Scene #4909: Fool's Gold

Owner	Pose
Eliot Ness	The tower of Greybeard Goldcaster was one that was a relative unknown until shortly after the restructuring of the Multiverse took place. A hermit wizard that once lived in obscurity, immediately after the shift happened, he had become much more prominent in the region as an economic force. He had begun selling gold for much under the value most places listed it as worth, giving it to citizens in exchange for livestock, groceries, and even luxury items from across the Multiverse. He'd even had enough of it to hire bodyguards. Two of them, from an upstart new company. His payment was valuable and immense. Both of them had been paid in a 5kg gold bar up front with a promise of another one weekly for making sure no one disrupted his operations and he stayed safe. It was a lucrative contract. The tower itself is more of a two-story building, but still. The top floor was off-limits to the two bodyguards, but the downstairs was a lounge with all sorts of luxury items from across the Multiverse. Everything from a vast array of books to a big screen TV and video games. He had been spending massively of late with no end to his wealth in sight. "So," Eliot Ness begins to explain to the other Paladins who are in the back of a literal paddy-wagon with him. He's got a winchester 1897 shotgun across his lap and he's leaning his back against the wall of the vehicle. He adjusts his hat a bit, "This fella's been spendin' like a king. We're pretty sure he's whippin' up gold like your ma'd make muffins in the morning and it's messing with the economy. People spending too much, currency devaluing. Gotta bust up his operation and bring him in." The vehicle, which is rumbling up a dirt road and has an enchantment on it making it look like a horse-drawn trader's wagon, pulls to a stop in front of the wizard's domain, "First objective is to break up the speakeasy. Second objective is to nab the perp."
Fiora Laurent	"Do we know how he is creating his gold? Magical means? Alchemy? If he has a laboratory, we should either seize or destroy it. Along with whatever illicit funds he may have." Fiora rubs at her chin, "Honestly, if he has bought all of his material wealth with his ill-gotten gold, it should be seized, as well. Perhaps we can auction it, later. Either way.. gaining control of his abode would come first." She has her sword ready, of course, but it's not really a case of assaulting the wizard, himself. Still, it's likely he's going to fight tooth and nail, to keep such an operation running. Better to be prepared. "And, as far as capturing him.. How do you wish to proceed?"
Ainsley	Following up on what Fiora has said, Ainsley speaks up, "In the event of written or spoken magic, I have tools to disrupt his abilities to attack us. If it's gesture-based then I can't do anything about it but block it," she explains, "It might make detaining him easier. That being said, a man with unlimited resources has unlimited tools to defend himself, so we could run into almost anything if we just bust down his door. I'll give the outside a quick scan with the Sight and see if there's any trigger mechanisms for security spells that I can deactivate before we go in. Don't wanna get electrocuted just for touching his front door." Ainsley does just that. She doesn't climb out of the vehicle just yet, finding a window in the magically-disguised police van to give a look outside at the tower itself. Her eyes begin to glow a bright blue with subtle magical circles rotating across her irises as she tries to scan it for magical enchantments, the kind that may use arcane symbols or phrases. Her ability to detect such things is limited to more complex systems, but it's safe to check. She rests her left hand on the hilt of the longsword she brought with her. She's just as ready for this to get violent as Fiora is, by the looks of it.
Starless Night	The lounge is convenient... which is a bit of a trap in the mind of Starless. Too easy to get complacent, and all. The two bodyguards were actually apackage deal, so there are more than two people in the lounge... which is wired with some fairly simple but mundane traps. Tripwires and the like, mostly, for bringing an alarm to the attention of the occupants. The video games, especially, can be distracting... which is why the twins are reading books. Twins? Yes. In addition to Lu-Mey(and possibly anyone she's brought), there are two here who look exactly the same. Young women, identical in appearance, sitting across from one another. Murasaki is one of them, and Starless has chosen to mimic her form for this particular assignment, which might cause some weirdness for her employer but...
Shielder	Sitting in the back of the wagon with the others, Mashu-- not Shielder yet-- basically spends all of her time staring at Ness, his equipment, his clothes, his demeanor, and every word he says that can be dated to a particular period. She even squees a bit, not-so-subtly. Look, you don't get to meet a cop legend every day. And meeting him isn't the same as talking to him on radio, either. Eventually she snaps out of her daze, if only to acknowledge she was totally listening and you can't prove she was fangirling internally with no subtlety. "A-Ah, I can... I have... m-many skills built to... protect people, from magic especially, but I've never actually fought a wizard b-before." Or, really, fought much. Doing laps around Dun Realtai with Gawain and learning Real History from Bedivere, helping with assorted clerk work, isn't really the same as going out and fighting. Nevermind the fact that, in her casual clothes, glasses on and everything, coupled with her demeanor, she doesn't look like she has the backbone for it.
