The Mysterious Miss Direction - vol. 01

You manage to get across town and arrive nearby the tea shop before the suspected deadline. You keep to the shadows but maintain a patrol hoping to catch Bastet or whoever shes sends after this location. Just like at the factory, there is one cop car parked out front. Two officers causally chat with each other while drinking coffee.

'Good morning, Miss Direction.'

You spin around, surprised at the sudden voice calling you out. There is no one anywhere to be seen.

'You know, I am usually quite good at looking through people. Seeing in their souls. I am afraid something seems to be blocking me when I take a look at you. I hoped to learn more about the woman behind the mask, but I guess we'll be reduced to the old fashion way of getting to know each other. Care to join me for a cup of tea?'

Throughout this whole speech you keep moving and remain unable to spot anyone. When she mentions a cup of tea you turn your gaze to the tea shop and find it is still empty. Suddenly the shop fills with green smoke and as it fades a familiar face appears.

Sitting at one of the tables with two cups of tea before her, you see the villain coined by the papers as the Medium Madam. She got her start in the fortune telling business, gradually adopting a 1920's spiritualist schick as her popularity grew. It all seemed like harmless fun until it was revealed that she genuinely possessed psychic powers and was using them to force woman to work in her underground brothel. She was sprung from the Catacombs prison a few years ago and has remained relatively quiet since then. As far as anyone knows.

You know that despite her petite appearance, this is a very dangerous villain. It is never been fully documented what the extent of her powers are.

You look down the street to see if the cops have noticed her and it appears that they are completely frozen in time. You watch for a few moments and neither one moves a muscle. Not even the one that has his thermos halfway to his lips. Looking up and down the street you see similar worrying things. A car stopped in the middle of an intersection, a crow seemingly floating mid-air, someone in frozen part way through closing the drapes of their apartment window.

Miss Direction flares her nostrils in frustration at essentially being out-staged. But, she is not without grace and dignity.

"I was afraid this would all be dreadfully boring, what with the nameless goons at the other location." she comments, seeming completely at ease with having her powers taken from her, as she makes her way over to the table to take the seat opposite Medium Madam. "Tea sounds lovely, provided you do not intend to simply poison me and be done with it. That hardly seems Bastet's way of going about things."

She lounges in the chair, waiting for her hostess to serve the tea and perhaps react to her foe simply ignoring the handicap imposed on her.

The Madam gives you a polite smile as you make your entrance and take a seat. "If I could say one thing about throwing my proverbial hat in with Bastet and her lot, it would be that my nights are never boring now." She is now speaking aloud as she pours both of you a cup of tea from the same kettle. The Madam makes sure she is the first to drink in order to ease your suspicions.

"You are quite right about her methods. Bastet rather enjoys playing with her prey before she kills them. Wholly committed to the cat motif, that one. Personally, I find all the nicknames a little campy, but it is hard to escape them when once the world brands you. I’d much prefer you call me Lily, but won’t object to my more common moniker.

"You seem rather unfazed by being unable to call upon your unique gifts. I’ve done this same thing with many heroes over the years and few react with such poise. Have you managed to deduce why you do not have access to your remarkable abilities? Or what the purpose of this meeting is?"

With each second that you spend inside the tea shop your sense of unease grows. You cannot place a finger on exactly why this is but the more you focus on your surroundings you start to pick up on more subtle differences than just the rest of the world appearing to be frozen in time.

There is no movement to the air and yet it doesn't have a stale quality to it. The environment in general feels... empty. Neutral? Colors are less vivid. There is no ambivalent noise. As much as you try to look around at your surroundings, you find your gaze constantly being drawn back to the Medium Madam’s eyes.

Miss Direction calmly sips tea as she looks around for as long as she is able. "Lily? That's a lovely name. I'm sure you won't fault me for not sharing mine, what with the business we're in." she converses politely. Setting her cup down, she leans back in her chair.

"As for being unfazed, don't be fooled. There is such a thing as grace under pressure. I'm certainly not frightened, not with such a polite hostess, but I'm certainly not at ease. Then again, I haven't been at ease since I got Bastet's message. I felt rather lucky that I actually had a copy of the book, and didn't have to go to the library or something." she lets out a tinkling laugh at this. Her powers may not be working, but she still had an image to maintain as Miss Direction.

