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Cu Chulainn Beagle's Auction House is one of the finest old auction houses in Washington, DC. The rich and famous all over use the old reworked building to sell their antiques and valuables. The building is wood and stone, aesthetically pleasing and fitting well into the historic district it lies in. The front entrance is big double doors, and there's a loading dock in the back, likely leading to the basement storage area.

But tonight is not a pleasant night for the auction house. It's very late in the evening, when it would have closed up and few businesses in the area would still be open. It happened fast, six men and women in masks of dead presidents broke into the building, expecting little resistance. They didn't expect the silent alarm that was recently installed, alerting the police to the heist. Normally, the police would handle this, save the hostages - two security guards and an employee who was working late on the catalog.

But, as those nearby who filmed it would report, Abraham Lincoln (or the person wearing his face, anyways) dealt with the response of several police cars by throwing a handful of shiny gems, which detonated into very big, very bright explosions. As a result, several cars are damaged, one is overturned from being at the epicenter, and several police officers are injured. Due to the hostages, the police are holding a perimeter with SWAT, as the hostage negotiator prepares to set up.

But this is magecraft. And there's specific people who deal with mages out there, who are supposed to stop incidents like this. Felt Haddask, who was in the area and therefore the closest operative to be assigned to the mission, has contacted several allies (though obviously it's reaching the news too, for those who aren't Paladins). He's hoping to contain this before it gets too big, and find out why the hell these mages are stooping to such crimes and going loud in the process.

There's a few entrances into the main building. There's the front entrance, which leads into a reception area, a side entrance which leads into a hall, and then the loading dock in the back, which leads to the basement storage area. Felt's assuming that they're mixed up over the building, so it might be good to have people take several paths together.

Felt and Cu have decided to handle witness control, so they'll leave the others to take their own assault inwards and handle the thieves. Lethal or nonlethal, depending on if they want to interrogate the thieves.
Foreigner      There's a handsome man up in the front row.

     He's unearthly. Beautiful. His smile, his face, his hair, his stance, it's all refined and elegant in ways that normal people simply aren't. On his lap is one of the auction cards. Nobody's bothered him; nobody's noticed that he's still there, long after the lights went out. They go by him as if he's invisible, not because he is, but because it's better than noticing him, because the subtle little animal brain in the back of their minds tells them to *stay away* and *avoid looking at Seat 3B*. Throughout the auctions he was pleasant, quiet, laughing and joking with an odd pale gentleman in a white suit and a few of the refined and upper-class ladies of the District of Columbia. He was knowledgeable of history, chatting cheerfully about the days before the Civil War as if he'd personally been there. He mentioned a deep fondness for Abraham Lincoln and a deep pleasure for the steam boat, and he lamented the lack of values in modern America with the ladies in the manner that only an old elite could. He even dressed the part, in an old-style American Naval uniform, replete with cape and cane alike, a cane that the animal hindbrains of the workers have been avoiding looking at all evening, too, because they're sure the wood...coils. And writhes. And that just can't be.

     The mages break inside. The man stands up from his seat. The pale-skinned man next to him does the same.

     "Ichabod," Foreigner says calmly, "I believe we're hostages."

     "Yes, Father," the pale-skinned man burbles.

     "We should go present ourselves, don't you think?"

     "Yes, Father."

     So the Foreigner and his son stroll through the halls. The cane is tucked under his arm. He's whistling a jaunty, cheerful New England tune, something cheerful and old that nobody alive would recognize, something popular in his day. Ichabod walks behind him, apparently unarmed.

     The Foreigner stops in front of the Abraham Lincoln mask. Without a hint of fear in his eyes - indeed, with eyes full of wild, brilliant, and unbelievable madness - he peers into the mask.

     "My word."

     "That's quite a likeness, sir."

     He steps back and bows. "I am the Foreigner. This is my son, Ichabod. I believe you missed us when you were taking hostages. A dreadful mistake. Good manners demand I rectify it."

     Foreigner stands, his smile broad. "Please, young man. Tell me where you need us to go. We'll be ever so cooperative."

     "Ever so cooperative," Ichabod burbles in agreement. He sighs. He'd rather be somewhere else right now. But Father knows best. Father always knows best.
Ryouma Sakamoto     A detective is not, technically, a cop.
    In fact Ryouma would be hard-pressed to prove he has any sort of legal authority except that given to him by the Paladins. Being a detective is more of a hobby. But sometimes that's fine too.

    "I... I feel intense inner conflict about fighting Abraham Lincoln," Ryouma says, as he collects the accounts of some witnesses and generally gets himself situated.