Lu-Mey	"Man that is kind of not cool..." Ao-hime looks perturbed. Mainly at the fact that there are two Murasaki-himes present. Knowing one to be her sister and the other to be a fake, she's torn in glances back and forth between the two Kugutsu, brushing a few strands of hair out of her eyes with a mechanical hand. The cyborg princess in blue silks looks like she's really having a hell of a time trying to figure it out. And then there is the dusky figure in red. Lu-Mey is actually looking rather official today, sporing half-frame spectacles, and a red skirt suit that shows off far too much of the tattoos on her legs. She is settled in a luxurious seat and scribbling away at a clipboard, giving off the perfect appearance of a Human Resources secretary. "I'll make you a bet which is which~." She teases. "No way you'll use creepy bug juju to find out." "Uhuhuhuhu~."
Eliot Ness	"We're fairly sure it's a large-scale alchemical lab. We figured it out when we found trace amounts of unconverted lead in the gold," Ness says very plainly to Fiora, continuing a moment later, "Auctioning's a good idea. Christmas is coming, too, and depending what he's bought we could make a lot of kids real happy givin' it to charity." Ness considers. Ainsley's sight finds that there's actually not a lot of enchantment on the location. Enchantments and magic tend to make a location stick out. The building is sturdier than it looks, though, made of concrete poured over mithril beams, so the entire building is slightly baseline 'magical'. The only real enchantment she can find is an inscribed scrying spell that lets the wizard know when people pull up. Ness looks over to Mashu and gives her a slight smile, "Glad to have you on board, then, Miss Mashu. Magic's always been somethin' a bit beyond me, bein' just a man and all. I'll be trustin' you to have my back if spells start flying." Ness notes as he slides one last shell into his shotgun. Inside the Tower, a voice calls down from upstairs. It's that of a crotchety old man, "Hey! Merchant wagon just pulled up! No scheduled traders on this route until next week. Check it out! Kill them all, if it's a trap!" There's then the sound of clanking and bottles. Ness is, inside the truck, getting ready to climb out of the back doors.
Fiora Laurent	Fiora smirks a little, "A fine way to.. have him give back, all of his ill-gotten fortune." She offers a nod to Ainsley, "Actual spells, I can try to turn aside with my blade, as well. Assuming the wizard confronts us, at all." She does give Mashu somewhat of a curious glance, "Don't worry. We'll be fine, if we work together. Just stay behind us, and be ready to react." As Ness steps out, she draws her sword proper, and awaits the others. She nods to Ness, "Hopefully, no magic we won't be able to colletively handle. I recall you being quite good with your weapons, so I doubt between the two of us, any physical altercation won't be immediately remedied."
Ainsley	"He knows we're here." Ainsley saw the scrying spell, just as the spell saw the wagon. Her tone was calm when pointing that out, punctuated by her Sight deactivating when she confirmed there wasn't anything else to see. "He hasn't dropped flasks of alchemical garbage on us yet, but he saw us coming. He has a spell active. He might've been expecting trouble." She climbs out with the others and draws her book out from inside her coat. The metallic surface gleams, a mirror-shined tome. Her Armored Tome, a relic of her past. She looks up at the building warily, staying behind the others with the book ready in case she needs to cast a quick defensive spell. "No other enchantments that I can see," she tells the others.
Starless Night	Sigh. The twins look up, both ignoring the 'competeition' between Lu-Mey and Murasaki's sister. Starless ignores it because she doesn't care, while Murasaki just knows better than to break cover. It's both that sigh, but then the two rise up with a shrug, and one says, "I guess orders are orders. He did pay." The other says quietly, "At this rate he won't be a client for long, though." That one might be Starless, since she likes things done quieter than that. Oh well. With a glance toward Lu-Mey, the twins step out of the building, though they don't bother to hide their presence. Starless considers this a waste of her true talents, but she also isn't expecting anything serious.
