all suited and masked up. It'll afford us just a bit more movement in there." "Alright, give me your teleportation."     "Alright alright. Food's paid for anyway."     Audrey opens a tear by their table; it's subtle, not loud, and it drops them into their hotel suite. Which is nice and roomy even if they have no plan to stay, but it gives them a place to prep.     Once everyone's ready...
Audrey Basque	The Badalamenti House of Arcane Goods looks like a Chinese castle; but upon closer inspection, the materials used to build it, recently, are unnatural. Brilliant stones and woods from the Multiverse, harder than any steel, radiating magic to those sensitive, and expensive looking. The main auction is set to start as the sun sets, and now people are starting to enter, just a bit earlier. There are two entrances; one up front, and one to the side. The side entrance is a loading dock. There is not a single window.     Malkuth can see it very well from the hotel room, so she can in fact just stay there unless she feels the need to go out there too.     Petra and Love have been beamed directly near the entrance, or as close as Petra wanted to go at least; Sarracenia needs to arrive separately, so can either walk or be beamed the opposite way or back to her ship. While Kukuru will have to make her way over herself, for the sake of the bit.     And White's last, with Audrey.     There are four guards up front, and another four out to the side. Men and women in clean tailored black suits, red undershirt, bronze tie, with holstered guns that may well be just for show, gloved hands, but most importantly: masks. Blank masks, featureless, save for the insignia of a bird of prey perched atop a mountain, inscribed in bronze on the otherwise dark red masks. Various kinds of people are lined up to go in; it's typically not a ticket they present to the guards, but some manner of personal insignia.     A pale skinned woman with brown hair wearing a deep green suit presents her hairpin, a black rose, to the guards. She is followed by three men in black suits that seem to be her entourage, and who don't need to present anything.     An older masked man with long white hair, wearing a black and purple suit, presents a brooch depicting a blade through a heart. He is followed by no less than ten young men in suits, who seem... lethargic. Eyes empty. Like the woman before him, his entourage is let in without any offering.     A young blonde man in a dark red, black and gold suit, wearing entirely too many magical rings, whom some might recognize as Maurice Northington of terrible talent show fame, presents one of his many rings; the guards don't look impressed, causing him to huff, reach into his pockets, and present a carefully packed speartip instead, which the guards accept.     A number of other ominous looking entrants all go through the same process; each time, the guards collect some kind of extremely valuable or noteworthy object from them, placing them aside. Offerings? Insurance? The process doesn't detail. 'If you're here, you already know' sort of deal.     One last man appears, with a bit more flourish. Forming out of a cloud of bats, the long, black-haired man has the telltale vampire fangs and blood red eyes to complete the look, but is wearing a simple and elegant black suit with no distinguishing features. He presents a vial of blood, and enters.     Audrey, who has made her way to the side entrance along with White, though a safe distance away to not be seen just yet, motions towards the guards for White's benefit. "So... we need two of their masks to get in. That's all I know. And that's why we needed the suits. Disabling those four shouldn't be hard, but it needs to be simultaneous and as quiet as we can make it, just in case. This'll afford us ease of movement, but not ease of suspicion, so..."     She raises a hand to prepare.     "I'll pin them, you hit them? We take two masks, put them in a corner somewhere, and go in. Main storeroom is going to be on our left. It's big."     She'll follow White's lead, if she has a better idea.
White	When it's time to go, White is ready; a pair of black silk halfgloves are slipped on as she passes through the portal out of the restaurant, completing the look... Except for the masks. While they're in the hotel room she takes a moment to peer down at the auction house from afar with the naked eye, getting a general idea of the layout and where the guards are lingering before joining Audrey, and quiets her footsteps while told the plan. For a moment, she considers if she aught to do the 'pinning' and Audrey the 'hitting', but... No, this is fine.      She isn't the first suit-wearing super-magical isekai protagonist to wield magically-controlled, reinforced threads as a weapon during an incognito arc, and she probably won't be the last, but originality is the furthest thing from her mind as she spools together a number of silk cords, attached to her fingertips and wrapped around her forearms in a 'stowed' position the next moment. She hunches slightly forward with her weight on one leg as if to break into a sprint, but as soon as Audrey casts whatever she's using to disable the guards, White will appear behind the group and lash out with silk cords around their necks; a couple bind the group together as a whole, but each individual throat is wrapped and garotted as well, like she's trying to become a webby kraken. She... Doesn't actually know how long people can typically hold their breath for, and while she's restraining herself enough to avoid sawing anyone's head off, she's certainly not going easy on them either. If they survive after passing out, that's... That's on them really!      Either way, she'll teleport a distance away with the webbed bunch if nothing goes terribly awry, and after removing their masks she'll touch the ground to hollow out a space about as large as a shipping crate under the ground, displacing the material that was originally there into a dumpster or the like nearby. Then, she teleports them into the hollowed underground cavity, and leaves them one (1) air hole. How kind of her! She's already brushing her gloves off like it's a job well done, looking to Audrey again from there.
