The Mysterious Miss Direction - vol. 01

This is really not the way you wanted to start off the week. The city has been experiencing rolling blackouts all month because of increased power usage during this record heatwave. One must have occurred last night, because your alarm clocking is blinking when the sun wakes you up. After rushing to get ready for work, your commute is delayed another 45 minutes by a burst water main flooding the street. When you finally get to the museum you have to tiptoe through the employee entrance in hopes that you can avoid getting caught by your manager, Jonas Parks. Finally, you get your first bit of good luck when you hearing him loudly talking on the phone in his office; allowing you to creep by while he is distracted.

You let out a sigh of relief as you reach the bottom of the steps and enter the basement that houses all newly arrived artifacts, as well as those waiting restoration. The air is, thankfully, slightly cooler and you shouldn't have to worry about anyone pestering you for the next few hours. Or at least that was the plan.

A flash of light across the room catches your eyes. There is a high school age boy with a camera snapping away photos of the artifacts as if it is a murder scene. When he turns around, the unexpected sight of another person sends him flailing in fright and he nearly drops his camera.

"Oh my god. You really shouldn't sneak up on people like that. You're Ms. Morton, right? Your boss said you would be happy to show me around. Teach me a little about the work you do." The kid seems to have a permanent goofy grin plastered onto his face. He turns away from you and starts snapping more pictures of items that probably shouldn't be exposed to this much bright light. "I'm Nathan, by the way. But I'm sure Mr. Parks already told you that."

You notice a sheet of paper on your desk that certainly wasn't there when you left on Friday.

Holly,

Some rich brat is going to stop by around 8:30. He is really interested in history or science or something. I don't know or care. What I do care about is that this kid walks out of here raving about what a great day he had. His family makes more money in an hour than you will in 10 years. I know you're not a total idiot, but just in case, I'll spell it out for you. Happy kid = big donations = we all keep our jobs.

Believe me, I wish it was one of my trusted tour guides showing him around, but the kid is interested in the restoration and preservation of artifacts or something. So unfortunately for both of us, that means you are going to be the one showing him around. All day. Make sure to treat him to a nice lunch. Don't let him pay. This isn't a date. And no, you will not be reimbursed, so don't ask.

--Mr. Jonas Parks, Director of the Crowfall Museum of Natural History

P.S. If we don't see a big fat donation check by the end of the week, you'll be the one explaining it to the board.

"You're boss sounds like a really fun person." Nathan says, looking over your shoulder as you read the note.

Holly tries to stifle a squeal of fright and nearly drops her old thermos (a container so old it looks as though it should probably be on one of the displays) as she is surprised by the young man in her "office". This day was not going well at all for her so far. The heat was one thing, but the heat mixed with the omnipresent humidity of the city of Crowfall made her normally wavy, black hair look more like a charred tumbleweed. Her alarm didn't go off, so she didn't really have time to shower and tried to make do with a spritz of perfume, fresh change of clothes, and a quick brush to calm the tangles forming (which resulted in a broken brush and a further delay as she had to excavate it from her locks). Her commute was delayed, so she had to spend nearly an extra hour in a bus crammed with other sweaty and irritated people. Now she had a young man snooping around the museum, clearly ignorant to the proper protocols required for handling such delicate artifacts.

She tries to introduce herself but winds up stuttering and mumbling as she tries to confirm the questions he sends at her rapid fire. She simply smiles at him and sets her thermos down on her already crowded desk to read the note.

She tries to suppress a moan of disappointment about the state of her day, but she couldn't let Nathan know that he was causing any sort of inconvenience.


She really needed this job.

"He's alright, once you get to know him," she lies, hoping to start things off on a better foot now that she had information and was beginning to formulate a plan moving forward. She tries to smile, hoping that the fact that she didn't have time to brush her teeth would be noticeable. "So, uh... what's got you so interested in restoration, Nathan?"

"Oh yeah, restoration. If I had to narrow it down to just one thing... I would say... definitely the whole... Ok, so upstairs they have all these exhibits and people flock to see them; but it is like the corporate version of history. Does that make sense? But down here, you get to see everything up close without a filter. I can't even imagine all of the cool stuff down here that never makes it into an exhibit because it doesn't fit the narrative or whatever."

