The Mysterious Miss Direction - vol. 01

Your sister-in-law, Natalie, gives you a suspicious look and excuses herself to make a fresh pot of coffee. Your mother, on the other hand, eats up the story with a smile on her face. It is a nice welcome distraction from what is going on with your father. When you finish you can see the worry start to seep back into her face, but she seems to let your injuries go.

The doorbell rings and you get up to answer it. You are a little surprised to see Officer Bailey standing there. "Morning ma’am. Is it alright if I come in?" You step aside and Bailey walks into the house. He introduces himself and you do the same before both of you return to the living room. Natalie was just putting fresh cups of coffee out for everyone and when she sees Bailey, she excuses herself once more to pour one more cup.

Your mother tenses as she waits for information from Officer Bailey. "I have a bit of an update, but I’ll start off by saying we haven’t been able to locate your husband just yet. We have him on video though. Surveillance at an ATM. He looks unharmed and in good health. No one was with him and he appears to be acting more or less normal.

"He attempted to withdraw a large sum of money from your joint savings account. Luckily, thanks to a tip from a local superhero, we had a hunch this might happen and had the bank on the lookout for any suspicious activity. He was not able to successfully complete the withdrawal." This does not seem to comfort your mother as much as Bailey had hoped. If anything she looks remarkably confused.

"See, uh, this is difficult to say, ma’am. Your husband has been targeted by the Medium Madam. We’re unsure why and he’s not the only one. She’s used this mind control to empty life savings scam before so we were able to get ahead of it but she is keeping them on the move. Don’t worry. We won’t stop until we find your husband."

Your mother is left speechless. It's not everyday that you're told your husband’s mind has been taken over by an incredibly dangerous super villain. Officer Bailey takes out his notepad and turns to face you.

"Holly Morton, you said? The daughter? Do you mind providing a few official words? Anything you know that might help us out. Starting with the last time you spoke to your father?"

Holly does her best to sound the part of the distraught and in-over-her-head daughter. "Me? Words? Uh- yeah.... yeah, sure." she begins.

"I haven't spoken with my father since... last Tuesday I think it was? I stopped by the his pawn shop to look at some old books he was telling me about, and, of course, to catch up with him. He didn't tell me anything out of the ordinary, I don't think. Just complained about things that his generation were always complaining about that I've sort of come to tune out anymore. Something about gas prices and..." a thought seems to occur to her. "Dad used to be a magician! Could that be why she'd be interested in him?"

Officer Bailey’s eyes turn upward as he thinks over your father’s background. "That’s an interesting theory. It wouldn’t exactly fit her M.O. though. The Madam tends to go after upper middle class targets. Guys that have money but not enough that they are going to have armed guards following them. No offense, but we are having a tough time figuring out exactly why she targeted your father and this gentlemen who works over at the Museum of Natural History. Neither of them have the money or access to information that she typically looks to steal. Thank you for your time, Ms. Morton."

You glance over at your mother and Natalie. Both of their eyes are a bit wide after hearing your place of business brought up in connection to another victim of the Medium Madame.

Bailey gets up to leave but turns back to you. "I’ll leave my card here. Do you mind giving me your home and work phone numbers in case I have any additional questions? Where was it you said you worked, by the way? I don’t seem to have it written down here."

A number of panicked profanities run through Holly's mind. Maybe coming over to her mother's house was the last thing she should have done.

She tries to keep the ruse going, hoping that Officer Bailey would be too distracted to notice. "I- uh... I work at the Museum..." she tells him meekly.

Officer Bailey was all ready to head out but he stops dead in his tracks and just stares at you. Every single eye in the room is locked on you for what seems like the longest, most silent eternity that could possibly exist. Bailey finally breaks the silence by asking, "You work at the Crowfall Museum of Natural History? You work with Jonas Parks?" When you confirm this, Officer Bailey holds up one finger asking for you all to hold for a minute. He steps out of the living room and gets on his radio, leaving you alone with your mother and sister-in-law.

You only have about 30 seconds to discuss anything with them before Bailey returns. He locks eyes with you and motions to get up and follow him. "I’m going to need to talk with you in private." He makes his way toward the kitchen, making sure you get up and follow him. "Apologies, ma’am. I hope you’ll understand that in order to properly do my job and locate your husband as quick as possible I will need to talk things over with Holly one on one." Your mother tries to protest, but Natalie stops her and starts working to calm her down.

Once in the kitchen, Bailey sits you down at the table. He decides to continue to pace about as he asks questions. "I hope you realize you are note in trouble or suspected of any wrongdoing at this time. But right now you are the only link between the two individuals that the Madam has taken control over. I need to know everything you know. Anything that could possibly explain what is going on and how we can put a stop to it. Starting with whether or not you knew Jonas Parks was missing before I informed you, what your relationship with him was like, and what was discussed the last time you spoke with him."