Kukuru	"They'll shoot to kill, I imagine." "Oh, so they know what they're doing. Then... None at all?" Kukuru breathes a light sigh of relief, then cleans off a skewer in one long pull with her sharky teeth. "But I guess we shouldn't go too hard on the outside, or they'll get scared back inside reeeeal fast where we don't want them to be." "I'm ready--worms!" After laughing along with Love's ojou laugh with her usual sort of airheaded giggling, Kukuru stops to tap a slightly greasy napkin against her chin, "Oh yeah.. I should get into the part, too, huuuh? Alright..." She digs into her pocket with her clean hand for a little clapboard, snapping the parts together with a quick flick of her wrist. "Cut, cut, cut. You have to be more menacing than that, Love..." She croons in an uncharacteristically breathy tone, propping her head up with her palm while letting the clapboard dangle loosely off the edge of the table with her other hand. "They need to know their place as worms, crawling on their bellies and BEGGING you to put them on a hook, you know?" "But seriously, fuck, not even a fucking hotel room or something?" "Language, dear... If you wanna be fancy and handsome like that, it'll be suuuper confusing if you start talking like that in front of them." Kukuru chides Petra lightly, going right back to her usual tone with sparkling eyes at how pretty her slutty noblewear is. -and- we get to level their evil auction house? I wanna do insurance fraud-fraud. "If the idea's to make it look like bad fraud, then... Oh, then we should be careful not to be seen breaking the building ourselves, right?" That has Kukuru thinking a bit more as she looks over at Sarracenia. "So we should hold back a little if we gotta beat anyone up... Or maybe we should act ike we're working for the people inside when we do? I could even record some footage if that'll help, riiight?" "I tried... A few... Styles." "We'll drop by in five minutes so everyone can do final prep." "Keeping your hair in like that's reeeal clever, mhm. I might have to try that some time, because that does look wonderful." Kukuru assures with an easygoing chuckle, finishing off her last shrimp toast while noticing all the wiggling. She peers at White's outfit a little more closely at that, then holds up a finger. "Do you want a hand with that? Maybe we can do a few last minute adjustments when we're up in Audrey's suite~" AT THE BADALAMENTI HOUSE With her game face on (mostly the expensive designer shades), Kukuru's ready to start the act! Pulling along an expensive-looking tripod and camera setup on one side, Kukuru saunters towards the front of the castle-esque building with a vaguely inquisitive frown on her face. Spotting those guards processing the little things presented to them by those in line, Kukuru heads towards the middle of the line to plant her camera, aim it right at the entrance and line, then begins her one-woman show out front. "The Badalamenti House of Arcane Goods. Built in..." Kukuru starts with a quick reading of the first paragraph of a Wikipedia article about the place, taking full advantage of her shades and the little bit of paper taped in the corner for her to read off of it. She's keeping it a little plain at first even while talking in that breathy tone, and she maintains that tone as she approaches someone right in the middle of that line. "But now, it's a place to make or break someone's fortunes... You there. Be a good boy and tell us what you're here for today. If you behave, you might even get it."
Audrey Basque	OUTSIDE:     Kukuru approaches with a camera.     The man she picks out, a shady-looking nobody with greased-back hair and a scowl that keeps people away, raises his voice like he's trying to intimidate her out the door, without any shame for making a scene.     "HUUUUH? You filmin' a documentary? Find another subject and turn that damn thing off!" He raises a hand, to conceal his face and try to push the camera in the same motion.     This obviously attracts one of the guards' attention, who taps his mask and mouths something off before detaching from door duty to start approaching too. One hand on his gun already.     No chill, these people.
Angela	Love is all smiles. She's so happy to help. To get to help. To go in with a plan that involves FIGHTING. "Yeah! Don't worry, I'll laugh when you snap! EZ PZ!" You can somehow tell she is saying EZ PZ not easy peasy. ''Petra snaps her fingers--'' "OHHHH HO HO HO HO HO!" Love oujou laughs loyally. AND THEN THE HOTEL Malkuth takes a nice seat by the hotel window and sits herself down and then opens up the minifridge and takes everything out of it. She studies the various snacks and picks two and starts chowing down on what are, essentially potato chips. She peers out towards the street as she munches. "Should do field missions more often." She murmurs. Love approaches the front entrance. "Ohhhh!" She trills her voice. "How positively droll. We simply must partake---" She trills her r. "In such a charming little diversion!" She is briefly distracted by the appearance of vampire and whispers, "Dark Kingdom..." but, noticing that an insignia is necessary, looks for an opportunity to just kind of quietly swipe two. One for herself, and one for Petra! She has forgotten about Sarracenia or, really, most of the people on this adventure she is wholly in on the bit right now.