"As for deductions, or the purpose of this meeting, I do have a few theories. I am quite proficient at illusions, and this seems to be quite a powerful one, though not in a visual sense. If I had to guess, based on what I've heard of your powers, I'd say you're currently routing around in my mind and making me see things that aren't there." she points to where she was patrolling moments ago. "For all I know, I'm still up on that ledge, drooling and slumped over in a comatose state."

Taking a deep breath, she locks eyes with Medium Madam. "The purpose of this meeting is either to defeat me by figuring out identifying details about me and outing me to the world, or to simply waste my time and make me miss the final battle."

Sip. "Now, I imagine you'll tell me how close or far away I am from the truth and correct the record in some over-dramatic villain monologue."

Lily seems positively delighted by your response. "I can see why Bastet speaks so highly of you. Very smart and talented. You are quite right, or close enough, on many points. In others you could not be further from the truth."

The hands of the clock on the wall behind the register start spinning at rapid speeds. "First of all, Bastet and I have very different intentions for this meeting. She would never dream of unmasking you. She believes wholeheartedly that Miss Direction is the real you and whoever you are during the day should be put out to pasture. If she had her way, none of us would use our birth names ever again.

"I am the one who hoped to see below the surface and find out who you really are. It is important to understand why people do the things that they do. I want to see why you risk your life fighting for the people of this city. Unfortunately, your powers seem to be blocking me from seeing what I seek. A rare gift you have there." The room starts to expand. The ceiling rises to great heights and the walls stretch on for hundreds of feet, causing the framed photographs and design of the wallpaper to morph into unrecognizable forms.

"Don’t tell her that I told you, but the real purpose of this meeting is because Bastet is bored. She thinks you will liven things up. She’s looking for a new best friend in all the wrong places, if you ask me. No offense. I was asked here to be a messenger, but we’ll get to the message after I’ve had my fun."

A bell placed above the front door rings, signalling that someone is coming in. You turn to see your father as well as your boss, Jonas Parks. They silently walk across the room and slide up chairs next to you at the table. They each stare off into space, never acknowledging anything or anyone around them.

The Medium Madam taps her index finger to her lips as she inquisitively looks from one silent zombie like figure to the next. All light is sucked from the room except for a bright spotlight shining down on the table and its occupants. It appears as if the rest of the world ceases to exist. Beyond this table there is only darkness.

"Well would you look at that. Names continue to elude me, but your mind can’t completely hide your secrets. Tell me, Miss Direction, who are these gentlemen that have joined us? And how far would you go to prevent harm from falling to them?"

Her heart jumps when she sees the two men arrive. Not that she thought they were really there, but she was unnerved that the woman could pull such things from her mind.

She takes a sip of tea, noticing the faint tremble of her hand, that cause her to furrow her brow, to focus, and steady it once more. She was far from ready to give in.

Setting the cup down, she looks at the Madam. "They are both important to me, if that is what you are asking. One more than the other. But what you are failing to recognize is that it doesn't matter who they are. They could be complete strangers. Or they could be my worst enemy. You could have Matchstick sitting next to me, and I would do everything in my power to ensure their safety."

A thought occurs to her. A way to fight back. She didn't have her powers, surely, but if this illusion existed within her mind, she was far from powerless. She tries to test her theory, trying to remember the specific layout of the Tea Shop. The counter. The dainty, tiled floor. The little french-looking sign that detailed the daily special of the small bakery in the back.

The Medium Madam tosses her head back and lets out a long bout of laughter. Jonas and your father join her but it is much more robotic and unsettling. "You heroes always like to pretend you are so much better than the rest of us. Don't delude yourself, honey. When push comes to shove, we all serve ourselves first. It is a part of being human." You try to ignore her and continue to focus on the task at hand. Before long, a hazy sign listing the specials appears floating off in the darkness behind Lily.

