ic S.H.A.D.O.W. over Freedom - IC

[angrydurf]

Ace smiled at the youth, "Sadly no it got scavenged for parts ... a few months back when my manor was under attack." The events were growing more hazy as time went on.

Ace grinned and shrugged as he took a step towards jack warily, "I'm betting the store house is under that factory we were checking out though." He explained as he stepped in to help jack with his wayward hand, "Jack concentrate, this is your body you can keep it under control."

[Gizmo]

"Easy for you to say!" Jack responded as his right hand blocked a two fingered jab at his eyes from his left. As Ace stepped closer, however, the hand pulled back from its owner to slap the immortal adventurer soundly across the face. There was a surprised silence as it proceeded to drop the Jack's side. The swordsman flexed it experimentally, evidently back in control. "Huh. That was actually surprisingly satisfying. Ich fühle mich jetzt viel besser." He blinked sheepishly. "Well, 'besser' is a relative term."

[angrydurf]

Ace reeled back stunned at the slap and frowned slightly at Jack, "Well that's good to know I suppose." he said rubbing his sore jaw. He glanced to Edge and then back to Jack, "So who's up for kicking some Nazi tail?" he asked with a broad grin. Ace looked back to Jack and chewed his bottom lip consideringly, "The hand thing should clear up before too long." he said as if it was a cold or indigestion and not an Evil Nazi possessed appendage

[Gizmo]

Jack gave Ace a sidelong glace as he shook his hand vigourously, as though working feeling back into it. "Oh, well, good. I was worried there'd be a round of antibiotics or something." The swordsman cracked his neck in either direction and rolled his shoulders. Alright then. Let's get going." After a pause, he added, "You'd better drive. I don't think my evil hand knows how to drive stick."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Man, I've always wanted to fight Nazis on Earth," said Edge as he followed the adults out of the room and out to where he was confident someone's vehicle awaited. "I mean, not that I wanted there to be Nazis anymore, but they're really evil. I went to another dimension full of Nazis once, and that was a terrible place," he said, his face suddenly perfectly serious. "I mean, my God, what a terrible nightmare that was for humanity. It was all we could do to defeat the giant Nazi robots and save the resistance. I was just glad to do what I could for those poor people."

[angrydurf]

Ace nodded to his companions in agreement, "Yes where S.H.A.D.O.W. is concerned it is generally better to strike quickly before they can fade back into the wood work it won't take them long to discover we thwarted their plans here." he said and led the way out of the museum. Awaiting them on the curb was a silver sports car with vanity plates reading 'DANGER'. Ace hopped behind the wheel and after a fast if harrowing journey at breakneck speeds through the city the trio arrived in Westside not far from the suspected lair of their foes.

A quick search revealed an oddly reinforced door on the side of a holding shack off to one side of the property with two not so subtle goons watching over it. "We'll have to take them down without raising the alarm." Ace explained as he tried to formulate a plan.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Okay!" said Edge brightly. Suddenly there was an eruption of magical energy all around the young man, invisible to normal senses but almost blinding for the magically inclined. At his words, suddenly twin flowerpots fell from an overhead window Jack and Ace could both had sworn was closed a minute ago, each bashing the two thugs on the head. "Got 'em, Mr. Danger!"

[Gizmo]

Jack covered his ears with his palms as Edge's display of magical might translated through his metamagi senses into an irritatingly peppy combination of cymbals and other percussion instruments. The energy manipulator's head continued to pound for several moments afterward, and he cracked his neck back and forth with a wince as he exited Ace's car. "Eugh. Woof. Alright, are we doing the sneaky-sneaky thing here, Skipper?" he asked the more experienced hero as he shook his seemingly recovered hand experimentally.

[angrydurf]

Ace gave edge a quick thumbs up, "Good work Kid." he said as he hopped out of the car and began his approach to the door. He glanced over his shoulder to Jack of all Blades with a nod, "We'll do best to get the real leaders if we don't trip the alarms on the way in. Otherwise we'll just be dealing with low level agents delaying us till the bosses escape." Ace well knew shadows methods and exactly how loyal they were to their underlings.

When he reached the door he snapped a quick picture of the scene out front and tapped it into the security camera before waving the others over to join him. He looked to the door and after a moment of tapping around found the panel to open it and attached what looked like some kind of electronic octopus with a small screen and pad dangling myriad wires. Shortly there after a panel next to the door slid aside revealing an ill lit stairwell descending through some kind of reinforced concrete. Ace shrugged, "Well So far so good eh?"