Sarracenia	'We have a few hours before they open their doors, so, you've got some time to maneuver,'      Sarra wonders if she missed a memo as everyone else arrives in their best. Even Petra, whom Sarra forgets knows how to actually dress well. "Ah, excellent." Sarra says to Audrey's reply before looking over at White. "Miss White! You look quite dashing in that outfit! And Miss Kukuru! One might think you were a movie star in that outfit rather than a movie maker!" She looks Love over and lets out a soft 'ooooh'. "I love your evil outfit, Love! Did you design it yourself?"      'You have the least class of practically anyone I know, Audrey.'      'Almost the least.'      Sarra also stares a bit when Petra enters. mmmphs. "Well, you know yourself so there is always one person you know with less class than anyone else."      The tear drops them in the hotel room, but Sarra is almost immediately beamed to the airship she brought with her. Her wardrobe is housed there and she has little desire to spend time in a hotel room with Petra even with White and Kukuru there.      As the appointed time nears, a fancy-looking limo pulls to a stop and out steps Sarracenia in a new outfit. She isn't exactly feeling confident in her body lately, so she has gone for elegant and regal instead of sexy. She steps out in a dress that is completely silver with gold embroidery to match her crown. The silver color matches the shimmer of her hair, which has been carefully styled to be as silky and shiny as possible before it was curled enough that it looks almost like a cloud trailing behind her. Despite covering every inch of skin below her neck the dress hugs her body to show off her toned, athletic build. Streamers of silver...or perhaps even Silver...flow out behind her in a cape of sorts which hovers off the ground almost like she is walking underwater. She is also wearing a few expensive-looking rings and a large gold amulet with an equally large ruby set into it. The skirt has a few layers to it which give the impression of a flower's petals to match the metal lotus in her hair. The skirt is only about knee length, giving way to silver stockings with vine-like gold designs flowing down to sleek silver slippers with stiletto heels and similar gold designs.      The princess holds herself tall and proud, and keeps a slightly haughty frown on her face. She might even have some colored contacts in. Her blue eye seems to shine with a light all its own.      Sarra joins the line to enter, but as she sees that people are presenting something to be let inside she gets a bit nervous. When it seems to just be expensive trinkets that are offered, Sarra hmphs with a smirk. Instead of any of her jewelry, she reaches into her purse (which has been made up to match her outfit) and pulls out...a gold the size of a dinner plate. "Do keep it safe for me, will you?" she says to the guards before proceeding inside, her heels clicking against the floor with each step she takes.
Audrey Basque	SIDE ENTRANCE:     Audrey twists her hand and presses down, causing the four masked guards to be floored and breathless in an instant. This makes it easy for White to overwhelm them with her silk cords and choke them out.     Moments later, the two of them have masks on, belts and guns to complete the look, and are free to simply walk up to the loading dock door, which opens for them with a swipe of a crystal taken from one of their pockets. It was all they were carrying, so it wasn't a hard puzzle to solve.     The reception area of the loading dock is empty right now; they've long since sorted out the latest shipments into the storage rooms. There's doors and halls to every side, but Audrey motions wordlessly for the leftmost unmarked door, which leads into... an immense storage area. It's been spatially adjusted, that much is obvious.     Most crates are metallic, built like safes with strange arcane contraptions on them; crystals and dials, no keyholes. White can especially sense the presence of those wards Audrey mentioned; nothing is meant to teleport into, or out, of this room, but the wards wouldn't stop either of them if they try. The main issue is... the crates are all unmarked, and there's a not insignificant amount of traffic in this room. A lot of masked men moving the crates, or transferring items from one crate to another. Dozens of them, just minding their own business.     There's a vault door, towards the back, too. That one's guarded by four more masked men.     No cameras. They must be paranoid about that.     It works out.     Hushed, Audrey turns to White.     "Here's hoping they can cause a big fuss up front."     They might have to make themselves look busy for a little bit. It shouldn't take long for the mess up front to start.
Petra Soroka	"I tried... A few... Styles."     "It's okay! It doesn't look *bad*," Petra reassures White. "Lilian just, like, things long hair looks a lot better, and she'd blame Audrey for 'degrading' you somehow by forcing you to wear it short. She worries about me infecting people with having short hair too." "O-Oh. We do, actually! Of course we do."     Petra sliiides her eyes away from Audrey as she visibly works through something, keeping her own gaze locked on a nondescript corner until Audrey works it out of her system. She shifts, a tiny bit self-conscious, and props her foot up on the wall behind her. "Then you should've ordered the food to the hotel room. I'm busy, y'know? I can't waste time dicking around here for no good reason." "Language, dear... If you wanna be fancy and handsome like that, it'll be suuuper confusing if you start talking like that in front of them."     "It's about context! It's context-dependent!" This criticism of Kukuru's actually cuts right into Petra's heart, as a 'director' towards an 'actress'. Petra's fascination with theatre is well-documented at this point, whether or not she'll admit it, and being told that she's undermining her own image like that wounds her to hear.     "I'm not on sta-- I'm not doing the bit right now, on purpose. I'm not method acting this shit. I think, like-- there's different philosophies about this sort of thing. I don't really think it's valuable to muddy the boundaries like some people do, just for the sake of getting into a mindset. It should be, like, sharp, you know? Faceted. Like a cinematic shift. I'm not gonna be going 'shit fuck retard' while trying to come across as a decent class person, I'm just not doing that right now."     Petra's expression and hand both drop, suddenly becoming pensive as she hears her own words come out of her mouth. "... Maybe I should talk less like that in general, actually." "L-Listen, it's not my fault the staff is all suited and masked up."     "--Masked?" Petra didn't even know about the masks. Now she's thinking about masks again.