    "Oryou always wanted to punch someone famous," the woman by his side says, and for a change, she is walking. This... is not as inconspicuous as it seems, because the concrete and asphalt under her hair, as it trails, is scratching. That's still easier to hide than a floating woman, though.

    "Ah, no, no, please, I don't want to get off on the wrong foot with him, Oryou." Then Ryouma pauses, and looks at the building, a sudden but brief seriousness in his eyes. But he smiles and adjusts his hat, afterwards. "Ah, and you feel that, don't you?"

    Oryou shrugs.

    "I guess that's just our luck. I'm sure it'll work out. Come on, let's go say hello. And please try to look harmless," Ryouma says.

    "Oryou promises not to take the first bite," she answers.

    "That's oddly specific but I'll take it," Ryouma answers.

    Then he makes for the front door, Oryou walking behind him. Neither are armed, and Ryouma's weapons aren't even materialized yet.
Thomas Alva Edison     An explosion sounds from somewhere in DC.

    Slowly looking up from his desk, he looks towards an aid, who immediately is already running to wheel out a DC powered TV. Edison watches the story unfold, a frown coming to his very lion-like lips. Taking a breath, and standing up, motiniong towards the Aids to get their butts moving.

    A small time later...

    Thomas Alva Edison arrives on the scene, as his robotic Secret Service starts fanning out aiming to support and aid the local authorities, as Edison himself is aiming to find the person in charge of the local police, so he could take proper command. Yes, this is not something that is common, but it falls under the powers he was granted...these are not common theaves and murderers...oh no, if they were THESE things...

    Taking a microphone, he speaks into it. "This is Presiking Thomas Alva Edison, to the terrorist forces inside. I have been sent here to hear your demands, and aim to solve this hostage situation with no blood shed. I would hear your list of demands, so I seek to send a represenitive of our side to you, as you send one to us to meet where each of us has site on the other." he says, calmly, in the statesman voice.
Nie Li     How in all of the heavens and the earth did THIS happen? Nie Li had just gotten done selling a fortune in strange monster parts and loot for some gold coins in one world and had been passing through earlier, hearing there's an upcoming auction for some 'priceless treasures'. The fancy, modern, urban environment had been wondrous to behold, but in the dead of night there weren't going to be any auctions!

    So he did the sensible thing, and was lounging on a spot on the building's roof. How the hell he got up there is anyone's guess, but then...

    KABOOM KABOOM! The youth - who'd been seated Quarter Lotus style, quietly meditating and cultivating while waiting for sunrise - stands up straight and watches the proceedings...

    It doesn't take a lot of thinking to realize this is lethal criminal activity when MAGIC BOMB JEWELS are deployed in the hecticness. But in the many minutes that Nie Li could've been taking action... well.

    He hasn't. Instead he's waited and watched, and focused his senses to hear bits and pieces of conversations on the ground...

    A look of determination and fierce focus rises on his face. Nie Li's irises shift from blue to an empty blackness, and in the next moment... he just fades out.

    Of course, he's not gone. He's entered Void Form, his aura all but fully suppressed alongside it, and uses the moment to leap off the roof and head through the main entrance, quickly seeking out any cover he can use before releasing Void Form to prepare his next move.

    After all, to simply do NOTHING while innocent lives are being used as bargaining chips right in front of him is inexcusable.

    "This isn't going to be easy. These building layouts are too weird..."
Orchid      One of the things Orchid does when on duty but not in the field is to monitor various feeds. True, the multiverse is big, but some worlds tend to garner more... interest than others. So a high stakes heist, in a world where she's been active before, drew her attention, more so for its location in one of the world's capital cities.

     Then came the magic attack.

     Orchid knew about the world's 'masquerade', so she didn't wait to be called, before flying in on her rocket surfboard. She's got a bit of stealth on her side, skating under the radar, and may just seem like a streak in the night as she glides to the roof. Once there, she will release drones, attempting to patch herself into the building's surveillance systems. Or at least, she is attempting to get a map of the building interior.
Tomoe This was a place Tomoe would never be going unless it was to sell something off she's dug up whose knows where. Well if she could dodge the local, law about artifacts and imports to the states. Still, it was a place she didn't think she'd ever really go. Well, the call for help here kinda went out. Her clothing is far more modern and her hairs been done up in such a way to hide her ears. Sure she could go as Sheena but she'd be vulnerable to attack before she changed so she chose with this 'disguise' if you could call it that, once she's in out of view though she'll summon a hovering menu and her outfit will change back to her combat armour.