Shielder	"C-Charity... for children, that'd be nice. Hopefully he bought things like... televisions and video games..." Wishful thinking, that a wizard would use his money to buy non-wizard toys. But if he did, it'd be a nice bonus. They might be able to give a hospital or two some entertainment for kids! It's too bad they can't just give all the gold to a charity since that'd probably disrupt economies too. "A-Ah, right! Y-Yes, mister Ness, sir!" she confirms to his request to have his back, straightening up like a soldier who's getting yelled at by his superior. Sadly by nature of her Servant self, she can't promise Fiora she'll be standing behind them very much. Actually she'd probably have to guarantee she won't be if she could bring herself to be that forward.
Lu-Mey	"Ara ara..." Lu-Mey seems to be done scribbling whatever she had been working on, when the voice from up on high says to deal with an incoming issue. Or issues. She clicks her tongue. and her pen. "Well! Ai-hime! Murasaki-hime. Murasaki-hime~. It seems like we have our job cut out for us neh?" She croons chipperly. And snaps her fingers. Ao-hime SIGHS heavily, and pops open one of the tower windows, picks up a HEAVY crate... And up-ends it over the side. Pouring out a TON of alchemical garbage. Waste metal, broken beaker shards, chemical waste. You name it. Right out at anyone incoming.
Eliot Ness	Eliot sighs, "Of course he knows we're here. It's never easy. Probably can't see through the camoflage, though. Looks like some people are coming out, get ready for trouble." Ness steps out of the vehicle and nods to Fiora a moment later, "Hopefully. Unless he has some prem-o strong men for hire, then we might have a bit of a dust-up over all this jazz." Ness grumbles as he slings the shotgun under his jacket and out of sight as he steps out of the vehicle and sets feet to the pavement. He pats Mashu on the head reassuringly as he steps out of the vehicle, "Just do your best. That's all I ever ask." "Hello!" Ness says, putting a bit more formality to his tone as he holds up a badge and ID towards the twins coming out, "Agent Eliot Ness. I'm a member of the Paladin Anti-Counterfeiting Bureau. We're here to look around a bit and investigate claims of currency manufacturing here. We do have a warran-" He doesn't get to finish that speech as Lu-Mey dumps trash out of the window of the building towards them, "Up high!" Ness calls, jumping back almost immediately to get away from the toxic mess falling towards them. As his shoes skid along the ground, he draws a pistol and levels it towards the girls, "Hands up! You're all under arrest for assaulting officers of the law!"
Shielder	Speaking of not staying behind. Mashu clumsily exits the caravan with the others, almost tripping down but managing to catch herself onto a side. Very smooth exit! Basically a 10/10, perfect execution. This demeanor changes abruptly when something comes falling towards them. Heavy black and purple armor materializes over Mashu, her glasses and clothes vanishing. She moves so quickly as to become blurry, ending up atop the caravan with none of the clumsiness she had getting out. A huge, seven foot tall shield, shaped like a cross with a round center, appears in one of her hands, and it's angled up, suddenly generating a bright blue dome of light that halts the incoming crates, vials and toxic garbage, causing them to scatter in every direction that isn't 'at someone'. Which is a huge step up from 'on top of their heads'. "We need to get inside before they fling nastier stuff down!"
Fiora Laurent	Well, Fiora is perhaps a bit impressed, by Mashu coming out of nowhere, and promptly defending herself and the rest of the posse, with a timely application of a huge ass shield. ".. Well done." She nods to Ness, and walks up to the door, "Do you want to 'knock', or shall I?" She waves Ainsley over, in case the threshold actually is bound by any sort of spell. "Anything we need to worry about, or shall we go ahead and breach?" She seems all but prepared to do so, sword at the ready, her off hand reaching for the dagger sheathed behind her back.
Starless Night	Well, that's less subtle than Starless would like, but Lu's antics have outed the 'merchants' as law enforcement. This leads to a yelling about busting in. The call is met with a mellow tone, "I'm afraid we can't do that. If we dismissed a contract so readily, then it would be... unprofessional." One of the Murasakis smiles lightly... and the other hurls down a smoke bomb. The billowing smoke spreads out, but a moment later the shadowy figures of two ninja are bolting toward Fiora, leaving Shielder and Ness to Lu-Mey, and for now letting Ainsley be. An odd strategic choice. Though in fact one is Murasaki, and the other is a duplicate of Starless, weaker than the original but still capable of fighting, while the original is retreating into the building. This doesn't make the two blades flashing out at Fiora any less deadly.