Petra Soroka	Eventually, despite Petra's grousing, the time to infiltrate actually does come. Petra gives Love an encouraging squeeze before the teleportation, since afterwards-- well, Petra wouldn't portray an image that's averse to physical affection, but this is the last fondness that can be demonstrated to 'The Magical Girl of Love' before she puts on the guise of a villain from the Dark Kingdom. Then, placed in front of the auction house, Petra steps through the teleportation rift as if it's hardly noticeable, and rolls right up to the front door with Love in tow.     The symbol she presents is, what else, the metallic-on-black icon of the rat of her conquest of Quicknest, now displayed in the Hydrochoeria castle. She's here as a villainess, and if her own identity ends up being discovered because of someone going through the records, then that's honestly fine with her. The valuable item she hands over, after some irritation at the guards for insisting on something so childish and practically barbaric, is an intricately-designed silver dagger, elaborate patterns imprinted directly into the metal itself.     After passing through the door, she snickers along with Love and gives her a low-key fistbump. "You're so cool. In, like, fifteen minutes, I'm gonna scoop up all the rest of it too, for a full clean sweep. I guess technically it's a distraction, but really,"     She raises her voice from a private conversation to 'a private conversation, but spoken at normal volume so that anyone could overhear', "This place is such a slum compared to what they claimed it was. Honestly, it's like I'm dealing with some *mobsters* in the gutter rather than an actual proper establishment with any class and respect for their clientele. I almost feel sorry for the fish they pad this place out with to give the sharks the thrill of the hunt; even people with lesser means shouldn't be treated like thugs by the people whose *job* is to keep them safe." "Do keep it safe for me, will you?"     Offhandedly, like they've never seen each other before in their lives, Petra lazily raises up a hand to gesture towards Sarracenia, without a care in the world whether she's seen doing it. "See? Look at her. She's proud of herself for getting to show off as if she's wealthy, and she doesn't even realize she's being mocked by the auction house. It's tragic, honestly."
White	Today might actually be the very first time White has ever held a single, discrete firearm in her hands. She's held pieces of sci-fi turrets or cyborg limbs, and she's broken chunks off of robots and tanks, but just... Holding a gun feels weird to her. She only does so for a short time, using the Evil Eye to inform herself of how to set it to 'safe' before holstering it again to avoid any noisy incidents; she's heard of guns going off if you drop them or bump into something, though she's not informed enough to really know how much of it is myth. After that and getting the mask affixed in a way that ideally doesn't squish her nose too much, she lets her Evil Eyes remain open and active with the physical obstruction of the mask to conceal them better. Peering through walls, she keeps track of the roaming guards and does her best to appear like she belongs; not talking to anyone at all or even meeting anyone's eyes is her ideal anyway. If it takes especially long she'll be attempting to see through the cases to get an idea of what's inside each one and whether there's anything besides the Star around worth prioritizing, but she's already expecting the Star itself to be in the vault... I mean, why wouldn't it be? They're basically doing a spy movie right now, and the thing the spy is there for is always in the vault! She just nods to Audrey. She doesn't mind a fight, but she won't relish it the way Love or Sarracenia will.
Audrey Basque	INSIDE, AUCTION HALL:     While Kukuru has started upsetting the line and guards a bit, Sarracenia presents a massive gold coin. The princess is famous enough of a Concord Partner to be able to do this, and it's even distracting enough that Love manages to swipe the black rose hairpin from the guards without them noticing! What a devious little thing.     Petra presents both a mark of her identity and a fancy knife; the guards don't bat an eye at this. Being a Concord Partner does indeed open many doors, and make a lot of people much less likely to question you.     Guests are led through a few halls and double doors, to the heart of the building: a large room, not unlike a theatre stage, with dark and expensive velvet chairs for the audience. People sit in predictable cliques, never splitting from their entourage if they have any, and keeping watchful eyes on each other. There is no one in this room who trusts anyone else.     Petra's eye might be caught by a particular detail.     There are paintings, along the sides of the room. Classical Chinese art, obviously appropriated like everything else here-- but that's not why it's odd. A long red dragon circles the whole room, painted across all three walls (not the stage); its fiery scales inspire passion, the blue waves behind it a certain tranquility and calm. Orange flames flicker from it, bursting with enthusiasm, while purple and yellow swirls are arranged such that luxury provokes joy.     The art in this room compels you to spend, and to feel amazing about it. It's not inspiration; it's outright mind control, a magic stored in the paint itself. One Petra has encountered before.     After not too long, a masked man steps on the stage, voice distorted by his mask. There's no greeting speech; there's no 'ladies and gentlemen' showmanship. Everyone knows what they're here for. The air buzzes with magic, motes and particles gathering by the man to form a projection of... a circle of massive stones? It's Stonehenge-like, for sure.     "Packed for your convenience. Delivered where you want it. Relinquished by the Stavros family. Bidding starts at five million."     The WOMAN IN GREEN reaches under her seat, and passes a crystal she retrieves from it to one of her underlings, who raises it for her. The spotlight tracks to her, like a signal, and the masked man confirms: "Five."     MAURICE lifts his own crystal, causing the spotlight to shift to him instead. He smirks, and the masked man confirms: "Seven point five."     Similar crystals are under all of your seats.