Its also a hostage situation. She speaks over the comm quietly as she works her way in very aware that they are dealing with mages. There's an old barbarian character she thinks of from a book she read who just hated magic users and she could get where he was coming from all right. Who knows what could be laying in wait here.
Cu Chulainn Inside, there are six criminals. Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, Nixon, and Reagan. As they filter through the building, they split up - it was supposed be two to the hostages, four to the freight elevator in the staging room to go down into the basement storage, but Foreigner's approach stops Lincoln, allowing Roosevelt, Jefferson, and Washington to head down. Lincoln seems frustrated, based off the way he speaks, irritated tones. "Ugh...Nixon, take these two! I'll..." And then, there's Edison's statement. "I'll handle the negotiations." Reagan, a young woman wearing a pair of strange clay gauntlets, shouts back. "This was supposed to be in and out, Lincoln! Now we've got five goddamned hostages, and-" "Look, I'll handle it!"

Nixon, a burly dude with a really big pistol that seems ornately crafted, moves over to escort Foreigner and Ichabod into what appears to be a side office. Two men in security guard uniforms, and a very frightened woman, are among those being guarded by Reagan and Nixon. They're not tied up, but they've been disarmed, and the gun trained on them is keeping them from moving away or trying to fight back.

Nie Li is able to slip in invisibly and continue forward, which also lets him get an idea of the interior. The side office is connected to the center auction hall, which is near the freight elevator going down. Orchid's own analysis, as she slips in through a roof (and can continue in through a second floor window if she'd like) allows her to know that the second floor is empty, and the basement has three guys on top of this.

Ryouma, however, gets spotted by Lincoln as he slips in. Lincoln's about to try and move to shout out the window to the police, when instead he has to grab a fistful of gems and point them at Ryouma threateningly. It'd look a bit silly, if they weren't clearly magical. "Ah, crap, don't move any closer! You're with the police, right? Agh, this day's going terribly...if you move another muscle, I'll detonate these!" He's panicking, clearly, because this stress is getting to him. He moves to shout out the window. "ALRIGHT, CAN YOU HEAR ME? WE'LL GIVE UP THE HOSTAGES ONCE WE'VE GOT WHAT WE WANT IN HERE! WE ALSO WANT A VEHICLE AND SAFE PASSAGE OUT OF THE CITY!"

The other three have already gotten downstairs. As no one's made their way down there, what they're exactly doing is hard to tell.
Foreigner      Foreigner is ridiculously cooperative. There's a broad smile on his handsome face, a smile of pure and unbelievable madness as he's led by Nixon. He even stops to touch the gun like some kind of weird fae thing, as if he's inspecting it. He doesn't bother to take it away. He just looks at it, like, wow, what a neat thing. It's like he's a tourist, a visiting foreigner (hah!) inside his own country. As he sits down next to the terrified woman, he pats her shoulder. "Shh, shh, my dear. Shhh, shhh. Don't you worry about a thing. Everything's going to be alright."

     Distant, quiet, calming music starts to play. It's probably goddamned eerie to anybody who isn't currently scared out of their minds from a gun in their face. Foreigner's smile is soft and gentle as he looks into her eyes. "Shhh, shhh. Everything will be alright. Father's here now. Ichabod, my boy, will you calm her down for me?"

     "Yes, Father." Ichabod dutifully pats the woman on the shoulder. "Don't worry, miss. Everything will be fine. The President will rescue us. We're now very important hostages."

     Foreigner's eyes turn back to the man with the gun. "Tell me, my good man! What are we hostages /for/? Are you involved in some scheme to take over America? Perhaps some sort of Die-Hard scenario? You know, one of my little girls, she was telling me all about that Die-Hard movie. I understand it's very harrowing. About some terrorists, I believe. Are you terrorists? I'm ever so curious."

     Foreigner seems to scoot forward slightly, leaning forward with a broad smile on his face. "I mean, you don't have to indulge me, of course, sir, but I am *afraid* that I have *never* been a hostage before, and I really would like to make my first experience a delightful one."
Ryouma Sakamoto     "Ah, please, don't be alarmed. I'm a detective, not a policeman," Ryouma says, raising his arms to show his gloved hands are empty. "I just want to talk."

    Oryou looks between Ryouma and the mage, flatly. "Ryouma, Oryou can eat his hands along with those troublesome gems, it'd be easier than talking," she says.

    Ryouma squints. "Oryou no."

    She awws.

    Ryouma turns back to Lincoln, continuing his trend of looking entirely out of place with that smile. "Please, I just want to ask you some questions, mister Lincoln. Ah, where would I start... about that bullet your skull blocked... no, wait... the speech you wrote on the back of an envelope?"

    What do you mean it's a mask?