Holly closes the door behind her, looking nervous and frightened for the benefit of her mother and sister-in-law up until the door closes. When she knows that it is just her and the officer, she gestures to one of the wooden chairs at the small kitchen table. "You're going to want to take a seat, Officer. We may be here awhile." She hopes the severity in her voice lets him know that she believes him in that she is not in trouble, and that, in this situation, they are on equal footing.

Taking a seat herself, she leans back and lets out a deep breath. "Let me start by answering your questions in reverse, because I think that's going to make this easier to spit out. The last thing I discussed with Mr. Parks was the importance of a gala I was attending on behalf of the Museum, after I had procured a rather large donation for the Museum from a Mr. Avery. It was not his choice that I go, because he and I have a rather rocky relationship. Being that he is an insufferable man with ridiculous expectations and I do not live up to any of his standards, we have a hard time seeing eye-to-eye," she explains in a very matter-of-fact, almost annoyed fashion. Not that she was annoyed with him, but she was about to do something that every comic book she had ever read (which were many since she began her journey into the land of herodom) told her was a terrible idea.

"As to whether I knew about his appearance before you said so, yes, I did. That is why I contacted you this morning to look into it..." she gives him a few seconds put the pieces together. Hopefully he wouldn't need more than that, or her hopes that her father would be found would be crushed.

It takes Bailey a few moments but his eyes grow wide as he comes to the realization that you are Miss Direction. He takes off his hat, lies it on the table, and runs his hands through his hair. "Oh man, this is so above my pay grade." He may be overwhelmed but Bailey is a professional. He puts his hat back on, picks his pen up, and gets back to work.

"I’m not going to out you in my reports, so don’t worry about that. Anything you say is off the record. Crowfall PD has some unwritten rules for how to deal with situations like this. We protect our allies. Now let’s get down to business.

"I am assuming if she gave you any hint of her intent, you would have already shared it with me. Do you guys have some kind of history that the public isn’t aware of? I thought you were pretty new on the scene, but the Madam seems to be holding a grudge directly going after people you know... you should probably give me a list of anyone else she might target. People we can get eyes on and maybe even try to get to a safe and secure location. If we do this, I can’t guarantee we can keep your identity under wraps though."

Holly pinches the bridge of her nose as she leans forward. "I appreciate that, I really do." she tells him. "And I do think I have some ideas as to why she's doing this. She pulled those two from my memories, threatening them if I didn't comply, but it didn't seem like she could find much more than them. I complied with her mind games, but kept butting against the limits of her control. I think this all may be punishment for that." Wrapping her arms around herself, she shakes her head. "The entire time, she kept trying to make me admit that I wasn't doing this out of a desire to help people, and wanted to see what limits I would go to to protect the people who were close to me. And I will say that last night was the first night I had met her, so there's no outstanding history there..."

"She probably knows more about my family now, if she can pull from my father's memories, and may know more about my workplace. Its possible that she could put two and two together and figure out my identity, and I don't doubt that she would use that against me. Its strange to say, but she doesn't seem to have the same sense of honor as the rest of Devilment, Inc. She seemed to think that Bastet and I were perfect for each other." Running her hands through her hair, she looks at Bailey. "Do you want any coffee? I know I could go for a cup."

"I have a feeling I’m going to need coffee running through my veins until this whole thing is over and dealt with." Bailey takes a minute to think over what you said while you pour two more cups. He thanks you when you hand him the mug.

"Here’s what I’m thinking. As far as your family is concerned, we run with the ‘Madam is targeting your father because of his magician past’ angle. We tell them that it is necessary we get everyone to someplace remote, secure, and safe. This means getting them out of the city and having an officer on guard duty. The Madam is crazy powerful but her range isn’t unlimited. Once they are out of the city, they should be safe. We’ll make it seem like you’re going into protective custody as well, but you’ll actually be getting into character and coming downtown. The second we get a location on your father, Mr. Parks, of anyone connected to Devilment, you’ll be the first to know."

"I like the plan, but I can see a few holes. If my family is going into protective custody, I could see them wanting to know my location. You know, the whole, families stick together thing. We need a way to ensure that there is a reason I would be being kept separate or staying behind entirely..." she muses as she contemplates the inside of her coffee mug.