She looks behind herself at the spot you are staring at. When she turns back, she gives a long roll of her eyes. You press forward, focusing on the floor and one by one the tiles appear and spread outward. "So you think you have it all figured out, huh? This is your head so you're in control? Only half true." She snaps her fingers and a television appears behind each man seated at the table. It shows them in bed, sleeping in what you assume is the real world.

"The versions next to you may be figments of your imagination, but I do not need to know exactly who they are in order to play with the real things. It would be such a shame if one of them were never to get out of bed. Heart attacks are a major cause of death in this country, you know?"

Lily snaps her fingers and everything goes dark again. The chair vanishes out from under you and you are falling. No, you are sliding. A long seemingly never ending and totally enclosed tube slide, like one at a water park. It dips and turns in wild directions, tossing you about in the process. After what feels like ages, you plop down on hard linoleum flooring with a thud.

Looking around you see that you are in your first grade classroom. It is empty but a message on the chalk board catches your attention.

Today's Assignment:

Oral Essay Presentation on 'Why I Became a Superhero'

The chair behind the teacher's desk spins around and the Madam is sitting there, now dressed up like a teacher. She slaps a ruler into her had repeatedly, "To the front of the classroom, Miss Direction. It is time to give your presentation."

Miss Direction suddenly feels a great rush of dread. Not at being present in the classroom, but at the severity of her confinement. She would buck and kick and scream at the confines around her mind, but the threat against her father and her boss was too dire. She was going to have to submit to whatever torment Medium Madam had planned for her. God, it was going to be hard to not berate Jonas for this on Monday.

Regardless, she would show the Madam, Lily, that she controlled the situation. But resistance could be showed in many ways.

It may not be her day job, but she was a performer, regardless of her powers. With a confident grin, she stands from the desk she somehow found herself in and strode to the front of the classroom. She still had her creativity, and so decided to put it to good use.

Spinning around in a delicate manner, her costume had changed. She was still masked, though it appeared as though she were ready to go to some Catholic school for Circus Children. Her jester's cap jingled merrily, and her skirt swished with its rich white, black and red fabric. She grinned as she the saw the rest of the class wearing similarly ridiculous outfits. She filled the room with memories of her school days. Throwing in jocks with clown noses or tutus, or the popular girls who made fun of her wearing gorilla costumes or simply a fish on their head. She couldn't remember most of their names, and that was all well and good. No sense giving Madam more ammunition.

They all sat quietly, looking at her with enraptured faces. She tries to will a spotlight into being to shine down on her, but that's a bit too much to manifest. She does, however, holds aloft a skull in one hand as she puts the other to her chest and makes a ridiculously serious face as she begins.

She complies, but she makes sure that Lily can tell she refuses to take this seriously.

"What makes a hero? One might ask. Is it through the fires of hardship that they are forged into beings above the common masses, or is there a spark, placed in their breast by the divine, that allows them to soar through the heavens and lift the spirits of men, women and children the world over? I ask you my friends, is not any man who serves his fellow man a hero? Is not the officer, who keeps our cities safe and free of drugs and crime, the same as the man who can lift a buss with his left buttock?" she wills a few of her 'classmates' to snicker.

"Is not the garbage man a hero, for he serves his brothers by sweeping away the refuse of a wasteful world? Yes, it is through servitude to the masses that makes one a hero. Whether it is saving helpless people from a burning building or simply bringing a smile to saddened faces. A comedian can be a hero in the same way a Labrador can be a Shih Tzu, in that they are both dogs. But is dog spelled backwards, not God? Can one be a god among men if he has not contemplated peeing on a hydrant, or assaulting the mailman?"

She looks over to Lily with a ridiculous grin, a silent question as to whether she wants to move on or if she should continue her nonsensical tirade.

Lily could not look less amused. Her eyes are narrowed, brow furrowed, and lip twitching as she boils in anger. It is pretty obvious that she is used to getting her way.

"You think you’re really clever, don’t you? Did you hope your little show would push the right buttons and get me to reveal something about myself that would lead you to victory? Well you’re wrong. I am not some sad little damsel that the world took advantage of. I am the monster that mothers warn their children about! You and Bastet belong with each other. You’re both.... such..." Lily slowly rises to her feet, face turning red as her voice grows louder. She catches herself, closes her eyes and calms back down before continuing. "You’re pathetic." She vanishes. No puff of smoke. No theatrics. There one second and gone the next.