    No, Ryouma's entirely too caught up in this to even notice.
Thomas Alva Edison     Thomas Alva Edison looks up to see Ryouma already walking. Rubbing his forehead, he moves to cross the field to join him. Alright, he can play this cool to keep heads cool until the hostages are taken care of, then he's going to punch the riot act out of these criminals.

    "He's with me," Edison holds a hand up, motioning for calm. "As you're fingers are itchy, I had sent him to start negotiations, but apparently this was too bold." He continues, calmly. "So you want a vehicle afterwards, and then what? Lets be honest here...a car will only get you so far. The way I see it, is that one of your 'friends' probably got too itchy with his magic, and caused trouble he or she didn't need to. So here we are. So, we can do this one of two ways, you continue to hold those people hostages, people who have done nothing to you...or you can let them go, and show that you have some humanity. Show that you will not put innocent's in harms way, and we can end this amicably."
Orchid      There are at least three brands of crazy stuff out here tonight. Thankfully, one is on Orchid's side, or rather, she is on Edison's side. The second flavor of crazy is causing the music that fills her ears as she goes in through a window, using her tool hands to open it without breaking anything. She's heading for the elevator shaft, up on the second floor. She's got an idea or two, for how they can stop the third texture of crazy, the robbers. Once she gets there, she'll use those tools she keeps with her at all times to pop open the control panel, and see about disabling the elevator controls, leaving them stuck at their current floors.
Nie Li     And so Nie Li's faced with a decision, as he quietly observes the goings-on in the foyer. There's a lot of choices to make here, but it's the side office - containing 'Nixon', the Foreigner and Ichabod, and a few innocents, that has his attention.

    There's only ONE guard over there. Only one. And from a glance around the desk he's hiding behind, there's a clear path to victory involved.

    With another flash of confidence, Nie Li again vanishes... and makes his way to the office. He's just got to wait for the right opportunity, here!

    The right moment where he can rematerialize, destroy the weapon, and subdue the guy in the mask without anyone coming to harm.

    Hopefully such a moment arrives within the next 30 seconds or so, because he can't stay invisible forever.
Tomoe Tomoe gets her marching orders from Thomas and she can deal with those. Hostages first and capture the hostage takers if possible. She got it she knew what she had to do no spear, too close for her Naginata so out comes Caliburn, she needs to keep a free hand for the moment so the mourning wall is not out just yet. Tomoe has made to get in through a side entrance. She's ready as she can be and knows she's very likely to get shot or set on magic. Better her than the hostages, she's making a go for the hostage but is having to take it slow and try to keep from being spotted she knows there's others making a go for just yet she's hanging back and trying to keep from getting noticed for the moment as she goes in. She won't be striking just yet.
Cu Chulainn Foreigner is, luckily, not shot for reaching for a criminal's gun, though Nixon pulls it away when Foreigner goes to touch it. As he joins the hostages and takes a seat, the scared woman is reassured by both him and Ichabod, and despite being eerie and playing eerie music, the woman at the very least seems to be a bit more confident, if still terrified. If this guy has it all confident, can be strong, so can she.

Foreigner turns to Nixon, though, and begins speaking to him in a way that Nixon thinks he's crazy. Possibly to his surprise, the man grunts and actually speaks up. "We're not terrorists. This was supposed to be an open-and-shut job. We just want the shard and you'll be let go." Though Reagan's not too happy about this, and she shouts at her partner. "Shut up! Don't tell them everything!" Nixon just scoffs. "They don't even know what it means. The bastard's crazy, anyways."

Lincoln's blood pressure is already high, and Ryouma's probably making it rise. "Are you some sort of crazy?" He says to the detective, though keeps the gems pointed at Oryou after she threatens to eat his hands. As Edison responds, it seems that his plea is actually being considered...but the man rejects it. "I can't just give them up! We need what we came for if we're ever going to change our circumstances! Look, I don't want to be holding these people hostage, dammit, but everything went sideways! We're not going to hurt them, just..." Lincoln doesn't finish it. He knows it's really futile to negotiate with the police, that they're not going to let them go. He does seem desperate, though, and continues holding the guard. Ryouma, with his experience in diplomacy, can probably tell that he is someone who can likely be talked down.

Orchid manages to shut down the elevator, blocking the three downstairs from coming up and vice versa. The problem with this is there's not really an easy way to go down and get those guys now that the elevator is down, unless you went the long way around the back or through the elevator shaft. But is anyone crazy enough to go down the elevator shaft?