Nathan suddenly lifts the camera and without warning and takes a shot of you. Your vision goes spotty from the flash for several seconds before fading to a nice blur and finally back to normal. By that point, Nathan is poking around nearby tables which hold various works in progress.

"Do you have anything cool like that down here? Moon rocks, Charlemagne's crown, a stuffed mutant raccoon with a human face, or I don't know, even the Warden's jockstrap. Anything that will literally make my jaw drop?"

Holly tries to cover her face before Nathan can blind her, but he seemed to be a bit quicker than she was. Making a face as she rubs the spots out of her eyes, she jumps to action as soon as she sees him poking around her current project.

"Whoa, whoa! Hold on." she tells him, a bit more forcefully than she probably should, before he can finish picking up what looks like a piece of ruddy brown junk. "Uh- I mean. That's like, very very old." she offers in explanation. "I don't know so much about crowns or jockstraps right now, but what I do down here isn't always so glamorous."

She points out a few pieces of the old junk on the table as she grows closer to it, keeping her arms slightly raised like a mantis at her sides in case Nathan tries to blind her again. "These are the remnants of a vase from the New Kingdom, made around two-thousand years ago, give or take a few centuries." she begins to explain. "Not as exciting as a crown, or a sword, or a bag of gold, but there's so much history that can be found in these artifacts. You can tell a lot about a culture from the tools and basic household items of the common man."

"It's... not exactly going to be a center piece, of course, but I know there are people who appreciate seeing all parts of history as opposed to just the cool stuff." she assures him, and secretly, herself.

"If you say so." Nathan doesn't seem terribly interested in the vase. He does take a picture of it, but you get the feeling it is more out of obligation than interest. He starts looking around the walls and ceiling of the basement workshop.

"Cool or not, all these things have got to be worth a lot of money, right? You guys ever have any break-ins? Crazy elaborate heist?" His eyes land on the air vents. "That doesn't exactly look big enough for a ninja to crawl through. What a bummer."

Nathan drops his camera on your desk and plops down into the seat. It spins around a few times as he stares up at the ceiling, looking bored.

"You got any cast off relics that nobody is going to miss? I wouldn't mind taking home a little souvenir."

Holly's shoulders slump at Nathan's lack of enthusiasm at what really happens down in the basement of the museum. "Well... I can't really let you... I mean, I'd lose my job if anything was..." she tries to tell him, but stops herself at the mention of her job.

P.S. If we don't see a big fat donation check by the end of the week, you'll be the one explaining it to the board., the note had said.

She takes a deep breath and rubs at her temples. She's sure that Nathan is too bored and self-absorbed to notice her struggle, so she puts a smile back on as she says, "Okay. I don't really have any souvenirs, but I do think I remember finding some cool stuff in storage if you want to take a look."

"Oh, wow. Storage. That sounds exciting. Do you mind wheeling me over there?" he says pointing to the back of the chair he wants you to push. When you get there, Nathan methodically starts snapping pictures of everything.

The rest of the day continues and you somehow even manage to get a little bit of work done while babysitting this kid. He never really seems annoyed with you, but does let out loud groans of boredom from time to time. At the end of the day Jonas comes down and puts on a sickening display of sucking up. He tells him that he is welcome to come back anytime and apologies again and again for your behavior if it offended Nathan in any way.

Nathan rolls his eyes through it all. It is very obvious that he is used to this type of treatment and is not buying the act. The two of them exit your workshop and you finally get a few minutes of peace before it is time to head out.

On your way out you are once again able to dodge Jonas. You make your way down the street toward the bus stop and see Nathan standing next to a limousine, talking with who you assume is his father. The man is dressed in an impeccably fine suit that is remarkably free of any wrinkles. It is like someone pressed it while he was wearing it. Nathan sees you and gives a polite wave, which causes his father to turn around. He gives you a questioning look before raising two fingers and motioning for you to come over.