Ainsley	Ainsley was already standing a good spread back from the others, as she is not a front line fighter and she was preferring to let others make their introductions. Her head tilted upward, and she watched the chemicals and glass shards shower down, only rethinking a hasty retreat when the magical shield repels the falling debris. She did not seem overly startled about this beyond a subtle puffing of her feathers. She kept her eyes focused up on the window for the source of that very rude action against her fellow Paladins, squinting lightly at the distant shape to try and discern who it is supposed to be. Her eyes trail back down to the two girls. The way the lizard woman's posture tenses and her mouth subtly pulls into a frown show that she's ready for a fight. The book seems important, because she holds it up and glances down into her reflection, hunching forward a moment. "Persona!" Like a magical command, an eight foot tall turtle man in modern fisherman gear, rubber overalls and everything, appears in a flash of blue light and 'shards'. He has one hand holding an oversized pipe against his mouth. There is an enormous fishing net stretched across his back and seeming to flow like the frothing of the waves, blocking out some strange Japanese symbolism on his shell. "Dark Retrospect," she speaks aloud, pointing right to the two that have stood between them and the tower. If she can't hit both, she's gonna try to hit at least one with the spell. The Persona, Urashima Taro, loses his jovial expression and opens one of his eyes. The eye is a terrible red and flashes a moment, and a wash of red energy pulses forward. The magic tries to hit negative emotion and use it as a metaphorical chain, 'debuffing' her target with their own emotions.
Fiora Laurent	Fiora brings a hand up to her eyes, and rolls, as the smoke bomb comes down and POOFS right where she'd been standing. This leaves her fighting the two ninja, Murasaki and her slightly-less-powerful double. One of them retreats inside, however, and Fiora meets those blades with her own. "Likewise. Just leaving, and letting your employer continue his illegal trade would be rather unprofessional. So, in this instance, I'm afraid we'll have to insist you vacate the premises. Granted, you've already assaulted us, so I don't think just running will suffice." Fiora is swift with that sword of hers. Enough that she's able to meet every strike in turn, without too much difficulty in doing so. Every so often, she takes a step forward, lashing out with the edge of her rapier. They might be predictable, after a little while, but they're also quite fast.
Lu-Mey	"Oh oh! Left left! That one there! Now hurry! Hurry! Fling the nastier stuff down!" Well, someone is having an exciting time. Lu-Mey is tittering, the secretary dropping all pretenses of professionalism in order to guide her charge in better defending against the sudden short-term siege. "Lu..." "Here, grab this couch!" "What the couch seriousl-" A couch comes out the window. "Now this!" "What no that's mine-" "That!" "Dude he's gonna get pissed and-" "THESE LOOK DANGEROUS!" "LU!" "Okay now go fight in my name and honor." "Wait wha-AAAAAAAAH!?" A princess comes falling out of the window next. Ao-hime flips in the air, regaining her balance and composure as her mechanical body lands with enough force to crater the ground. "Hi! Guess I'm fighting in my boss' name and honor or something. Do I still get arrested by proxy or?" She huffs, drawing a pair of ornate handguns from the folds of her sea blue kimono. Oh hey she's opening fire at Shielder and Ness now.
Eliot Ness	"I'm moving in! Cover me!" Ness barks quickly. Fiora is already getting engaged on by two people and Ainsley is using her own powers to try to even the playing field a bit for her. Therefore, Ness wants to take it upon himself to make for the door so they can breach and stop that rain from coming down on them from above. "Nice work," He notes to Mashu as he dashes towards the door. He's leaving a lot of the defense to, for obvious reasons, the girl with seven feet of shield in a five pound frame. He instead brings out his revolver and blasts the lock on the door a couple times before trying to burst into the building. This does two things: One, it makes his presence very known. Two, it may set off Starless's traps. From the top of the tower, the Wizard shouts, "Damnable law enforcers! Kill them all and I'll give you their weight in gold and silver!"
Lu-Mey	"Try to leave them in mostly one piece!" Lu-Mey calls down from the window, to all the princesses, on hearing that.