Nie Li, meanwhile, has the perfect opportunity for his plan. Nixon's still just pointing his gun at the others, and doesn't expect him, though Reagan is to the side of the door, and is sure to come forward if Nixon is taken out. If Tomoe wants to assist, now is the best time, likely, even if she's probably unaware of Nie Li's plan.
Foreigner      Foreigner claps his hands delightedly at the man's answer. "Oh! Oh, yes. A Shard of the Holy Grail is here, is it? That's delightful. What do you plan to wish for? Is it love? Friendship? Affection? A perfect king? A perfect lover? Perhaps all the wealth in the world? A chance to touch infinite knowledge?"

     "Tell me, tell me." Foreigner's mad eyes gleam, and the music intensifies, and the world seems to stutter around him. "Tell me what you want."

     "I want to know. I'm so very curious about this sort of thing, you know, what people wish for."

     And then Foreigner is behind Nixon, his fingers on the man's shoulders. "But you know."

     And then he's behind Reagan. "Only one of you gets a wish."

     And he was never gone from his seat at all. It was an illusion? Or...?

     Nie Li can see all of it, and it's *disturbing* to watch, as Foreigner just sort of *stutters* out of reality for a second, and reality struggles to keep up with him. Nie Li's senses are screaming DANGER at him with every stutter, that this *thing* is something that's merely wearing human guise, that the life energy beyond it, the AURA beyond it, simply, absolutely, does not belong.

     Foreigner taps his cane as Ichabod comforts the woman with quiet, gentle, fishy cooing. Foreigner's smile widens. "So tell me. Why are you working together?"

     "Are you going to kill each other once the shard is in your hands? Why, I bet you are." He levels the cane at Nixon. "I bet you have a plan to murder her the instant you have a chance. Pop, pop!" He points two fingers at his head and laughs, like he's pulling the trigger. Reagan can *see* Nixon tense, can *see* the muscles tweak, as if Nixon *absolutely* was just called out.

     "Oh, but then, she certainly has a plan to murder you. I bet..." Foreigner makes a motion with his throat, and Nixon can see Reagan's claws extend, like she's about to leap, and her stance tighten, and the little tell-tale hints of /wrongness/ that Foreigner exudes as he sits there, smiling like a monster.

     "And then, Mister Lincoln, he most assuredly plans to dispose of both of you, you know. So maybe..." Foreigner purses his lips. "Are /we/ really where you want to be? If he gets the Shard, won't he just...use it then and there?"
Ryouma Sakamoto     Ah... Ryouma's beliefs lay shattered at his feet like broken fantasies. That's just a mask! Ah... he really wanted to meet Lincoln, too.

    That doesn't change his plan, fortunately.

    "Ah... would you like to hear a story? It's not a very interesting one, but it's very relatable." His hands remain where the mage can see them, while Oryou idles about.

    "Once there was a young man, freshly crowned a master swordsman. He wanted to better his life and his country so much, he thought, if I just kill the people in charge, then everything will work out. Because he became a ronin and dishonored his clan, his sister had to commit suicide and he walked alone in life."

    Ryouma continues, "Then, that foolish young man reached his target, and he drew his blade upon him. The surprised man drew not a blade in response, but begged him sit down and share a cup of tea with him. The two talked, for hours and hours, until the Sun shone through the window and the two were close friends. Together, they would go on to do great things."

    Ryouma opens his eyes, still smiling. "Do you believe that man's fate would have been improved if he'd slain his mark? Sometimes I wonder, but I always reach the same conclusion. Too many bodies already."

    Ryouma lowers his arms, to approach Lincoln. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that death only closes doors, it doesn't open them. If you kill someone today you'll dishonor anyone you have left, and you might not even walk out of here. If you cooperate... well, I don't know. But I do know you'll be alive. You could sell those gems you're holding and start a new life. I don't know much about magecraft but I know they're worth a lot."

    Oryou shuffles impatiently in the background. It's not hard for a magus to tell she's an existence beyond anything he could harm.
Thomas Alva Edison     "And I believe you. Whatever you're here for is not worth what is going to happen to you if this continues the way that it is. If those people leave, so they can not be hurt...reguardless of if you get away or not, you can be sure lienancy is going to be on your side, that you have the promise of Thomas Alva Edison." The Presiking says, calmly and as disarmingly as he can.

    "Trust me, it is in your best interest as it is in ours to allow those people to go free," Thomas continues, hand coming up, in a very calming gesture to try and make sure that everyone is very calm, as well as keeping attention focused on him. The team inside would be working very quickly, and hopefully with the attention on him they won't be watching their surroundings.

