| A Casino, a Key, and a Bet |
| Summary: | Professor Xavier enlists the help of Kitty & Peter Quill to retrieve an electronic key from the office of Derrick Strond, a wealthy casino owner. |
| Date: | 2017-11-18 |
| Related: | None |
| NPCs: | Derrick Strond |
| Scene Runner: | Professor Xavier |
| Social/Plot: | Plot |
| Players: |
 .. .. .. |
Night has fallen upon New York City, but here in the heart of the Upper City, the life and lights of the city continue in full force. This particular skyscraper seems to be the focal point of the nightlife for the elite of the city. The top three floors alone are filled with a single casino: the Golden Court.
Outside near the curb, stands a well-dressed bald man, Professor Charles Xavier. He is wearing a white tuxedo with a yellow bowtie and matching cummerbund. Having telepathically summoned some friends, he waits for their arrival.
Peter arrives in a taxi with Kitty. Inside it appears payment is arranged and then he exits. He's dressed himself in fashionable clothes, not a tux so much but a red shirt and a nice black jacket and slacks.
Kitty steps out, wearing a black cocktail dress, a shiny zipper down the front. Mid-thigh, thin straps. A pair of knee high suede boots. She looks to the Professor and smiles "Hello, how wonderful to see you" She walks towards him a glance back to Peter "You remember my boyfriend, Peter"
Professor Xavier gestures to the couple as they emerge from the taxi. "Of course. Mr. Quill." He reaches out to shake his hand. "Thank you for coming on such short notice." He turns and walks towards the lobby of the hotel and towards one of the elevators. He is silent as he presses the button and waits for the car to arrive. Only once they are inside does he reach out with his mind towards them. <This casino is a front for an organization with anti-Mutant ties; however, we are not here to take them done. Not tonight. This place is run by a man named Derrick Strond. He possess a key that I need.> Professor X projects the layout of the casino into their minds highlighting a security entrance. <The electronic key is down that corridor. It must be copied without any alarms or alerts going off otherwise the key will be useless.>
Peter blinks, but barely misses stride and continues towards the casino. He considers, then a lip curls as if he's already formulating a plan. He sidles up to Kitty and murmurs to her, "Sooo, what do you think, the old, I distract the crowd so that you can go hunting ploy?"
Kitty flicks her eyes and leans to Peter, the perfect romantic couple, a hand to his cheek and she laughs and nods. a soft spoken "Sounds good, just enough attention" She looks to the Professor. "Sorry, young love and all" She eases back and squeezes a hand to Charles' arm.
The elevator doors open to a luxurious lobby. The sounds of the casino floor can be heard easily from the lobby though a series of security checkpoints make it clear that only the elite are allowed into the casino. Professor Xavier walks directly past the security checkpoint to the VIP entrance.
"I'm sorry, sir. Only those authorized are allowed entrance here," says the gruff man in a business suit. The bulkiness of his holster is visible through the jacket.
Professor Xavier reaches out with an empty hand and says, "Our clearance."
The man looks down at Charles' empty hand and says, "Welcome to the Golden Court."
Peter steps up and follows Kitty and Charles inside to see what today's playing field looks like. He offers the security man a gallant nod as he passes.
Kitty is all smiles and looking around. She nods at the security and follows in. The eyes flicking around. She slips her hand onto Peter's bicep, walking along with him.
The main room of the casino has several tables set up for slot machines of various natures. They each seemed to be based upon a different theme such as western, space, and television. There is even a 'mutant-capture' version where you win more cash by catching the more dangerous mutants. A series of stair curve off on each side of the slot machine area. The right wing seems completely dedicated to games of chance such as roulette and craps while the left wing is dedicated to card games of poker and blackjack. In between the two wings is the bar were people in elegant gowns and expensive suits drink alcohol worth more than the common man makes in a month. It is in the bar section that the security door which Professor Xavier demonstrated is. That security door leads to a private area in which is the office which holds the electronic key. The security door is guarded by two obviously armed men, and the private hallway is secured with electronic surveillance.
Professor Xavier starts to move towards the slots machines mainly to clear room for Kitty & Peter to work. A well-dressed man with three women hanging on his arm is the aforementioned Derrick Strond.
Star-Lord asks Kitty, "Care for a drink?" pinching her waist playfully and starting to head for the bar area. He pauses to watch Derrick pass with only slightly feigned envy.
Kitty flicks her glance over at Derrick. Those hazel eyes flick the man and that coy girlish smile. She then shifts and looks to Peter. "A drink would be lovely" She walks towards the bar, heeled boots clicking.
Derrick clearly seems displeased with the way that Peter is dressed though Kitty definitely gets his attention. Though he has three women already on his arms, he pauses to watch her pass. Professor Xavier looks at the various slot machines as though trying to figure out which one he wants to play. He does avoid the 'mutant-capture' one though.
At the bar, two patrons are both enjoying their cocktails a bit much. The men are loudly talking about their recent conquests though it is hard to tell if they are talking about business or women.