"I got it," she tells him, perking up. "Madam is making a big move. She's not just targeting my father, but every professional magician or similar performer in the city. Why is she doing this? Because of a supposed artifact that has come into the museum's possession (hence why she took Jonas too). I need to stay behind to figure out the link between the magician's and the artifacts." She nods to herself as she thinks it over. "We can assure my family that I'll be protected as well, but I have to stay behind to help the cause, as it were. I won't have any trouble convincing my mother of this, and she'll be happy that someone in the family is working towards bringing my father home."

She finally stops rambling to look at Bailey. "What do you think? Too over the top, or do you think it would work?"

Officer Bailey nods his head in agreement as you lay out the modified plan. "That’s perfect. Solid reasoning that they shouldn’t question while pulling on emotional connections enough that they shouldn't question why you have to stay in the city. I’m going to head out front and radio to HQ to get some transport vehicles ready. I’ll leave it to you to explain everything to your family. I think they’ll take it better from you. If there is anyone else you think should be put into safety, now would be the time to let me know."

Once that is settled the two of you head back to the kitchen. Bailey excuses himself and heads out to his squad car. As he exits, he nearly runs head first into your brother Patrick who is just now arriving. Patrick rushes to your mother’s side and gives her a big hug but soon enough all eyes are back on you as they wait for you to explain what you discussed in private with Bailey.

"Not unless you think the Avery's or any of my coworkers at the museum could be targeted." Holly tells him.

She wasn't dreading talking to her family, exactly. It was the lying she was unsure of. Not that her mother would be able to tell the difference. On any other day, maybe, but not with her being so distraught. She told them about what she believed to be going on. Dad was targeted because of his role as a magician way back when, and probably for offering lessons now. There was an artifact at work she had gotten that Bailey believes could be the key to it all (hence why her boss was taken) and that, not only did she need to stay behind to help them figure out the bigger plot behind all of this and help bring home all of those taken by Medium Madam, but they were going to have to go into protective custody, along with the families of other abductees, to ensure that they would be safe from her influence.

It went about as well as could be expected. No one likes to have their live upended in such an efficient manner after all, and Holly's mother was not pleased that her daughter was going to have to put herself in harm's way during all of this. She made sure to point out the fact that Holly couldn't even win a fight against a flight of stairs, to which Holly retorted that she wouldn't be fighting, and she would be under constant police protection during the investigation.

Her brother was adamant that he stay as well, though Holly immediately shot him down by stating that he would only get in the way and make things harder for the police. Natalie didn't care much for that. Not that she wanted him to stay either, but Holly had no cause for being so rude about it all. This resulted in a small spat between the two, a common occurrence at family gatherings as Natalie was incredibly protective of her husband, and Holly loved to remind her that she married a literal clown, but this fight was compounded with the building stress of having a family member go missing and then being told that your life wasn't done changing for the worse.

Normally, Holly's mother would be putting a stop to this fight, but she had been through too much to put her foot down. It eventually fell to Holly, who brought back to the light the fact that she didn't want to have to put herself into harm's way, but right now, she was the best chance of ever seeing Dad again.

Again, that went as well as expected. Natalie was silenced, her mother was crying, and her brother was doing his best to comfort her. However, they all seemed to get the idea. She gives her mother one last hug, and heads out the door.

By the time you step foot on the front lawn, several more police vehicles have arrived to take your family to safety. Officer Bailey opens the passenger door to his cruiser for you and the two of you set off for a long, silent, and tense ride back to Crowfall police HQ.

Once you arrive, Bailey makes a beeline for the coffee pot but then shows you to an empty office where you can ‘get into character.’ He says he’ll be back in a few minutes. Not more then a few seconds after putting on the mask you can feel the shift in reality all around you.

You spin around but the room looks the same. Concentrating for a moment you realize how silent it has become. The noise of a busy police department on the other side of the door has vanished. You try the door knob but it won’t budge. It isn’t that it is locked; the door knob seems welded in place.

A phone begins to ring. You turn around and see an old fashion rotary phone laying in the middle of the otherwise empty room. It does not appear to be connected to anything but you have no doubt of who will greet you on the other end of the line when you pick it up.

"Good morning, Holly. Shame on you for going to the cops. Bastet wouldn’t approve of that strategy. She feels battles between supers are an intimate affair that normal folk just cannot understand. She’d be so disappointed that you asked for outsider help. Then again, she wouldn’t like my toying with you either. But I won’t tell, if you don’t."

"Not really sure I can say I care what Bastet thinks of me, Lily. What I do care about is the fact that this battle has strayed from normal super-antics to a personal attack on those close to me." she informs her adversary in a terse tone, though still slipping into her Miss Direction voice, just in case Madam was already making her make a fool of herself in front of the entire police force. She takes a deep breath.

"So, should I take this as a hostage negotiation, or am I free to return to reality? I am also fine with moving along to the whole final confrontation thing, but you seem the type to want to drag things out."