The classroom around you slowly fades away and you find yourself inside of Maddy’s! tea shop. The two officers that were stationed outside have their guns drawn on you and are shouting for you to drop the money down and put your hands up.

Looking down you see the store’s safe is open. You are holding a clear plastic bag stuffed to the brim with stolen cash.

‘Is your sense of humor going to get you out of this, Miss Direction?’ Lily telepathically taunts you.

---

Dice Pool Limit: 5
Miss Direction --- 2 HP

Threat Rating
Mooks: Cops --- 2

Optional Objective
Talk your way out of this --- 3
Run for it! --- 1

Miss Direction's first though is in response to Lily's taunt. 'Probably.' Promptly followed by the thought, "Well ain't this a pickle," which emerges when the gravity of the situation hits her.

She looks at the bag of money in her hands, easily the largest amount of actual cash she's ever held, which is kind of cool if it weren't for the illegality of the whole situation. She then looks at the cops, pointing guns at her and growing incredibly more frustrated with her lack of compliance.

She could run, but how would her reputation suffer from having two officers of the law swear that she had attempted to steal from an adorable little tea shop, only to be caught in the act. Not a good look.

She puts a hand on her hip and lets out an amused laugh. "If this ain't a doozy, boys." she calls to them, shaking her head like she were reacting to some silly joke they'd told her. "Don't suppose either of you recall an older lady sitting in here a few minutes ago? Bit droopy faced, wearing that whole five-buck palm-reading psychic get-up?"

More requests to freeze, which she responds to by setting the bag of money down on the table like their having a conversation. "No, I mean like really weird looking. Not only that, but you folks were frozen in time, we had a cup of tea, and then suddenly she's my teacher which brought up some really confusing feelings." She chuckles. "Turns out she doesn't like Shakespeare either. Who knew?"

"Sounds pretty far-fetched I know, but Medium Madam is no joke." Hopefully the name drop would lend credence to her story, but she was prepared to blast them with a spotlight and make a run for it if they didn't buy it.

The cops immediately stop talking when you mention the Medium Madam. They give each other a serious look and lower their weapons. The older of the two motions for you come over and talk to him while the other officer heads outside to radio the dispatcher.

"It may sound far fetched, but it certainly helps us connect some dots, young lady." He takes a deep sign and shakes his head. "You came walking in out of the shadows about 10 minutes ago with this blank look in your eyes. Thought you just came from one of them raves. Kids still like those? Anyways, we watched you walk up to the building and pull this glass cutting tool out of thin air. We jumped out of the cars went to try and stop you, but you ignored all of our commands. Next thing we know, you’re reaching through a hole in the glass that doesn't seem to actually be there and unlocking the door!

"We tried to follow you through, but it was locked for us. Had to get approval to break our way in while you were cracking the safe using some over sized megaphone to hear the clicks of the spinner lock. You’re that Miss Direction that took down Matchstick, right? Good job on that, by the way. Glad to see you didn’t go and turn evil on us." He takes out a notebook and pencil. "I should probably get a statement, if you don’t mind. Oh man, you’re on a timer or something aren’t you? Do you know where Bastet is hitting next? I could call ahead and get some more officers into position."

Miss Direction heaves a dramatic sigh of relief as the police accept her story. All true, of course, but she was a rambling mess after being trapped inside of her own mind.

'Note to self. See a therapist and deal with high-school trauma.' she thinks, filing that away as she moves towards the officers.

"Interesting to hear what it looked like from the other side." she tells them. "And do I look like the kind of girl that goes to parties?" she jests, tossing her head dramatically to make her hat jingle. She smiles. "Sorry. Hard to take things seriously when your dressed like a clown from the middle ages. But, yeah, I'm 'that Miss Direction'."

Their question about the next location makes her furrow her brow. "Either of you boys got the time? I'm afraid my costume doesn't include a watch, and having your head messed with can really throw off your sense of time."

The officer looks like he is going to question you, but decides it is best to leave strange mind control business to the superheroes. "It’s 7 AM." He sees your mild look of surprise and takes a closer look at his watch. "7:02, technically. Did you need the time down to the second?"