"Hello Ms. Morton. My son tells me you showed him the ins and outs of the restoration process today. Thank you for taking the time to do this. I hope he wasn't too much trouble." Up close you can smell his fancy cologne and see just how perfectly trimmed his mustache is. Despite the terrible heat, there isn't a bead of sweat anywhere on his face. He looks like he could play the male lead in one of those motion pictures made back when they were still calling them 'talkies.'

"Do you have plans for the evening, Ms. Morton? I'd be happy to give you a lift anywhere you need to go. No one wants to stay outside for too long in this heat."

Holly, the pinnacle of grace under pressure, stutters her response, "I- uh, no, no really that's alright, I'm just..." she trails off as she looks beyond the limo to see her bus already taking off. Meaning a long, sweaty walk back to her apartment.

"Um... that's- that's very kind of you, sir. As long as Nathan doesn't object, I'd be really appreciative of a lift to my apartment complex."

Nathan's father just smiles in response. His chauffeur opens the door and everyone climbs inside. It is rather silent at first, but you notice some changes in Nathan. He is no longer slouching and appears to be doing his best impressive of his regal father. It is unclear if this is being done in jest or if he is expected to behave like this.

"How terribly rude of me. I never properly introduced myself." Nathan's father remains seated but holds out his hand for a shake. If you wish to take part you will be forced to be the one that leans forward to meet his reach. "Avery Key," he speaks his name with a hint of a smirk, all the while studying your face to see if you give off any impression of having heard the name before. You think you may have recognize his name from the news but are not 100% certain. Something to do with big business, stocks, finances... maybe.

"I must say, Ms. Morton, you are much younger than I was expecting for someone in your profession. The Museum puts a lot of trust in you to not only handle all of those priceless artifacts, but to restore them to their glory. I am sure that trust is well placed."

Soon enough, you arrive outside your apartment building. Avery indicates for Nathan to get the door, and the boy exits the vehicle to hold the door open for you. Avery slides a hand inside his jacket and pulls out his checkbook. The pen quickly glides across the paper as he fills out a check in a matter of seconds before folding and handing it to you.

"Please personally ensure that Mr. Parks receives this tomorrow. Thank you again for your time." You exit the limo and Nathan climbs back inside. They wait as you walk towards the entrance of the building. Just as you reach for the door you hear the familiar sound of Nathan's camera followed by the light of the flashbulb going off. When you turn around the window of the limo is rolling up as they drive away.

Holly thanks Mr. Key profusely before walking back towards her apartment. The click of the camera causes her to turn quickly and she has to wonder just what Nathan's intentions are with that camera. A bit red in the face, she heads up to her apartment. Its... quaint, certainly. Containing only 3 rooms (four if you count a change in floor covering as room separation), with a combo kitchen/living room, a bedroom, and a bathroom. All of which are much smaller than they needed to be. But the rent was affordable, and the people living nearby weren't very nosy.

Molly puts the check in her bag, and hides her bag in a drawer in the kitchen, not daring to look at the amount and provide herself the temptation of knowing just how well (or poorly) she did for the museum. She didn't need that on her mind right now. Looking outside, she smiles when she realizes that she had a little time left at least before nightfall, and thus kicks off her shoes, sets an alarm, and falls face first onto her squeaky bed to take a nap before tonight.

---

She felts glad at times that the Mask provided her with a costume. She didn't know what she would say to her parents if she had had to ask them for their old performance attire, or, god forbid, if she had to take the suit to the laundromat. The tight fabric fit her body well enough to let her tumble and jump along the rooftops of Crowfall, as she kept an ear out for criminal activity. She usually just followed her gut. The Mask had a weird sense of where she needed to be, so she tried to trust that.

In the meantime, she tumbled, somersaulted, and generally did idle acrobatic stunts too close to the edges of the buildings in an effort to alleviate her boredom until the fun began.

Even well after the sun has gone down, the concrete and steel of the city seems to hold so much of the heat accumulated throughout the daylight hours. You find yourself taking it a easy to avoid exhaustion and start to consider calling it a night when you notice a flickering light in the distance that can only mean fire. You pause for a moment to listen for sirens but don't hear any.