    Today, Scwharz, we all hope that they do not follow your advice.
Orchid      Well, what's wrong with taking the long way? Which is, at least, what Orchid is doing, while sending her spiders down the elevator shaft. They'll crawl into the cab, pressing the button to open the door. Orchid herself is being more careful, as her drones search out the remaining three robbers.
Nie Li     This sequence of events is happening right next to Nie Li. Talk about a Holy Grail shard, an artifact that can grant.. a wish? What a weird concept. Too good to be true, he would guess... right? Can such a thing really exist?

    But no, that's not important right now, is it? He has a front row view of this masterful bit of psychological warfare, but THAT doesn't bother him.

    He'd do that himself, if that's what it took, after all. If he had enough information.

    No, what bothers him is that ABERRATION in human form whose mere presence in his senses is the most jarring and queasy thing he's ever felt.

    This is, no doubt, the 'Foreigner' mentioned earlier. And his instincts for danger are on HIGH alert. The smart thing to do would be to simply abandon this, forget he was ever here, and leave this up to fate and the others already here. Except...

    That would be cowardly. And so.

    With a thought, Void Form is released - as is his merge with the Shadow Devil Demon Spirit. Nie Li reappears, murkily phasing back into reality proper. No sooner has the youth - who cannot be more than thirteen, at a glance - appeared, than he transforms again. In under a second, in a rush of white-and-black swirling energies, his form bulges outwards in every direction! With a flash...

    There now stands a great humanoid BEAST in the room. Nie Li's clothes have adjusted to encompass a massive, rotund girth. A huge, meaty, and yet SLEEK fuzzy form of brown fur. Arms and legs as thick as tree trunks, and all of it beastly muscle, ending in nasty five-digited claws. It is so wide that it would not fit through the door to the office, and easily seven feet tall. The beast's face though....

    It's a panda. The fuzzy, short snout, black fur surrounding the eyes and white fur everywhere else, is utterly unmistakable.

    This beast is standing DIRECTLY in front of 'Nixon', leaving almost no way to aim the gun anywhere that isn't into the panda's belly. And that might prove difficult anyways, because...

    The beast moves with lightning speed with its huge, meaty paws to grab the gun - and the hand holding it - and cruelly SQUEEZE with steel-bending, bone-cracking force. All the while, glowing blue eyes stare DEEPLY into the mask, radiating a fury that only the most experienced fighters might have ever felt before.

    It's a lance of pure, focused, killing intent, honed to a razor's edge and projected with pinpoint precision, aimed straight for Nixon's soul. A chilling feeling of onrushing death and pain, even if the Panda has NOT YET attempted to simply bite the man's head off as it certainly looks like it could.
Tomoe As everything else is going on she knows her time to act, she sees that Nixon is still pointing his gun at the other and won't be expecting her to make her strike. She has her orders from the Presiking and she'll act on them but just as she springs into action a new thing appears wait is that Nie Li?

She doesn't think. She just acts, Tomoe moves in, not to pile on to Nixon no she's going to make a go for Regan, and bust through the door using her superhuman strength if she has to, she knows she's likely to get shot and the angry Salamander will be heading for Regan, the mourning wall appears now in hand and she's going to attempt to shield slam them and get in their face where she's the only option to shoot or attack if her manoeuvre fails.
Cu Chulainn Foreigner is an unsettling man, and as he appears behind Nixon and Reagan, both double-take, clearly startled. Nixon moves to speak up. "We were going to trade it in..." But Foreigner raises a point that hits a part of human nature - greed. There's only one wish. And one of them might decide to get greedy. It might even be themselves. Firendship, affection, wealth, knowledge...human desires can be granted by that wish. Sweat drops down Nixon's neck, and Reagan turns to glance at him, facing him. She swears she can see him readying to shoot. She's about to say something, when Nixon looks down at her arms. She's going to attack him...! Nixon points the pistol at her, moving to pull the trigger, while Reagan suddenly brings one of her gauntlets up, preparing to fight back. Foreigner's illusions have gotten to them.

Edison and Ryouma both appeal to Lincoln. He's breaking down. He didn't expect a big situation with a lot of hostages and the police and the /Presiking/, and the fact that Oryou can clearly kick his ass is the final straw, as is Ryouma saying that he might actually die if this keeps up. This was supposed to be quick and easy, not life-threatening. "I just...I just wanted to be able to practice magic freely and openly, and that's their goal! They'll let us do whatever we want, finally practice without having the Association bearing down on us. They just wanted a shard for membership, but..."

Lincoln turns to Ryouma. "I'm not gonna make it past you, are I? If I try and bolt, your girlfriend there's gonna kill me...fine, I'll try and talk them down. Just go easy on us, alright?!" Lincoln looks like he's going to put the gems on the ground and walk away...