Everything that transpired with the Medium Madam happened within a single minute of real time. It is a somewhat disturbing thought, but at the very least it gives you plenty of time to prepare for the next stop on Bastet’s series of criminal activities that only sort of resemble heists.

Miss Direction shakes her head. "No, its just that... well, I expected it to be much later. This heist, if you could really call it that, only started at 7."

She takes a deep breath and shakes away a bit of the nerves from that realization. "I've got time for a statement, if you still have questions, but for reasons I think we all recognize, I can't allow myself to be held up for long."

You sit with the officer for around 10-15 minutes, answering the questions they have. Ultimately they feel like there isn’t going to be much they can do about what took place. No one has seen the Medium Madam in person since she escaped from captivity, but he lets you know that this information will be going to the Task Force to help them develop ways of combating her powers. He thanks you for your time and wishes you good luck at the next destination.

You arrive in the area of the Queen’s Tart Bakery with plenty of time to spare and do some general scouting. The bakery is very small. A mom and pop store that you are surprised to find is open for business despite the threat of burglary by a legendary thief. A friendly looking old woman is at the register and you’ve seen one or two employees come in from the back where they are working on various deserts.

Nothing about this screams high value heist target. You mentally go over the clues again, trying to make sure this is the right place and the right time. Everything seems to fit, but what purpose would hitting this place have? None of the other locations have been about financial gain. There is the possibility that this one isn’t either.

After studying the bakery and finding nothing nefarious, you turn your attention outward. The side of the street that the bakery is on is a solid row of similar mom and pop type shops. No help there. Directly across the street from the bakery, however, is a fairly good sized bank.

You have plenty of time left to prepare; once you decide what you’re preparing for. Did you tip the cops off that this was the final location and time? Do you think Bastet aims to hit the bank, or is the bakery still your focus? What additional prep do you do to prepare for whatever it is she has planned?

Miss Direction kicks her legs as she sits on the edge of the roof of a nearby building as she contemplates her options. After her run-in with Medium Madam, she was not adverse to having back-up, something she told the police on the scene. However, she also explained that the first heist, she had to spend too much of her time getting the two police officers that were already there to safety to prevent much of the collateral damage (Not necessarily true, but it helped her make her next point). She would only tell them the next location and time, if they promised to show up at the time she told them to. To give her time to figure things out, and make sure they weren't going to be in any danger.

She elected to tell them to arrive at the bakery at 11:30. That should give her time, but hopefully wouldn't be too long, and they'd only find her corpse and a ruined street. She sighed. The best course of action, she thought, would be to wait atop the bank's roof. From there, she could watch the bakery for signs that something had changed, and would likely be able to hear any alarms that sounded inside of the bank.

Besides, Bastet was a cat burglar to the nth degree. She wouldn't be walking in the bank's front door. A rooftop entrance seemed more her style.

Taking a few minutes after making her way up to the top of the bank, she gently prods at the bandaged flesh beneath her costume. She was lucky that Medium Madam hadn't torn anything loose and reopened her wounds, but she had a feeling that this fight, or whatever it was going to be, with Bastet was going to require a lot of moving around. Seeing that everything was where it should be, she patrols the rooftop, constantly looking over the edge of the building where the bakery sat across the street.

About five minutes to 11, two separate events in two separate locations catch your attention. You hear a soft thud upon the roof and swing your head around in that direction. You don’t see anything. Turning back to the bakery you see someone enter through the front door. There have been several customers already during this stakeout, but this one in particular caught your eye because they were holding an umbrella which blocked your view of them. A strange accessory on a bright sunny day.

From behind you, in the direction of the roof access door to the bank, you hear the familiar sound of a lock clicking open. Turning back to the bakery, you see the person with the umbrella has chosen to keep it open even while inside talking to the clerk. The clerk seems very happy to talk to them and after a moment, motions for them to come around the counter and enter the backroom of the bakery where you lose sight of them.

Miss Direction is suddenly caught between a rock and a hard place, or, more specifically, two separate heists. She feels like cursing under her breath but it feels somehow wrong to do so. Probably just a trick of the Mask.