It takes about another minute before you arrive on top of a good size building across the street from the apartment building that is on fire. It is an absolute inferno. The heat coming off of it, even from this distance, has you worrying about getting burns from being too close for too long. There is no way for a fire to get this bad without some thought put into it. You have no doubt an arsonist is at work here.

A large group of terrified residents and onlookers is gathered on the street, but even over the roar of the blaze you can hear shouts for help from people trapped inside. The fire is spread far and wide, but the worst of it seems to be in the middle floors of the five floor building. You see signs of movement from inside the highest floor which must be where people are trapped.

---

Dice Pool Limit - 6

Optional Side Objective
(2 Round Time Limit) Find and Escort Trapped Residents to Safety - 5

While you are not under attack, you will need at least 1 Defense success per round to avoid injury from the fire.

Miss Direction puts a finger to her lips as she surveys the building, looking for entrances and the like. An open window on the top floor seems the best route. Time to make an entrance.

Lights, with no discernible source, begin to shine in beams like the spotlights of a theater or performance, lancing out from the ground below and shining in between the two buildings as a voice erupts from the heavens.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" the invisible announcer booms, gathering the attention of any that might be nearby, hopefully including those within the building. "FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE, PLEASE PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR THE ONE! THE ONLY! MISS! DIRECTIOOOOON!" Applause, whether from the crowd, who likely looked around confused, or not, sounded for her as the spotlights converged at her location upon the edge of the next building over. Holding her head high, she blows kisses to the imagined crowd, and pulls forth her magical deck of cards.

Shuffling them with impossible speed and dexterity, a few handfuls of cards disperse from the pile and flutter around her like fans to blow away hot air or smack away flames. With her arms held high, Miss Direction tumbles forward, off of the building.

And her hands catch air, like an impossible-to-see tightrope wire connecting her position to the open window she found earlier. Letting her hands do the walking, she shimmers over to the open window and enters, feet first.

"Ready or not!" she shouts playfully, "Here I come!" Her smile stretches wide across her painted face, though inside, she is filled with panic. Her heart raced as her eyes darted about to find any and all that might be trapped within. She hoped her theatrics caught some of their attention, so that she could spot them more easily, but she knew that her magic required her to keep up the performance, or her magic would fail.

Several of the top floor occupants are immediately drawn to your theatrical display and are present the second your feet touch the hard wood flooring of the building. If they weren't currently afraid of being burned alive, you are sure they would be excitedly clapping right now at what they just witnessed.

"You gotta help us get out of here!" one woman says while holding a wet cloth over her face to help filter the smoky air. "The door to the stairwell has been welded shut by that madman and the flames are too strong near the fire escape."

You hear a loud crash sound off in the distance. A moment later everyone freezes as they hear the thud of heavy footsteps accompanied by some rather serene but muffled whistling.

"No, no, no, no, no. He's back. You have got to get us out of here." You carefully peer into the hallway and see the source of the footsteps. There is a man walking down the hallway looking like he is having a great time. He is wearing a black suit and tie and a gas mask over his face. The most alarming thing is that his hand appears to be on fire as he gleefully runs it along the nearby wall, lighting it ablaze as he walks down the hallway. You recognize the man from the newspaper. A villain named Matchstick who can create and control fire. He was tossed into the slammer a few years ago after burning his way into a bank vault.

---

Dice Pool Limit - 6
Miss Direction - 3 HP

Threat Ratings
Boss: Matchstick - 3 HP

Optional Side Objective
(1 Round Time Limit Remaining) Find and Escort Trapped Residents to Safety - 5

Matchstick has not spotted you yet, so you will not have to worry about attacks from him this round. At least one defensive success to avoid heat/fire damage is still required.

Go ahead and roll for both rounds 1 and 2. You have 6 d6 from the previous round using your Natural Born Performer - 5 Trait which can be split between offense (only available option at the time was helping the the people escape) and defense. All rolls of 5 or lower will be successes. Then possibly another 6 d6 to be earned this round toward attacking Matchstick, helping people escape (if the rolls from the first round haven't already cleared that), and defense from the fire using whatever ends up being the most featured trait in your details for round 2.

Any questions, let me know.