Starless Night	Rapier versus katana, the classic matchup. And it's a good matchup! Mursaki, one of them at least, is darting in and out of the smoke, blade slicing in even and precise cuts intended to feint and baffle. She speaks with an even tone, "My superior has asked me to perform, and I will. I owe her more than my freedom." Simple explanations amidts the clash of blades. In contrast, the other one has a DIFFERENT sword style. Her blade is also precise, but seeks out openings, predicting the flow of battle with the footwork and motion. But being a clone, she is slower. Duller. The edge opens up a deep gash in her leg, partly thanks to her motions even more dulled by the distracting struggle of fighting her own welling anger at the incompetence of her superior, her hiring agent. Its' a clone of Starless, but a high level enough one that there is some feedback. First blood is to Fiora. Murasaki takes this chance to step back into the smoke... and hurl three shuriken out. Minor things, but they're toward Ainsley. Meanwhile, Starless herself is rapping on the door where they are not allowed. "Sir. We are going to attempt to eliminate them, but nonetheless you should be prepared to withdraw."
Starless Night	Starless has many traps, though Ness will find that most of them are easy to avoid. The pressure plate might be tricky, which blasts a disorienting squeal of noise out to both alert that there's an intrusion, and to attempt to stun people. However, traplaying is not actually her strength, so most of the tripwires with bolts firing or blades slashing are... actually kind of easy to avoid.
Ainsley	Ainsley watches the battle from what would have been a safe distance had there not been shurikens flying toward her. She brings the book up like a shield -- CLANG CLANG SHING -- and only manages to avoid getting seriously harmed by two of the three. The third ends up firmly embedded in one of her arms, and makes her face scrunch up in pain and an animalistic startled noise roll from her mouth more appropriate to her appearance than her oddly clear and calm voice. She resists the urge to try to pull it out of her, the blood having stained her coat already, and the thrown weapon having made movement in that arm difficult. "Urashima Taro!!" she calls to the Persona, and he regains his smile. He opens his eye again and a soft blue light shines from it. This time she focuses it on Fiora, and the spell tries to target positive emotion and bolster her focus and her general physical abilities, and help reinforce her already powerful confidence. Then, only then, does Ainsley realize that someone threw a couch out the window while she was distracted. She looks at the smashed piece of furniture in shock and looks up at the window again, then she reaches to try to pull the shuriken out of her arm in the brief opening she has in this chaos to do so. "Hhhhnnngrh...!" Sounds like it hurts!
Fiora Laurent	Fiora doesn't come out unscathed, either. As talented as she is, she's essentially fighting two on one. Even if one of them is a clone. Some cuts along her outfit, and against the skin beneath, open up as the 'duel' continues. She does, however, catch on to what the other one is doing. Prediction, looking for openings. Taking advantage of missteps. "The law is the law. And you, my dear, are in the way of it. Personal affairs do not come into account." The next series of lunges and ripostes see Fiora.. changing things up a bit. Her arm seeming to twist, in ways it shouldn't. Like a snake, waiting for the right moment to strike, and lashing out in unexpected ways. This unusual precision is made all the more potent thanks to Ainsley, that steely look in her eyes all the moreso, now. Did she get a little quicker, as well? She does, however, call out to her ally. "Ainsley? Are you alright?"
Shielder	Many things, including a kitchen sink at some point, slam into and then bounce off Shielder's shield and barrier, though when it's a princess who gets thrown out the window and starts firing the blue barrier eventually gives way, breaking like a stained glass window and fading into nothing. A stray shot nicks Shielder's cheek, the princess not exactly a slouch with her weapons. "Very much so!" she answers, but instead of producing a badge, Shielder's shield glows, making another barrier so quickly after the last one fall that the nasty liquids and potions that were on it didn't have time to hit the floor, and hit the new barrier instead. Then? Then Shielder swings her shield like a melee weapon. This launches the barrier, still covered in chemicals and assorted gunk, straight towards the princess. It isn't very threatening, and is unlikely to cause much damage, but it might slow her down and push her back. It's unlikely the glowing blue barrier will survive the impact, either. Mashu wastes no time in following after Ness, covering his back while she continues facing Ao-hime.
Ainsley	"I'm fine!" Ainsley replies quickly, "It was a shuriken, she got me right in the arm!" Just so Fiora can refocus to the matter at hand.