She sighed. She would have to pick what would clearly be the greater evil here. Whoever was in the bakery didn't seem an immediate threat. It could just be an odd customer at this time. Whoever was going into the bank's roof entrance, however, was clearly a criminal.

Turning on her heel, Miss Direction makes a break for the rooftop entrance to catch the intruder in the act.

Coming around the corner you peer through the open door and get a look at another one of the goons you encountered at the Caterpillar heist. Dressed head to toe in black, the man is clearly hopped up on something. Unlike the earlier ones, he does not have a manic smile on his face. His eyes are still wide and bloodshot, but the rest of his face is deathly seriously. A picture perfect example of stoic focus on the task at hand.

He has some sort of electronic device in his hand that he must have used to bypass the lock on the door. Now he has it plugged into the security system for the bank. You notice the red light on a nearby security camera turns off and the camera droops downward after powering down. It appears that he has to go through the security systems one by one to shut them down. At the moment, he also seems completely oblivious to your presence.

Just as you are about to make your move you hear what can best be described as a fleet of cars screeching to a stop outside the bank entrance. Car doors open and the steady smack of combat boots on tarmac rings out until all the mooks are inside the bank. That's when you hear shouting of orders to "EVERYBODY DOWN ON THE GROUND OR I FILL YA WITH LEAD!"

---

Dice Pool Limit: 7
Miss Direction --- 2 HP

Threat Rating
Mooks: Laser Focused Bank Robbers --- 15

Optional Objective
Take out the security expert before he takes too much offline --- 1
Get the hostages to safety --- 15 (3 Round time Limit)

Maybe its the lack of sleep or the fact that she is usually out of her costume by dawn, but this whole situation sets something off within Miss Direction that she was unaware could be set off. With a look of grim determination, she sneaks deftly up behind the tech expert and takes him out with a solid jab to the side of the head with her elbow.

She immediately regrets this and grabs her elbow and suppresses the groan of pain as a nerve is triggered, making her entire arm feel as though it is filled with static numbness for a solid second.

That threat dealt with, she makes her way out the door of the office they were standing in. Swinging the door open, she could see that she was on the second floor of the bank, where many of the offices were. Made sense. Sneaking her way closer to the edge of the balcony/landing she was on, she hides behind one of the large pillars that gave the bank a very classical look. Looking down, she could see the group of jack-booted thugs making their way through the first floor of the bank with an almost impressive, military efficiency.

Well. She might as well get to work.

"COME ONE, COME ALL!" cries the voice of the omnipresent announcer, causing a great many heads (both mook and hostage) to turn and look for the source. All they can see are the lights being blocked out by what looked to be the same fabric used for big-top circus tents. It draped along the ceiling to create a room-shape not unlike a large, rectangular tent, and the thick fabric falls along the walls and pillars to accentuate the appearance. "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to introduce today's featured performer! Straight from the scene of another failed heist! It's MIIIIIIIISS DIRECTION!!!!"

There is no fake applause to accompany her appearance at the top of the grand staircase (now lined with a thick red carpet). Only the sound of dreadful, almost mournful, circus music. She wore no smile as she descended, though they wouldn't be able to see it if she was. She still wore that look of grim determination, hidden under the Jester's Mask that now fully obscured her face. Her hands moved intricately, weaving around her tendrils of cards that circled and danced in impossible ways as she assessed the scene.

"Now this is no way to act boys." she chastises them in an imperious voice, which sounds so unlike her own that she had to wonder if she was really the one to speak. "Strutting around like you own the place. Threatening these poor, innocent people." She tuts. "Just won't do."

It doesn't take long for some of the thugs to wise up and try to shoot at her. Her massive shield of cards takes care of the bullets heading her way. Or, at least, that is their purpose.

Her first order of business is to get the hostages out. Hopefully the thugs were too busy looking at her to realize that the fabric covering the building was moving on its own. When the mooks weren't looking, the fabric would woosh in, covering the hostage and making them vanish like the police officers before. She couldn't trust that there weren't more thugs outside, so she put them in the office upstairs that she had locked behind her.