Kukuru	EARLIER "One might think you were a movie star in that outfit rather than a movie maker!" "Does it? Hmm.. I wonder if I need to change, then..." Kukuru starts second guessing herself at Sarracenia's misinterpreted compliment, but laziness wins out as she simply hums pleasantly and shakes her nead. "Nahh... This should be okay, too. Thank you for the ideas for next time, Sarra~" "It's about context! It's context-dependent!" That explanation certainly works on Kukuru, as she's soon nodding after Petra while tapping on her chin. "Thaaat's true... We're not being watched yet, mm-mm. Oh, I've heard about that method-acting stuff before. It did sound kinda weird to be mean to real people to act like a mean person, yeeah. It's stops feeling like acting if it's just the way they are normally, and it's more... Dishonest?" Petra seeming to notice something about what she's saying gets a curious look from Kukuru at first, and then Kukuru's expression softens considerably a few moments later. "I'm... I'm so glad to hear that from you, dear.  Angry language can make you feel angrier even whne you're not, and I want you to feel happier. Not as an act, but for real. We can... Work together on being realer, okay?" NOW "Find another subject and turn that damn thing off!" Kukuru's not one to be intimidated easily by just about anyone even on a regular day. In her current movie director persona, she even looks mildly annoyed by the greasy guy reaching for her camera. Even if she didn't (directly) pay for it, it's still expensive stuff, and she's expected to bring it back in one piece! Clicking her tongue in disapproval, Kukuru lets the large end of the clapboard drop a little before she snaps it right back up at his wrist hard enough to catch it between the two sections. "Bad boy... I never gave you permission to use your hands." She scolds, drawing the camera back with her other hand to keep it just out of reach while purposely keeping her back towards the approaching guard. She's not going to be the one to start a fight, after all, but she has the camera setup firmly in hand so she can make sure to capture anything that happens at an okay-enough angle. "Now. Let's try that again, hmm? Do make sure to speak up, and I might make sure to ask the editors to keep your face out of this." Little does he know that she's not actually planning to do any editing at all, because... That's expensive. That's WORK. She doesn't know how to handle B roll!
Sarracenia	'See? Look at her. She's proud of herself for getting to show off as if she's wealthy, and she doesn't even realize she's being mocked by the auction house. It's tragic, honestly.'      Sarra almost reacts like she normally would, but remembers that they are supposed to be putting on a show here. "I -am- wealthy, little one." she says, but then frowns at the staff. "...but this place does seem rather...low-class. How is a royal supposed to get in the spirit of an auction with such drab surroundings?"      Of course, then they enter and the magic takes hold. Sarra has a notoriously weak mind, so she is suddenly ready to spend money on all of the shiny trinkets in this auction! First up...      ...is a bunch of rocks? Sarra huffs. That isn't shiny at all! But, she picks up the crystal under her seat either way.
Audrey Basque	STORAGE:     It's okay White, this is also Audrey's first time holding a gun. For however long it took to put the holster on, at least.     The gun's safety operates like any other firearm, but it's a magical weapon. The cartridge area is actually a mana battery; this thing just shoots lightning bolts. Overkill for dealing with normal meddlers.     Keeping to themselves works well enough. Everyone here has something to be doing; they're not chatting. This gives White ample time to snoop around the crates. None are empty; some contain piles of gold, money-- there's even one that has half a cadaver crushed in a pile of gemstones. This gives the impression they might not just be passing these along to new owners, but sort out some cleaning too. Then there's the weirder ones; crates that contain huge stones in them, which people currently bidding have context for. There's two dozen of those, taking a lot of the space up.     Magical stones, evidently, but still just huge rocks.     Some have racks of weapons.     Some have entire magical laboratories' worth of supplies. Rare materials, herbs, books... like a house was completely emptied out and crated up for sale.     But no magical gemstone that messes with gravity.     It really must be in the vault.     "... 167? Shouldn't you be outside?" comes from behind White. A man in his mid-40s, the shadow of a shaven beard accenting his rough demeanor and scarred face, unmasked but suited like the rest, crosses his arms impatiently.     The mask distorts your voice enough you can speak, from a quick test, without giving the game away, so White could!     Audrey seems to have wandered off vault-ward, which worked out quite well for the timing. Or not well at all, considering!
Angela	''I love your evil outfit, Love! Did you design it yourself?'' Love nods to Sarracenia. "Mhm, Poison. I looked at a cartoon to figure it out." ''So there is always one person you know with less class--'' "Oh you're doing a good job pretending to be mean and evil." She tells Sarracenia, apparently assuming this is part of the bit. She presents the stolen pin before putting it in her hair absentmindedly and following after Petra. So what if she stole it? EVIL PEOPLE STEAL! Good people also steal too, of course, and usually evil people steal through paperwork but it's more important that she isn't doing something good not that she does things that are morally ambiguous. She returns the fistbump and goes, "Powww..." In a soft voice as she makes her hand 'explode' by pulling it away from the fistbump. Then she fans her hand in front of her face again, "EVIL used to have style, CRIME used to have Pizazz! Now it's lost all the romance, tut tut! Truly society has crrrrumbled!" ''It's tragic honestly.'' "Ohhhh!! Traaagic!" She's having fun, miming fainting. Love hears an auction is happening and starts to say something before reaching down and lifting up her crystal and saying, "Eight!" Purely to drive the price up. Heh heh heh. She's so smart. "Honestly putting ''that'' up for auction, I do declaaare that I sigh... Sigh!" She sighs, sighs!
Audrey Basque	OUTSIDE:     Kukuru twists the man's wrist. The scene this causes is imminently obvious; most of the Real Guests have slipped in, by now, with only the nobody looking stragglers still trying to haggle their way in.     "LET GO OF ME YOU DAMN B--"     Kukuru need only twist a bit more to make him change his tune from just a verbal bite to a real threat. The man reaches into his coat, like he's looking for a weapon. There's a wand in there! It crackles with power when he touches it, without even needing to get it out of his coat, but he doesn't attack yet. "Listen, I ain't one of your interviewee, so either let me go or lose that arm," he snaps.     The masked guard who was minding the situation taps his mask again, mouthing something distorted off another time. A second guard joins him, both of them actually taking the extra step to unholster their guns in a direct display of 'last chance' as they very clearly intend to separate the two... with more emphasis on shoving Kukuru away than anything else.     The remaining two guards minding the entrance have one finger up against the sides of their masks, rather than being completely idle.