Eliot Ness	"UGH! Fine!" Calls the wizard to Starless Night. The forbidden door opens and the wizard steps out a few moments later carrying a backpack clinking with vials, "I can't bring the lab with me! But I do have my recipes! Most of them! Most..." He looks back at a pile of books, "Of the most valuable ones, anyway." He seems less like a typical wizard and more like what you'd expect a weird, 65-year-old hermit to look like. He's wearing grandpa pants, loafers, and a wool sweater. During the brief time the room is open, the scale of his operation is visible to Starless and the value of having him is apparent. The door shuts soon after. Ness tries his best to avoid traps, but the sound one manages to blow out his ear and disorient him a bit, causing him to shake his head and cover an ear with a gloved hand to stop a trickle of blood, "Damnation. That caterwaling's worse than an angry wife." He grumbles, wiping his ear off. Lu-Mey and Starless are now all the more aware of the tower. He's trusting Mashu to deal with Ao-Hime and block for him as he carefully steps over and around traps, disabling them as he goes to make it MUCH easier for the far more distracted Mashu to make her own way in, "Step careful, li'l lady. I'm turning off as many traps as I can, but this place is set up like a bad talkie." Ness is moving carefully, but definitely heading to make his way towards the stairs to get to the lab.
Lu-Mey	Ao-hime's gunplay is like watching a dance; every movement smooth and efficient; placing her in a differant and new position for every shot fired. But getting through that shield presents an issue. Even as she draws the dreaded cheek shot, this still does not change the fact that her gunplay isn't getting past that barrier without some work or clever thinking. Not that she has time to put in either when Shielder shifts which barrier has all the toxic trash and... Launches is. "WAH! NOT COOL!" Ao-hime squeals, throwing herself aside bodily in a roll, caustic waste splashing, eating away her kimono and burning down to the metal plating of her cybernetic body beneath as she rolls to knees. "Get back here!" She can't quite shoot through Mashu to get to Ness... But assuming he gets through the door and the traps... Lu-Mey is there, waiting for him... Strumming slow dramatic chords on a stringed instrument. She takes a moment to stop and loosen her necktie, flashing a smile that would be endearing if not for the fangs. "Hello officer. Care for a dance~?"
Starless Night	Changing things up... oddly, doesn't seem to help too much against the clone, who adapts(clumsily) as if she's fighting above her skill level. dAshing in, trying to get a good hit in, and so on. Murasaki is much more capable in the long run, but between the roiling negativity making her hesitate, and Fiora'sboosted prowess, she's a bit outmatched. She's still extremely good, good enough to be a threat... but with that magical support, not good enough to have a good chance of winning. That's why she makes a short hiss as one edge scrapes along her arm, drawing blood and forcing a quick riposte slash that is fast, but not so in tune with motions. This leaves an opening for the other to dash in, only to encounter the rapier, opening another deep cut... Which is enough to make it poof out of existence, vanishing in a puff of smoke and fluttering to the ground as a small paper doll. Murasaki frowns, "Her clones usually do better. You're very good." It's now a matter of just holding Fiora off... because the ninja seems to know she can't win in a straight fight, especially without support. Inside, the blast of the trap warns Starless, who sees that the wizard is moving. She slips him a location in case they are separated, and readies her blade. "You surely have investments and can rebuild, in time. My first priority is your safety. My companions will do what they can to preserve your operation."
Fiora Laurent	Fiora pauses, a bit, after getting that clone to disapparate. She ducks backwards, giving herself and her opponent a moment to breathe. "And you. There aren't many who can honestly claim to be able to match me, even like this." She has her blade held up still, held out and pointed at her opponent, ready for her to reengage, should her opponent wish to. But, if she does, Fiora will undoubtedly give chase. She approaches again, slowly, one shuffling step at a time, and circles the ninja. "Your name? It would be a shame, if I didn't know yours. I am Fiora, of House Laurent."
Shielder	If Ao-hime's movements are elegant the Shielder's must offend her. Stiff, rigid footwork, robotic and memorized. It's not a warrior's natural steps, flowing from instinct and reaction. More like memories of similar situations playing themselves out. Mashu continues backing away; facing Ao-hime, back to Ness, she walks backwards, stepping through the traps as though she could see them perfectly, at least those Ness has pointed out. With her shield, it's actually easy for her to outright block the door and prevent Ao-hime even an inch in, but while she's doing that she can't help Ness against Lu-Mey. She might have to take a decision about that soon, but for now sticks to barring the princess entry. "Mister Ness, I can't cover both opponents in such a tight space!" Maybe heading in wasn't the greatest plan after all, but it's too late to back out.