[Gizmo]

Jack leaned forward to look skeptically down the stairwell. "Man, how do you build this kind of thing in the middle of the city without anybody noticing?" The swashbuckler glanced back over his shoulder at Ace. "Well, I guess somebody did, but still. Creepy stuff." Looking back down the vertical tunnel of concrete, he narrowed his eyes in concentration. "Gimme a sec, I might be able to feel out any trip-lasers or whatever."

[angrydurf]

Ace nodded and motioned for Jack to proceed ahead passing him a com unit to contact them with the all clear. "We'll wait at the landing here just in case. If you run into trouble call us in." he said and nodded for Edge to stick with him to ensure any patrols that happened by didn't raise an alarm due to the KO'd Agents. As Jack of All Blades vanished down the stairwell he gazed uncertainly at the Guards, "I have an idea help me tie them up to the door frame." In a short time they had the unconscious guards arrayed in some semblance of slovenly repose that should pass casual observation.

As Jack reached the bottom of the stairs he caught sight of a long hall extending away his expanded senses could detect the infrared beams crisscrossing the halls length in a seemingly chaotic manner. At the end there was a guard next to an alarm panel but he hadn't noticed the stealthy swashbuckler as yet. It wouldn't be easy but if he acted quickly The scintillating swordsman might be able to take out the guard without raising the alarm.

[Gizmo]

Leaping over the railing, Jack sailed downward with his royal blue greatcoat trailing behind him, landing silently in a three point crouch at the bottom. Extending his enhanced senses slowly, the seemingly empty hallway before him filled with dim red beams to his sight. The guard at the far end hadn't seen him yet, but it was only a matter of time before he glanced over. Pfft, like I'm gonna let that happen.

The swordsman let his coat slip to the floor as he stood revealing the skintight black bodysuit he wore beneath it as he tucked away the loose ends of the crimson sash around his waist and the trailing tails of his bandanna mask. A grin spread across his face as he took a pair of soft steps to build up momentum before vaulting into an aerial somersault. With astonishing grace, he cartwheeled and bounded through the beams, his senses allowing him to tell where they were regardless of his position.

A final slide brought him under the final beam, narrowly passing over the bangs of his wig, before he snapped upward, pulling a sliver of energy from the lasers themselves as he rose to form a pulsing ruby blade in his hand mid-swing. The glowing rapier took shape just in time to deal a brutal blow to the unprepared guard. "I'd feel bad," Jack softly noted to the unfortunate man, "but you do work for neo-Nazis."

[Avenger Assembled]

Edge stared down into the building, an unaccountably serious look on his handsome face. "Someone's down there," he murmured to Ace. "Someone..." He licked his lips, swallowing hard. "They've got a djinn, Mr. Danger. There aren't even supposed to be any of those on this plane, not after the doors to the City of Brass closed in 1945. I think we should get some extra magical help for this one." He remembered the terrible discoveries he'd made about his family, and winced inside.

[angrydurf]

Ace's brow creased slightly with worry, "Only the ones not bound in service." he said with concern, "Unfortunately that makes our work here more not less urgent." He motioned to the stairs we had best not split up longer than absolutely necessary if they are bringing such powers t bear. We can only hope they do not fully grasp the potential of what they have." With that the legendary adventurer crept silently down the stairs.

As they reached the bottom the saw the final flip of Jack of all Blades impressive feat and the unerring strike of the blade rendering the guard unconscious. Ace held out one arm already assuming that there was some kind of alarm beam crossing the path given Jacks acrobatics. "Is there a switch to deactivate the beams?" Ace inquired as quietly as he could. Jack could see an unremarkable pair of switches on the wall next to each other. One could assume one would disable the beams while the other would likely sound the alarm.

[Gizmo]

"Hey, grab my coat, would ya?" Jack whispered back as he peered at the two switches. The swashbuckler frowned as he regarded them from either side, even crouching momentarily to look at then from below. Nothing he saw gave him any clue as to which switch would turn off the web of laser beams. He took a step back and gave Ace and Edge an awkward look. "Okay, good news, bad news. Kid, can you, like, good luck me up or something? I'm gonna have to make a guess here."