White	White wouldn't have typically responded to someone saying a random number behind her, but with the Evil Eye active and the mask over her face, she probably catches sight of something in the analytic readout that tips her off. This... Doesn't help her handle the problem, though. She's being spoken to... The mask should obscure her voice... But caught on the spot like this, she still can't talk! She didn't come up with a cover story! She halfway turns to look at the man, frozen there like she might have just not caught what was said to her. She looks back the other way; Audrey is gone. Does she claim she got lost? No, that's stupid. Does she say nothing at all? ... She'd like to, but that expectant stare is withering her confidence. Does she claim she was going to the bathroom? Do evil mafia auction goons even get bathroom breaks?! And besides, in the movies when someone makes that excuse they almost always get called out and end up-... Fighting.      She gestures with her right hand in a way that looks a little like she's gesticulating while speaking, despite no sound coming past her lips at all. If he's particularly magically sensitive, he might notice something building rapidly around him, but if he's not or if he's simply too slow, he'll vanish the next moment... Teleported away into the largest nearby body of water she can think of. Not just to hide evidence from his coworkers, but also from Audrey!      She's never going to say a word about this, if she can help it.
Petra Soroka	People sit in predictable cliques, never splitting from their entourage if they have any, and keeping watchful eyes on each other.     Petra clicks her tongue audibly. Her haughty irritation at the low quality of the auction house gradually stops being part of the bit and slides into sincerity, making her every part the kind of combative high society girl to send a shiver down any venue's spine-- like Lilian when she's in a bad mood.     "It's just like her to direct us to somewhere like *this*." Petra refrains from saying Audrey's name specifically for obvious reasons, but her fuming is heartfelt. "It's posers. It's all fucking posers. I can't imagine being this incapable of tell the difference between a venue for the upper class and one for stuck up losers with a fistful of blood money and a small pool to splash around in after spending your whole life in the Phantom Circle. I wouldn't be caught dead somewhere like this if they didn't have something I wanted." . . . a particular detail.     Petra's sneer is a product of forgetting to act, not excelling at it.     "God I want to kill her sometimes." Despite the painting she's looking at, she means Audrey, not Maria. "I -am- wealthy, little one."     Petra inhales sharply, and then abruptly pauses. She closes her eyes and exhales, then breathes again, internally adapting to the aura of the environment and the outfit she wears. When she opens her eyes, it's as if they're lit with an entirely different cold hue.     "Of course, your highness, I'm sure you hold plenty of sway in your home kingdom. This is a perfectly fine establishment for petty royalty and uplifted gangsters, and I wouldn't dream of excluding you from them. It's just, you know..." Petra waves her hand dismissively, impeccably manifesting the airs of someone slipping into slightly more casual speech for the sole purpose of emphasizing their disdain. "It's a tolerable chore for my evening, at least." "Eight!"     Petra settles down in her chair besides Love, folding her thighs over each other and idly looking around the room. She lets Love lead the auctioning of the pair for the first bit, as if she couldn't care less about the expenditure of her own money, until something comes up where Sarracenia bids highest, and then she wraps a hand around Love's wrist to hold the crystal by proxy so that the spotlight turns to her.     Not looking up, she doubles Sarracenia's offer, and then lets go of Love's wrist without another word. Outside with the guards, her Silver dagger surreptitiously melts into a puddle, and little metallic pseudopods reach around and start scooping all the other valuables onto itself.
Kukuru	Even without looking directly at the guards, Kukuru can hear them approaching and gathering closer. Whatever they're actually saying is unclear, but the attention she's getting is unmistakably growing! She keeps the pressure on the guy's wrist, still holding back so as to not reveal her full strength just yet no matter how tempting it is hearing him resort to that kind of language already. Just a little more. A little more fuel to really get the guards' attention this way, to get one of them to reach her, and then... "Ah, help!" She cries out dramatically, swiftly (or relatively swiftly, because it's still Kukuru) going from clamping the clapboard on that guys' arm to latching onto the closest guard's arm for safety. "How dangerous... He's reaching for something in there!" Another swing of the camera around to her side where it's still pointed right at the guy in line and some of the guards, and then Kukuru wriggles against the arm of the guard she's claimed as her 'savior' some more while gesturing rapidly at the man with the wand. "He said he'd take my arm... Please, help!" Although Kukuru's really laying it on thick there, she also those mind-altering powers of hers that she's fully tapping into now. She doesn't need to try and dig deep, even, as she's instead trying to just plant the idea in that particular guard's mind that she's not a threat to anyone here, and that the guard really should help the poor lady out even with the camera rolling.