But then a gunshot goes off. Back in the office, Nie Li has dashed forward, turned into a giant murder-panda, Nixon was already preparing to shoot Reagan, so he manages to pull the trigger, but Nie Li manages to both twist his hand and break the gun, causing the bullet to slam into the ceiling and shatter a hole through it, magically enhanced. Nixon himself breaks down from the sheer killing intent, and starts screaming from the pinpoint lance of feeling. It's broken him.

Reagan freaks out, and the gauntlet she raises shapes into a group of clay claws, striking outwards to try and impale Nie Li. However, she never even hits him, because Tomoe comes out with a shield slam, which impacts into the clay claws and knocks that hand backwards. As she moves forward, Reagan tries to form the other gauntlet into big sharp claws as well, and try and push against Tomoe's shield and make an opening. She's aiming to push back with the shield with one hand and try and cut into Tomoe's arm with the other, if at all possible.

Lincoln's holding back near Ryouma, panicked. Did they shoot a hostage? If they shot a hostage, the group's dead...oh god no. He just backs away and puts his hands in the air. "I didn't do it, I didn't do it!"

Meanwhile, Orchid heads around back, while her drones pick up the information downstairs for her. The three men down there are looking for a grail shard...and failing miserably. Jefferson shouts at the others as he smashes his fists into a crate that clearly didn't have what they're looking for. "It's not here! Delvo lied to us, I knew we shouldn't have trusted him!"

"He's the best source on Grail shards, man!" Roosevelt responds, but Jefferson isn't having it. "Yeah, sure, but the minute we mentioned trying to join the Inheritors, he got all weird. Probably didn't want us as part of them or something! And now the police are here and we're gonna get busted for nothing. What a goddamn mess."

Washington is holding a lighter, flicking it back and forth. "Relax, gentlemen. We should start moving for an escape, then. Grab whatever's valuable and head for the back exit. The others...they'll make it through their own way." Yeah, he's just ditching them.
Foreigner      "Ah," Foreigner says as Nie Li and Tomoe arrive and engage in dynamic entry. He stands up.

     "This has been delightfully entertaining," he says cheerfully, bowing with a polite flourish as the two prepare to kill each other, and as Nie Li and Tomoe engage their enemies, "But I believe the novelty of being a hostage has worn off. It's really pleasant, but I think you have things well enough in hand from here, don't you?"

     And he takes the girl's hand in his, and Ichabod's in the other, and they blink away in a hideous, horrible stutter that hurts to look at, as if reality is glitching out around them. They stutter back in outside the building.
Orchid      Delvo, huh? And who are the Inheritors? Either way, Orchid would like more information out of these robbers. She moves to intercept them between them and the exit. She's going to apply what is one of her standard ploys, to be a distraction, engage them diplomatically, buying time for her spiders to move into position, weaving webs around the exits.
     Should she get out in front, she'll start the diplomacy with a simple statement. "You know, this could go the easy way or the hard way, that depends on what you choose."
Ryouma Sakamoto     "If you want to practice magic openly, why not leave this world? Go to another one, just like this one but without the taboo. I understand the desire to change the world to suit your vision," all to well, he doesn't add, "But in this instance, there's an easy solution," Ryouma says.

    "Wife," Oryou corrects.

    "Ah... right, right. She might, especially now that you've gone and said that, ahah." Ryouma makes light of it. It's better to.

    A gunshot. Ryouma sighs, and pats Lincoln on the shoulder. "It's alright, no stress. I believe you. Come on, let's head outside before whatever happened catches up. Ah... Oryou, can you go check it out?"

    Oryou nods.

    Oryou glares left, glares right. She mentally maps the building out, recalls the location of the back exit, and then... rockets ahead.

    Through a wall.
    Through another wall.
    Through several exhibits, and through several other walls, until she bursts though the wall next to Washington.

    She's less a woman and more an extremely hostile horror made of hair right this moment. Her black hair glows red near the tips, extending, clawing, thrashing, shredding, binding, blocking. Her body follows, but that's not what the mage need to be afraid of.

    Ryouma, for his part, escorts Lincoln outside, ensuring it goes smoothly and without faux pas. He gave his word, after all.
Tomoe Tomoe is just going to town on Reagan for the moment, she's got aggro as she would put it, which is just what Tomoe wanted to do here. Keep the mage's attention off the hostages. The other Claws comes into play now and tries to get ahold of Tomoe shiel,d in an attempt to make an opening to strike at her. The claw moving to strike will find her blade moving to intercept it and fend it off.

"You have some serious mage hubris here, you know that?"