Miss Direction keeps her jovial smile plastered on her face as new details come to light. Not too big a deal that the exits are shut, but the villain approaching was complicated. Despite the influence of the Mask, and her trying to keep the civilians calm, a bit of Holly's pragmatism seeps through in the form of a checklist.

First priority: get the victims to safety.
Second priority: deal with the villain.
Third priority: Have Fun!

That last one was the Mask.

Glad for the card fans continuing to flutter around her, Miss Direction gathers around all of the people inside. "Not to worry, not to worry!" she tells them, pulling, out of nowhere, her trusty deck of cards. "You'll be safe in a moment, and then I will deal with this new contender!" She makes a wide sweep of her legs as she turns around towards the open window she came through before. There was no fire escape, but it was large enough for a person to fit out of. The fall was the problem, but nothing her magic cards couldn't fix!

She makes a show of smiling and laughing and shuffling her cards, when... WHOOPS! The deck falls from her hands and scatters to the street below. She can almost hear the gasp of fear from the victims, and chastises this performing side of herself for scaring them like this. As the cards flutter and spin in the hot air, the coalesce into vague shapes, suddenly appearing as a team of clowns, miming to each other and grabbing each others over-sized shirts to spread out and form a very large trampoline with the words LAND HERE printed on it.

"Off you go! Perfectly safe, but go quickly!" she tells them in an sing-song tone. Heading nearer to the flame and the villain creating them.

You breath a sigh of relief as the residents leap from the building to the relative safety below. The roar of applause as each person gets to their feet outside fills your heart with warmth. You can't bask in the spotlight for too long though, or the fire surrounding you will start to warm you heart in an altogether different way.

Just as the last person leaps to safety, the floor of a nearby room caves in. The rush of air causes an explosion that sends you flying out into the hallway. With the wind knocked out of you and the air thick with smoke you find it hard to get back to your feet. Looking down the hallway you see Matchstick lying on his back, feet kicking around in the air as he laughs hysterically. The blast appears to have knocked him to the ground as well, but he is loving every minute of it.

Both of you slowly regain your footing. When he sees that you are looking, he holds out his hand and twinkles his fingers at you mockingly.

"Well what do we have here? You must be new to the game. I don't recognize you at all." He juts his hand forward and a spray of yellow fire streaks down the hallway. You manage to leap into the air and over the flames which light up the wall behind you. Matchstick gives a congratulatory golf clap.

"That's the problem with jail. It's so easy to fall behind on everything going on in the city." He spreads his hands wide and rapidly slams them back together in a deafening clap. The flames eating away at the nearby walls suddenly leap forward, attacking you from multiple directions. You manage to duck, dip, dive, and pirouette around the flames without picking up more then a singe here and there.

"Very impressive. I took this job for the quick paycheck. Figured I'd have some fun with the people inside as a little bonus. If I'd known I'd be having this much fun, I'd have done the job for free." Matchstick moves his hands in front of him in circular motions as he forms a ball of fire that grows larger by the second. Satisfied with his work once it is large enough to take up the full width of the hallway, he hurls the flames in your direction. "Dodge this!"

---

Dice Pool Limit - 6
Miss Direction - 3 HP

Threat Ratings
Boss: Matchstick - 3 HP

Optional Side Objective
(Completed) Find and Escort Trapped Residents to Safety

I did not roll for Matchstick last round, but seeing as your round 1 results were enough to complete the side objective, I am sending all of your round 2 'other' rolls at Matchstick and rolling defense for him.

Time seemed to slow down a moment as Holly stared down the giant fireball coming her way. Should she be thinking about her life choices up to this point? It seemed like one of those moments. Those moments when your happy memories and deepest regrets flash before your eyes just as your about to meet your maker. She could seriously die from this, yet here she was, staring death in the face and... laughing?

Miss Direction's tinkling laugh sounds throughout the hall as she deftly falls to the ground, her legs spreading in a perfect split as she puts herself as close to the ground as possible. As the fireball flies past her, she springs back up, her legs seeming to gain more momentum than her upper body as she does a flip and lands gently a few feet ahead of where she was, a new deck of cards in her hands. The great thing about magic was never running out of cards.