Audrey Basque	INSIDE, AUCTION HALL:     MAURICE turns to scowl at whoever just outbid him! He... does not recognize Love. And Petra simply looks too different, like this! No, she's familiar, he almost has his finger on it. You can see the gears working in his head! Before he can say much, though, it's actually the masked MAN IN PURPLE, with the obviously brainwashed entourage, who laughs and responds to Love.     "Little one, the Drombeg Stone Circle has been getting fought over by magical families-- and the local government-- for centuries. Having settled the matter, we Stavros willingly relinquish it to the highest bidder. You could not desire a greater foundation to build a magical workshop out of."     Selling the product, as it were.     Petra's not entirely wrong about the crowd; Audrey did explain the place was owned by a formidably boring entrepreneur sort and that, criminal backgrounds aside, this was a place for people with big wallets and no fucks to give. Not high brow, really. Just shady, and owned by a weirdo.     Her little tantrum, and her raising her voice, is enough to make MAURICE turn towards her and recall. Now he's fuming.     BIDDING happens. Love ends up winning AN ENTIRE STONE CIRCLE for close to a hundred million! Which you'll only have to pay afterwards, so...     Several other items are sorted out in a quick but fevered order. The painting is clearly doing its job; people get lose in the craze, and bid twice an item's worth just to keep it out of a rival family's hands.     The SHOWSTOPPER ITEM as it were is an allegedly magical throne that grants absolute authority over a slice of highly valued land somewhere in Denmark but is also said to grant a ruler eternal youth (it doesn't), which no doubt causes an escalating bidding war between Sarracenia, Petra... and Maurice, all the while Petra's Silver makes off with all of the offerings given for people to enter.     Maurice looks like he's an insult away from getting up and lunging at Petra, with how wound up he is.
Sarracenia	For all her fire when it came to Kukuru's questioning of Petra's acting, Sarra finds the response that Petra gives her...to be exactly what Petra would say except for the lack of expletives. And the charade of it being some kind of act seems to Sarra to have been completely dropped except for some minor details thrown in about the venue.      Well, fine then. If that's how Petra wants to play, Sarra is fine with that. "At least these gangsters are uplifted. Some fancy clothes cannot disguise the stench of gutter trash that emanates from you. -Little one-." Sarra noticed that inhale, so she figures she'll poke at what seems to be a button a few more times. Of course, it could just be her claiming she's wealthy that was the button.      Then...magic throne! Sarra is immediately bidding, and quite happily keeps going until she either wins...or the fighting starts. "What do -you- need a throne like this for? You have wormed your way into the good graces of beings that could make you immortal for nothing!" she says to Petra, then glares at Maurice. "And who are you to even bid on such an item! It is a throne! Obviously worthy only of a princess like myself and not some nobody no one has heard of!"
Audrey Basque	OUTSIDE:     Kukuru bends the guard's mind with ease. He leaves her be, and grabs the rowdy man, who begins muttering and cursing like this is a setup. Which, it kind of is! This prompts VIOLENCE from the guard, who doesn't hesitate to fire his magical handgun and blast the man with a lightning bolt. Not dead on the spot; but in a bad state. The guards really did look like they were done playing around already, and being urged to help pushed the one-- but now his partner is questioning why he shot him specifically. They argue, voices badly distorted by their masks.     This display causes the other two guards at the door to speak into their masks, and anyone still waiting to see if they can go in to disperse-- not like a panicked crowd, but like people who have clearly seen this before and are opting to find another way to spend their evening. STORAGE:     White banishes THE EXPECTANT MAN to go swim.     Well that was easy.     When Audrey pulls back up behind her, she's none the wiser for what just happened. She looks like she's about to speak, when both of them can hear in their helmets a supervisor mouth off a series of four numbers-- none of which are White's-- and reassign them to the front door. On cue, four of the people busy with crates leave their post, and the room entirely.     Audrey chooses this moment to say, "The vault needs a whole bunch of different crystals to open. We won't get the door open. But..." What she produces is a slip of paper, detailing the inside of the vault. They're very particular about arranging things in very specific places. It might be how they identify what's what, instead of labels or chips.     "Found this. Is that good enough for you to be able to grab what's in there? The map's pretty thorough." BACK OUTSIDE:     Another four guards leave the building through the front door, joining the two that called them in. One of them motions towards Kukuru, and after a few distorted words between them, they all trail their weapons on her.
White	White examines the map and pauses. She'll probably be able to confirm through the vault door where the precise spatial location of each box is, and knowing which one to go for in advance will take out the guesswork. She nods; there's no reason not to be confident about the results! If she weren't wearing the mask, Audrey might be able to tell she's slightly nervous, but she is, so she's probably safe. She can probably manage it easily enough from the doorway outside the storage room too, so they might not have to deal with whoever's left moving boxes there unless they leave suddenly... Or they make a bunch of noise for whatever reason. White, at least, is pretty sure she can be quiet doing this, and if someone does jump them... Well, it'll be theirs to regret startling her, most likely.
Angela	''It's just like her to direct us somewhere like this.'' "Yes...! All pose, no poise! No action! OH HO HO HO HO!" Love says despite literally posing as one of them right now. Then she pauses, getting taken by Petra's eyes--forgetting, for a moment, to play her bit though fortunately this isn't too noticeable or ridiculously out of character for a villain either. It makes her hand easy to lift up in order to double Sarracenia's bid. "W-wow...!" She says because that is a significantly bigger number than the starting number. And then she is even more startled when she actually wins something?? A stone circle??? She tries nibbling on it before gesturing vaguely around with the item like she's not sure where to put it. As the heat starts rising, Love's eyes widen and she's starting to worry people forgot they're just gonna steal everything anyway. "Um....!"