Foreigner would get a response later, for now, she's focusing on her foe, as Forringer gets the hostages or at least some of them out. She'll take another hit there is damage but the strike doesn't cause her to bleed no a strange digital effect, it's red she's hurting in pain but she does not bleed. Tomoe will break loose and aim to give the mage a kick followed by another attempt to shield slam them again.
Thomas Alva Edison     The Presiking has some things go very right, and others go very wrong all at once.

    He holds his patience, even as things go very very wrong. "Good plan." He says, calmly to Lincoln, as Ryouma escorts her outside, he turns to watch Oryou walk through all of the walls. ALL OF THEM.

    Trying to not put a face to his hand, and of course, hearing what horror that Foreigner just did. As much as he very much wants to track that monster down...as much as his ENTIRE BEING DEMANDS IT...more of his being demands he protect more people. Being torn like this hurts him, more than people truly understand. Taking a breath, he starts marching, moving at a pace as he moves towards the back door, and throws it open, lightning striking (even though there was no thunderstorm behind him as he makes his way down.

    "I'm in a bad mood, boys. Right now you have a choice. You either throw your weapons down and surrender...Or I close and lock this door, and leave you with her." He motions towards hair-tazmanian devil-horrible monster.
Nie Li     As the man crumples into a gibbering panic and Tomoe deftly brings down Reagan... Nie Li steps forward. He's still in panda form.

    "Strange that fate would bring us together again, but there's no time. One of the hostages was just kidnapped by some kind of beast masquerading as human! And if you didn't catch it, this ISN'T kidnapping for ransom."

    And that's all the time he's going to devote to speaking with Tomoe. The very next moment, he bursts into action. SLAMMING through the doorways, back the way he came. Despite all that girth, he moves even FASTER than in human form- and the doors he had to crash through are probably a hell of a mess now.

    The Fanged Panda warrior goes sailing out the front entrance, seemingly abandoning this mission - it's clearly in good hands - to instead chase after the Foreigner with huge and speedy forward leaps. Like some kind of ninja!

    And it's not exactly hard to pinpoint that THING's location...
Cu Chulainn Tomoe continues to perservere against Reagan, and with a kick and a shield slam, knock the woman back. Reagan's hit square in the head, bleeding, and as she gets backed against the wall, puts her hands in the air. "Okay, okay, I surrender!"

Foreigner teleports out of the building with Ichabod and the woman, who is rightfully spooked by being suddenly magic'd away. Nie Li moves to chase him, and his speed is certainly a benefit, but takes the long way out of the building through the front entrance, which gives Foreigner the advantage on distance, allowing the commodore to get into the alleyways and streets nearby, and possibly flee into the late-night 'there's an explosion going on' crowds with the woman long enough to make it difficult for a giant panda to safely pursue, or atleast, pursue without making a big mess of things.

Lincoln responds to Ryouma. "And give up my life here? My family? All because of these stupid rules? I'd rather help the guys who are gonna change them! It's said they have a lot of power...so if they can do something, I want them to win." Lincoln goes otherwise quietly, submitting to cuffs and the like where necessary. If anyone checks, his jewels were filled with more explosive spells, and probably would have been nasty to fight.

Down in the basement, Orchid webs up the exits, while Oryou and Edison come down to intercept the criminals. Oryou comes out of the walls next to Washington, who points her lighter at her, incants some words, and sends out a powerful-looking blast of fire. For another mage, this would be like an assassin's pistol, a little blast of death. For Oryou...it's nowhere near that powerful, being as durable as she is. She can easily take out Washington, hair lashing into him, disarming him, cutting him up.

Roosevelt, who doesn't have a weird mage weapon, throws his hands in the air. Jefferson reaches for a knife on his side, but as lightning strikes from Edison's entrance, and also the sheer threat he's offering, he ends up moving to put his hands in the air as well.

That's all of them, alive (unless Oryou kills Washington). Three injured, three surrendered, Lincoln having given the least resistance in the process. There's no Grail shard here, if anyone looks. So that leaves a question...

Who is Delvo, and who are the Inheritors?
Orchid      Orchid winces a bit at the EM static produced by Thomas's electric display, but given that the remaining robbers are giving up, she's fine with that. She'll make sure their wrists are webbed together, and handed over to the DC police. Even the one that got tackled by the Off-Brand Cool-Aid Man, though he may get medical attention first. She will make sure to pick up the lighter and knife toys the robbers used, and keep them secure.
Tomoe Tomoe sees the magus gives up, she'll cease her attakc but glares at her.

"Ditch the Gauntlets"

She'll bring up her inventory window and pull out of it? Zip ties, yes Zip ties. She'll then move to sesure the magus' hands behind their back. With that done she'll move to haul them out to turn them over to Felt and Cu. After that's handled she's going to look for Nie Li.