Ainsley	Ainsley manages to pull the damnable throwing weapon out of her arm, though it is particularly unpleasant to do so. The shuriken had been dropped on the ground, leaving a bit of a bloodied wound on her arm that will sting like hell until she can get it looked at. She ignores the discomfort in favor of preparing to cast another spell. She points two fingers at Fiora and Murasaki... prepared to cast a shielding spell called 'Tamatebako' if Murasaki comes in for another attack, using her distant vantage to assist Fiora. This spell manifests a reflective magical mirror that redirects damage back at the opponent by shattering into magical shards, but it also comes with the downside of making Ainsley have to tank a bit of magical/soul damage. Ainsley's brow knits at Fiora's words toward Murasaki. Their exchange of respect between two warriors briefly took her out of her work-focused mindset.
Eliot Ness	Ness holsters his pistol and adjusts his stance. There's a swift motion and a heavy bowie knife appears in his hand, "Don't worry about me, lass. I've got this one. You take care of yourself." Ness rolls his shoulders a bit and steps towards the secretary as she loosens her tie. Ness twirls the knife in his hand and puts it into a reverse grip, "I'm not in the mood to do the Charleston, sorry. My dance card's already filled up for the night. Maybe you can step to the side so I can step to the job. This is your only warning, move or I will move you, li'l lady. I don't take kindly to impeding police business." Upstairs, the man nods his head to Starless, "Right, right! I can replace it all. I have savings stored away. I can make more. I'll need a new lab, but that's easy! Thank you, thank you." He takes the location from her hand and puts it in his pocket and hobbles along, ready to be led out of the building.
Starless Night	"Princess Murasaki, employed of Human Resources," the ninja says. She's taking this opportunity to revise her plans... because with Ainsley supporting, and without Starless backing her, she knows that Fiora has the upper hand. "Under contract to this wizard. My... superior insists I not make it personal." She steps back, her blade at read. "And that it is not worth my life. This contract does not pay well enough for me to keep going against the officers." She hurls down a smoke bomb... And four Murasakis are making a break for it. These clones are not nearly as adept as the one Starless made, but it's a distraction to get away, so they should do the job. Starless is doing a similar trick, but instead of the smokebomb, she's escorting the wizard to what she hopes is an unobserved exit. "This way," she urges, before tossing down another doll. The destruction of the first one pained her, but she can afford to lose another. So Starless - or the clone of Starless appearing as Murasaki - rushes down with blade in hand, just in time to witness the standoff with Ness.
Lu-Mey	Fingers fly over the strings of Lu-Mey's malsha a moment longer as Ness declines. She clicks her teeth. It is with a dramatic sigh, that the horned woman shakes her head, delicately setting the instrument aside now. Enter Mashu. And enter Ao-hime hot on her tail. Ao-hime is looking pretty pissy, too; between her kimono now ruined and her body still hissing with chemical burns. "Lu! She threw ALL the stuff you made me throw out back at ME. I'm going to need like twenty showers!" The oni clucks. "So kill her?" Seems like reasonable retaliation. But for all Ao-hime unloads her pistols, everything spangs off that shield. Which might be why Ao-hime aims higher. It's not a FANCY chandelier. But it's still one that she shoots off the ceiling to try and drop on both Ness and Shielder.
Shielder	That is definitely one way to get Shielder to lower her guard. "Mister Ness!" The chandelier falls and she immediatly raises her shield, using it to protect both herself and Ness from the falling furniture. Considering she's barely 5'3" this probably looks a bit awkward unless Ness ducks under the shield. It does give both Ao-hime and Lu-Mey an opening against the Demi-Servant if they want to take it, and in the fracas Ness might be able to make his way up!
Eliot Ness	Ness immediately drops into a crouch, trying to get his frame beneath the shield that Shielder is raising to try to protect him, despite their very disparate heights. He braces the hand not holding the knife against the ground and scowls, "I'm about done with all this song and dance. Move out of my way." He says flatly, jumping forward. He's lunging towards Lu-Mey with a knife, trying to bring it in high for a slash to her throat. Or that's what it looks like, anyway. In reality, the cut goes shallow and misses. This is because Ness's other hand is bringing up that shotgun he loaded at the start of the scene and hid underneath his heavy coat. The barrel presses right against Lu-Mey's center of mass and Ness says, "Assaulting an officer allows Lethal force." Before cleanly pulling the trigger. He then tries to step over Lu-Mey and says, "Lass. C'mere, get up past the body, and block the staircase after me." Mashu, he reckons, would make an excellent wall. UPSTAIRS The old man is following after Starless. About partway down the tower's staircase, the shotgun blast echoes through the building and he grumbles. He stops the woman with a hand on her shoulder and then taps the wall a couple times. It opens to a sheer drop before a staircase unfolds from nowhere and settles in the field behind the tower on the opposite end of all the fighting. Starless has a pretty clean getaway if she moves fast before Ness comes up.