Petra Soroka	One hundred million credits is not an amount that Petra can casually pay without a sweat. It's hardly a reasonable amount for any item to 'cost' at all-- Petra's liquid assets are orders of magnitudes smaller than that, and she considers herself wealthy beyond reason (the fact that there are thousands of people on any given world with more net worth than her doesn't feel real). After being quietly stunned by the ridiculousness of it, and then vaguely queasy for a reason she can't define, Petra reminds herself that she will be paying nobody anything no matter what happens, and will in fact end this auction with more wealth than she started.     The utter unshakeable confidence that this line of thought leads her to, along with her unique immunity to the mental agitation of the paintings around the room, accidentally reinforces her disaffected image tenfold. The way she looks when the spotlight shines on her to announce winning the stones, with her elbow on her chair and her cheek pressed into gloved knuckles, it's as if she thinks her winnings are chintzy garbage and she can't bring herself to care about the money lost on them. "At least these gangsters are uplifted. Some fancy clothes cannot disguise the stench of gutter trash that emanates from you. -Little one-."     Petra's lip curls at Sarracenia, and she even cups her hands over Love's ears to shield her from what she says next. "I should ask, if you are the type of vile royalty to have that kind of demeaning interest in people that much younger than you, that you keep it to yourself while I'm around, or I'll pull every string I have to get you thrown out in disgrace. Whatever else the Badalamenti might be involved in, this isn't the sort of establishment to cater to *that*. Speak to me like an adult, or don't speak to me at all."     Still gagging from the repulsive taste of the memory of Sarracenia arguing about how low the 'age of consent' should be on the radio before, Petra is desperately searching for any alternative to start a fight that won't make her talk to the princess. When the chair comes up, Petra has recovered by draining three quarters of her glass of wine, and she still holds the glass between her fingers to swirl around while lounging in her chair. "What do -you- need a throne like this for? You have wormed your way into the good graces of beings that could make you immortal for nothing!"     Tapping on Love's wrist with a dot of morphmetal allows Petra to devote her full attention, albeit her 'pretending not to pay attention attention' to the bickering, while Love continues to outbid Sarra and Maurice at Petra's signals.     "... I remember the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, famously became more and more desperate for a cure to death as he became older. I read that his search drove him mad, eventually drinking a potion of mercury as a last, feeble grasp at immortality when he felt his time drawing near, and ironically, dying from its poison."     "Of course, people enjoy my presence on this earth enough that any number of them would offer to keep me here forever." Petra takes a drink from her glass, emptying the last of the wine, and looks over the rim at Sarracenia across the room. "But if I take this chance from you, how many more will it take before your find your own quicksilver elixir, your highness?" > Maurice     "This is what I meant," Petra asides to Love, loud enough for Maurice to hear after he places an offer on the throne. "That this place is so far beneath me that I'm sharing it with people I've already crushed under my heel."
Kukuru	Should Kukuru feel bad about this? She did just get someone shot, and she did kind of egg him on, and she did kind of cajole that one guard into taking her side without doing the same to any of the other guards to make it a clean conflict resolution. Even now, there's more guards coming out because of this mess she's making, and... Oh. Wait. This is exactly the kind of result she wanted, and this is all making things smoother for Audrey. Therefore, everything is justified! Feeling even better about herself than she did about five seconds ago, Kukuru keeps the camera trained on the man that just got shot. She turns her head away from the guards and the commotion, though, so she can report back to her allies: <J-IC-Scene> Kukuru says, "Some of the people outside are leaving. That might leave fewer witnesses for whatever, riiiight?" <J-IC-Scene> Kukuru says, "And... Oh. More guards are coming out, too. That's a few more... Fewer... More... Not inside, mhm." That's four more than she was expecting, especially after seeing the others already around. This could actually be a problem if she's not careful, but she knows who's still inside: Her family from the Concord. Not being able to handle this much would just mean more danger for them, so she just needs to figure out how to hold the rest of these guards' attention! Luckily, she's already got the camera in place and the film rolling. "Oh, my heroes! Tell me... How did you know that would work? Do you get these kinds of incidents often here? Is there a something that keeps people coming back to the Badalamenti House of Arcane Goods, even with this kind of thing happening?" She already has the guards coming out, so it's probably okay to shift towards reporting instead of sticking to the documentary act at this point. Either that's her logic, or she forgot her previous act in favor of something easier.
Audrey Basque	INSIDE, AUCTION HALL:     Sarracenia's comment makes Maurice slightly redder with anger than he already was. "*I* am Maurice Northington, you senseless broad! There is no one here who deserves a throne more than I!"     The VAMPIRIC MAN scoffs, raising his crystal to bid.     The WOMAN IN GREEN, annoyed, also raises her crystal, as a matter of principle. "Men who can't hold their tongue are more fit to kneel before than sit on a throne."     MAURICE raises his crystal defiantly.     The masked man on the stage, in the background, continues to rattle off the increasing bid numbers; two hundred, two hundred fifty, three hundred. Immortality's expensive. It'll keep going up, people so lost in the greed inspired by the painting around them.     The dim echo of the lightning shot outside can be heard in the auction hall, but doesn't trigger much response. That happens, sometimes! The raising of voices, though, is strictly against policy... and it's earning Petra, Sarracenia and Maurice especially stares from masked guards off to the sides, and taps at their masks as they discuss.     Maurice is undeterred, of course.     "You--! Crushed? You think you crushed *me*? You stole from me, honorless brat!" One could easily note Maurice is likely barely older than Petra. "Do you want to see what crushed looks like?"     An array of frostfire bolts appear around him, awaiting the command to shoot off, lighting the room around him in hues or red and blue at the same time. This... does not go over well with the other guests, who begin glaring about but elect not to break the establishment's rules... yet.     The few guards in the room however are extremely agitated, and seem to be calling for backup already. Almost there!