<strong>Hero Points:</strong>4 (Sleeping Wyvern), 4 (Scarab), 2 (Chlorophyll, H2GO!, & Hornet);<strong>Luck Points:</strong>3/5;<strong>Conditions:</strong>None<br/><br/>“I’m fine, don’t worry!” Kaitlyn said as she followed Rakutsu's orders and took the unconscious manager back to the office, as well as to treat his head wound.<br/><br/><em>The other two are down,</em>Amrita responded.<em>We’re all okay, Chlorophyll is tying them up to be doubly-safe.</em><br/><br/>“Sleeping Wyvern!” Kaitlyn called out. “There’s something over here you’ll wanna see!”<br/><br/>The office in the back appeared rather normal for its kind: tasteful scenic art on the wall, a couch and chairs to seat people, and a black and white portrait of an elderly Chinese man who is likely the company’s founder hanging on the wall behind the desk. But there was a newly-uncovered wall safe with chemical stains eating away at the edges. The contents, whatever they may be, were likely burnt. The telltale plumes of smoke triggered the fire alarm, causing sprinklers to go off and thoroughly drench the room.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Ask Kaitlyn or one of the others to break into the safe</div><div class="spoiler_body">“I know that it looks suspicious, but we don’t have time, and it’ll look like we’re stealing something.”</div></div><br/><hr/><br/>Amrita, Amy, and Leslie reunited with Rakutsu and Kaitlyn by ascending the building to the appropriate floor. Everyone did their part in making rounds to find any people still in the building and help them out if they were unable to escape themselves. Fortunately most of them had already fled by the time they heard gunshots, and there was already a small crowd gathering on the street outside. A crowd that swiftly made way for the two SWAT vans that appeared.<br/><br/>Rakutsu’s team was met not with applause, but with shouts from the policemen who formed a barricade of shields and rifles.<br/><br/>“Get down, hands where I can see them!”<br/><br/>Amrita, Leslie and Kaitlyn did so immediately, although Amy was momentarily frozen.<br/><br/><em>Do it!</em><br/><br/>Amrita’s signal came to all of them, that was enough to snap Amy out of her shock to follow suit.<br/><br/>“Don’t shoot, we were just trying to help!” Leslie exclaimed, her voice a bit shaky.<br/><br/>“They’re telling the truth!” one of the office workers shouted.<br/><br/>“I worked with Daedalus!” Amrita said, not quite yelling but with a raised voice. “He’s in town, he should be tuned into your signal. Ask him right now, he can vouch for us!”<br/><br/><em>Amrita, what are you doing?</em>Amy thought, the girls’ inner monologues all joined in the mental network.<br/><br/><em>I know what I’m doing, just wait.</em><br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/QkECeTo.png)</div>There was a tense moment of silence. The SWAT officers did not wish to relent at who they thought could be the responsible parties, but neither were they keen on taking the first shot. Eventually a man in back called out, walkie-talkie in hand. He was different, no tactical armor or helmet, with a musclebound figure and mustache.<br/><br/>“I got a message from Daedalus,” he said. “They’re clear.”<br/><br/>The girls blew collective sighs of relief as the officers lowered their rifles and did a sweep of the area. Paramedics were quickly rushed in to attend to the Red Jade employees and unconscious owner.<br/><br/>It didn’t take long for one of the people to get Rakutsu’s attention. Not a cop or member of the press, but one of the office workers, physically fine yet still shaken up a bit.<br/><br/>“Wh-what do they call you all?” she asked.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">OOC</div><div class="spoiler_body">Scarab reads the mind of an unconscious Anvil with a 26. (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=155527)<br/>Anvil fails to resist with a 9. (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=155528)<br/><br/>With 4 degrees of success she’s able to peer all the way into his subconscious, and shares some of the more immediate information with the team.</div></div><br/><hr/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: impact;"><strong>Degrees of Separation</strong></span></span><br/><br/>(https://i.imgur.com/1ySXV0E.jpg?1)</div><br/>The Menagerie was still a ways off from their warehouse hideout, but the battle tired them out, forcing them to take a brief reprieve on a city rooftop. The stress from the chaotic fight and tense moment with police came crashing onto the girls like a sudden wave. Leslie collapsed onto the floor, Amy panicked as she began to take off her sleeve to ascertain the wounds on her arm, and Kaitlyn clutched her temples. Only Amrita seemed to be unfazed.<br/><br/>“I’m fine, I think I’m fine,” Amy stammered. “He hit nothing important, I think!”<br/><br/>“Are we dreaming?” Leslie asked. “Did we just fight those guys, and we’re still alive?”<br/><br/>“I...feel lightheaded,” Kaitlyn said.<br/><br/>“Calm down, Hornet,” Amrita said to Amy. “Panicking won’t make it better.”<br/><br/>“Yeah,” Amy said after a loud exhale. “I...it looks like it’s all healed up. But these scars! Oh Mom is going to worry so much!”<br/><br/>“When you told the cops that you were with Daedalus…” Leslie began, “how did you know that’d work?”<br/><br/>“I...sent a telepathic message to him,” Amrita said with hesitation, “shortly before we arrived at Red Jade. My last incarnation knew him well.”<br/><br/>She crossed her arms. “I also peered into the mind of Anvil, the man of metal. He was empowered by the Silver Storm, and paid through a middleman to join the Battle Brothers, the other two guys, to steal from that import company. The contents of a safe were the target, and also to do it loud in order to to send a message. They had an escape route planned, but Anvil wasn’t told the entire details to avoid it being compromised.”<br/><br/>“He seemed reluctant to fight us,” Leslie said, getting back to her feet.<br/><br/>Amrita averted her gaze. “I learned about that, too. It’s...kind of a personal thing.”<br/><br/>“Personal?!” Leslie exclaimed. “He and the other guys were wrecking the place, could’ve killed people! Seems weird to not share what happened right now.”<br/><br/>Amrita shook her head. “All I can say is that his...hesitation was not due to the immediate mission or something you did. When I go into a person’s mind I...well, think of the brain like a lake, with our surface thoughts on top. Since he wasn’t awake I had to dive into his subconscious, the deep parts.”<br/><br/>She walked over to the rooftop’s railing, looking out at the skyline. “Let’s just say he’s not as hardened as the other men we fought. He is a violent criminal, but a lot of it is an act, to make himself seem more dangerous than he is. When he was fighting you, he was afraid, but he tried to hide it by flirting with you.”<br/><br/>Leslie rolled her eyes. “That’s a lot of words to just say he doesn’t want to hit girls.”<br/><br/>“And only now do you care about privacy,” Amy murmured.<br/><br/>“What was that?”<br/><br/>“Oh please, don’t pretend like you don’t know!” Amy shouted. “I told you, during training, I wasn’t comfortable with that mind stuff! And you jumped into mine anyway!”<br/><br/>“You weren’t moving,” Amrita said. “They would have shot you if you stayed put.”<br/><br/>“You could have said that normally!” Amy responded, her voice raised. “With your mouth, like a normal human! You know, how humans communicate! Or is that too much effort now that you’re psychic!”<br/><br/>“I don’t want you to die, idiot!”<br/><br/>Leslie and Kaitlyn stood by the sidelines, watching the two uncomfortably.<br/><br/>“Sleeping Wyvern,” Kaitlyn said worriedly. “Do something...”<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">OOC</div><div class="spoiler_body">Amrita and Amy gain 1 Hero Point.</div></div>