Ainsley	Ainsley decides not to pursue Murasaki, her head turning to follow the path of only one of the clones. The rest of them are ignored. She isn't looking at that particular clone for any particular reason other than the brief distraction. With the imminent threat of getting hit with more shurikens gone, she dispels Urashima Taro with a shimmer of blue light and ephemeral mirror-like shards. She instead approaches Fiora to take stock of her wounds and her current emotional state, though it seems the concern is only very brief because of a sound she hears inside the tower. Ainsley startles at the sound of the shotgun. Her feathers puff up and she prepares to follow inside the building in order to assist Eliot. She's very mindful, though, because of the weird racket she heard inside when he first got in there. "This got complicated very quickly," she observes nearly too quiet to hear.
Lu-Mey	For a beat or two, Lu-Mey is looking pretty smug when Ao-hime brings down the ceiling decor. Even if Shielder tanks the fall and weight with the very tool that gives Mashu her namesake as a demi-Servant. The Oni leers. The instrument is gone, but in her hand is a bladed folding fan, and it seems she intends to meet Ness with that, lunging off her own seat. When the initial knife swope comes short, there is a brief beat of confusion. Then there's the shotgun, right below her sternum. "Ara ara... Checkmate, neh?" The report of the shotgun is followed by a sick splatter of viscera against the wall and the much more muted thump of a corpse crumpling to the floor. Ao-hime sighs. "I have to clean her up, don't I?" She'll just... Grab the 'corpse' and fireman carry Lu-Mey's limp body off. "OH EW THAT BETTER NOT BE HER SPLEEN DRIPPING IN MY HAIR."
Fiora Laurent	Fiora seems a little winded, and she has some wounds on her, but it's nothing she can't move under her own power with. "Thank you. I'm alright. Nothing I'm not used to." Likewise, that sound from inside is the more concerning matter. Likewise, she follows after Ainsley, to make sure Ness and Shielder are alright. They haven't taken custody of the wizard, after all. She heads along behind Ainsley herself, "Any chance of more of those traps?" She asks as she follows along behind, "Agent Ness! We are proceeding to your location!" She calls out, as she heads up the stairway.
Ainsley	"No further spells that I can see at a glance. He seems more alchemist than wizard, the most I saw was the scrying spell and that's no different than mounting a camera on your front porch," Ainsley replies to Fiora on their way up to meet up with Agent Ness. She is, of course, only referring to the magic stuff and not the rudimentary traps the bodyguards set up. "Mind your step," she warns Fiora.
Starless Night	There are very, very few things that would bring Starless to stay in one place after all this. The shotgun blast is one. To the wizard, she gestures, "Go. I'll cover your escape. That is what you hired us for. I'm going to need to scrape my subordinate off the walls, I think." She helps him hurriedly into the wall and stands in front of it, making sure it closes securely before she darts down to... Oh. Ao-hime has it covered. And the Starless Clone is staring dumbly because it's a very stupid clone. "Tsk... I'll be hearing about that for days. Fine... it looks like we can't salvage the operation. We weren't paid enough to risk our lives. It's all yours officers." Starless only lingered to check on Lu-Mey. She's out of there as soon as she can... even if she needs to pin someone's shadow with a thrown shuriken as a last minute delay.
Eliot Ness	For the Paladins, while the wizard got away, they can see the full scope of what they stopped. As the group reaches the top of the stairs and enters his lab, they'll have revealed to them what Starless saw earlier. And possibly why she elected not to just leave him to rot (aside from her commitment to her professional reputation). The lab is basically an industrial-grade alchemical lab. There's vats, tubs, glass containers. It's a MAJOR operation. And the product is clear: Gold, silver, platinum. Precious metals. Each slab of them is a cube that measures a meter on all sides. They're stacked against one side of the room like crates, dozens and dozens of the illegally produced currency that the wizard had been producing in his lab.