"You can pretend to not be afraid of me all you want, but don’t forget I can feel your heartbeat. I know just how scared daddy’s little girl is." The phone vanishes from existence and you can feel the Madam leave your mind just as the door behind you opens.

Officer Bailey enters the room holding two cups of coffee. He shuts the door behind him and offers you one of the cups.

"You want to negotiate? Fine by me." She is speaking directly into your mind. It is clear Bailey is not hearing this. "If you want these two men returned unharmed, I am going to need you to stoop down to my level. I want you to do something bad. Something you won’t like at all. Kill Bailey right now and I’ll set both of them free."

She cackles inside your head. "I didn’t think you’d go for that one. You’re clearly not ready for the deep end of villainy just yet. How about another heist?" Bailey starts to look at you strangely, as it is clear your mind is elsewhere. "I want everything the cops have on me. Get into their file storage room. I don’t care how. Get me those files, make sure any copies are destroyed, and I’ll let the hostage of your choice go free."

She clenches her fists at her sides, taking in a deep breath to keep herself from trying to claw out the voice inside of her head. She knew it wasn't going to do her any good. How had she found herself completely at this woman's mercy?

She knew. She hadn't taken Lily's threats seriously in the beginning. She had butted against her control and made herself an annoyance to a woman whose limits she didn't know.

Now, not only was she paying for it, but so were the hostages. She looks at Bailey as he sets down the cups of coffee, refusing to let frustrated tears fill her eyes. "I need to see everything you have on Medium Madam."

Officer Bailey gives a nod of recognition. His head motions toward the doorway. "Right down to business. I can respect that." He leads you to a stairwell at the rear of the building and the two of you walk all the way down to the basement. There is an Officer at the restricted access entry to the storage room who looks up from his newspaper but goes back to reading when he sees Bailey. He doesn’t give you a second glance.

Bailey leads you inside and the heavy steel door shuts behind you with a loud thunk. He leads you down several rows of tall filing cabinets until you get the ‘G’ section. You open the drawer and locate a very large file tabbed Graham, Lily (Medium Madame). The three ring binder holds hundreds of pages of information on the well known criminal.

Officer Bailey points to a simple folding table and chair located by the steel entrance door. "If you want, we can check it out and take it back upstairs."

Miss direction holds the binder with both arms. It was a rather hefty volume, and she felt a deep pit in her stomach as she thought about what she had to do. She looked back to Bailey as he gave her the opportunity to return to the room upstairs. "I think that would be preferable. I'll need some time to look over these documents. I want to know everything that she has done," she tells him. Madam hadn't said anything about reading the documents herself. She also hadn't given a time limit. All that mattered was that the documents were destroyed... eventually.

Maybe, in the meantime, she would be able to figure out some weakness of the incredibly powerful super, or, at least, have time to think of a loophole.

Officer Bailey takes you back up to the private office. "If I get any information that I think can help, I’ll let you know right away." And you find yourself alone once more. Well, mostly alone.

"I’ll give you a little freebie before you go diving into that binder," the Madam chimes back into your head. "Diving through someone’s mind to find specific information is a difficult and tiresome task. Something about you seems to make it even more difficult than normal. I wonder if that binder discloses just how much easier it is to gleam thoughts that are closer to the surface?

"I’ve gotten some basic facts about you from your father and boss. The way I see it, this makes us even, since you know the publicly available information about myself. If you start reading through that binder, that scale will tip to one side and I certainly cannot have that. Luckily, reading specific information about me should bring interesting personal memories to the surface of your mind. So for everything you learn about me, I'll get to learn something about you. Read away, darling. I have nothing to hide. Do you?"

Miss Direction's lips purse in frustration as she slams the cover of the binder closed. She had no interest in divulging more of her life to this woman. She knew that she would somehow find a way to turn it against her, and likely in some terrible and ironic way. She could attempt deception, but any plan she came up with would be at the forefront of her mind, where Madam would easily be able to find it.

She leans back dangerously in the chair, wracking her mind for a solution where she comes out on top... but there isn't one. Not an easy one, at least.

She stands from the desk, opening the door and peaking out. Luckily, a younger police officer is striding by with an armful of coff- oof. Ouch, that looks painful. She rushes out of the room to help the poor guy up, apologizing profusely from hitting him with the door. His burns are pretty minor, resulting in some little red patches and a mostly ruined uniform. She gets him some help, as she felt terrible asking him for anything, but he seems more confused than anything about a newbie super hero just popping out of nowhere and suddenly trying to find him first aid.

Once that situation is settled, she sends him off with someone to help him out and asks another nearby officer to fetch Bailey for her. She returns to the room to wait.