Fanning them out once more in both of her hands, she holds them in front of her face as cards seem to take on a mind of their own and fly towards Matchstick, going for his gas mask. Why would a fire villain wear a gas mask if they weren't vulnerable to their own smoke? Well, at least as vulnerable as normal people...

Matchstick backpedals while flicking and snapping his fingers. With each snap a burst of flames shoots outward and lights up another card. As quick as he is moving, a few do manage to get through and break the snaps on one side of his gas mask. The mask looses its tight seal around his face and starts to droop a little. It won't be long before smoke starts to fill the mask, making it more of a hindrance than a help. "ENOUGH!" He shouts and flames shoot out from his body in every direction, burning the last cards into oblivion.

"Alright, no more Mr. Nice Guy." He brings his hands up high as long winding whips of fire form and spiral outward from his grip. He spins to give them extra momentum and cracks the whips over and over while running down the hallway toward you. The fire whips slice through the walls without any resistant and each second brings them closer to slicing you in half...

---

Dice Pool Limit - 6
Miss Direction - 3 HP

Threat Ratings
Boss: Matchstick - 2 HP

Miss Direction sqeaks with shock as she quickly contorts backward, nearly in half, to avoid the first attack of the fire whip, and uses her hands to jump up and avoid the second. She dodges and dodges and dodges to keep herself safe from the attacks, but she refuses to let him get the jump on her. If she doesn't fight back, he'll have no reason to stop the onslaught of attacks.

Standing on one hand, her head contorts to look at him as another deck of cards appears in her free hand. "Too bad. I liked Mr. Nice Guy." she pouts before spinning to avoid one last attack, letting the cards 'fall' from the deck in a long line to form a whip of her own that swings in a wide arc to knock the mask from his face.

"Gah!" Matchstick shrieks as the mask is ripped from his face. His hands reflexively go up to his face, causing the fire whips to dissipate. When he drops his hand you can see nothing but raw anger on a face which otherwise looks like just any normal business man you'd see on the street.

He is done with the verbal sparring and stomps down the hallway ready to end this fight. Both of you are starting to have trouble breathing now as the hall fills with more and more smoke. You also hear the sounds of crumbling wood and steel beams screaming under too much pressure. This building is not going to last long as this rate. The fire whips cut through a lot of supports and plaster from the ceiling starts to fall like rain.

Matchstick clenches his fists and they are immediately surrounded by white hold flames. Even from a distance you can feel the increased heat they are emanating. Just as he is about to launch an attack, loud cracking sounds break his concentration and the floor gives out from beneath both of you.

You fall in what seems like slow motion as you plummet to the lower floor which is completely engulfed in flames. To make matters worse you can see the roof above you caving in as well. This whole building is coming down. Off in the direction Matchstick was in, you feel the searing white heat again as he uses his powers to propel himself upward through the collapsing building, hoping to burn his way to safety.

---

Dice Pool Limit - 6
Miss Direction - 2 HP

Threat Ratings
Boss: Matchstick - 2 HP

Miss Direction yelps as the floor gives out and begins to plummet through the floors of the burning building. Seeing Matchstick use his flame to propel himself to safety, she is tempted to yell out "Come on!", but the rushing air and choking smoke prevent it. Seeing that she is fast approaching certain doom via her descent coming to a sudden stop, she grits her teeth, and looks for an out.

There! An exposed pipe on one of the lower levels. Waiting until just the right moment, Miss Direction juts her gloved hands out, catching the pipe and using its momentum to swing onto the second floor and hit the ground running. Or, that would have been the plan until the pipe wrenches itself free of the supports around it as she hits it at high speed, sending her tumbling instead of running.

Suppressing a scoff at the nerve of that pipe for suggesting she weighed more than she initially calculated, she uses her rolling momentum to spring back to her feet and run towards the front of the building. Luckily, most Crowfall apartment buildings are built from the same general outline, and the hallway has a decently sized window at the end of it.

No time for theatrics this time. As the building begins to crumble around her, she braces for impact with her shoulder and launches out of the window towards the street below.