Peter would probably love to stroll up and order something sophisticated, but seems still a little out of touch. He quietly asks Kitty, "What's a drink that people would think would mess me up badly?" even as he discreetly scouts out an already potential source of trouble to stir up.
Kitty shifts and smiles at the bartender, the man walking over. "Hello. We'll take two Long Island's iced teas please" She looks to Peter and grins. She shifts, eyes roaming the wall.
The well-groomed man behind the bar begins to mix both the Vodka and the rum together before adding some gin. He then places a small out of triple sec into each of the drinks before pouring in some cola to give it the 'tea-like' color. Satisfied with the drinks, he pours them into a pair of glass drinks vessels and hands them to the pair.
"Look at the legs on that one," says one of the conquest-drinkers at the bar to his equally drunk friend.
Peter takes a deep swallow of his drink, counting on his alien-hybrid constitution to keep him sharper than he looks. At the sound of the comment he looks sharply over at the others, but doesn't speak up yet.
Kitty looks over at the guys, then down at her legs, arching a boot up onto a toe. She smirks slightly and winks an eyes. She then looks back to Peter and grins. "I'm going to go powder my nose .. brag" She leans and kisses Peter's cheek. She then takes her drink and sips it. Then wanders off.
Security cameras track movement on each side of the security doorway. A couple of security personnel are starting to pay more attention to the two men drinking and talking loudly. On opposite sides of the bar are the restrooms: Men and Woman respectively on the left and right side. Professor Xavier reaches behind himself and rubs his lower back briefly.
Peter has another swallow and smiles slowly looking over to the louder patrons, "Too bad you only get to look," he quips, appearing to size them up.
Kitty walks for the bathroom but then detours away once she passes a group of people. She circles back to the area of interest. She thinks of the layout, looking along the wall for somewhere to pass through
Professor Xavier heads over towards the blackjack section making sure to keep track of both of his guests and their host, Derrick. He is using ability to keep himself rather ignored for the most part without making everyone forget him directly. As Kitty, begins looking for a wall she can use, there is a relatively unguarded section of a wall halfway between the women's restroom and the door the guards are guarding. The benefit of walls is you don't have to guard them, at least not normally. Meanwhile, the drunken patrons at the bar, look at each and then Peter. One of them, clearly an executive who has more abusive authority than physical power, stands up and takes a step towards him. "Her type are a dime a dozen. I could fake—er, take, her if I wanted her."
Peter half-snorts, and says, "You couldn't even get close, she'd see your face and run the other way… if she didn't smell you first." then he turns his back to the man, dismissively.
Kitty sips her drink, walking along, quiet and all smiles. She circuits the room, wide sweet hazel eyes glances around like a sight seeing tourist. She wanders closer to the wall. She hands off her empty drink to a waitress. She wanders to the wall. She tasks softly and crouches down, a hand on the strap of her sandal, She adjust it then leans slightly, letting her shoulder phase into the wall, checking for metal that would prohibit her entry. A glance towards the bar.
The man at the bar places his well-manicured hand on Peter's shoulder. "Don't you turn your back on me. Do you know - know who I am? I'm - important." Either he forgot his own name or didn't think it was worth the other's hearing. "Yeah," repeated his buddy. "We could have your kind kicked out of here just like - " he tries a couple times to snap his fingers. He finally gets it. "Like that."
The walls are mainly concrete with sound absorbing materials to help with the acoustics. On the other side of the wall from where Kitty is probing is a security room with two higher paid guards monitoring the security feeds. The wall that Kitty is probing is to their left though with the cabinets and equipment she might be able to sneak in undetected. Only one solid metal door leads into the room, and that door leads out to the hallway. According to the schematics that Professor X showed in their minds, the office is behind the far wall of the security room.
Peter turns his head slightly and regards the hand on his shoulder, then back to his drink, which he sips again. "You'd better be able to have it done because I don't see the two of you managing it yourselves."
Kitty ponders, eyes flicking around the room then leaning back out. She shifts and looks at the bar. A smirk as she sees a hand on Peter's shoulder.
Derrick turns from his tour of the slots area and heads back towards the bar. His eyes falling on the commotion caused by the two drunkards and Peter Quill. He heads over towards them and asks, "Ah, gentlemen. What seems to be the problem?" His voice has a smooth confidence to it as though he knows he is one in power here and doesn't have to try and flaunt it. The three girls who were with him have somehow dropped to just two: a tall blonde and a curvy redhead.
The man with his hand on Peter's shoulder says, "I just trying to compliment his girl an' he gets all begirent."
"The word is belligerent." Derrick turns his eyes to Peter and holds his hand out. "Derrick Strond, proprietor of this fine establishment."
Star-Lord does turn around for this gentleman. "Mr. Strond, I'm glad you're here," he rattles off deadpan, with a touch of reckless irreverence. "Sorry for the disturbance, but my buddy here wanted me to ask you if he'd get thrown out for putting on a tutu. He says it helps him feel more himself."
Kitty looks over, the disturbance not seeming to come. She shifts phases head to toe and slips into the room. She stays crouches, eyes looking over the two guards for weapons.
The head drunk looks at Mr. Strond and starts to protest, "Tutu? I would never - that is presper. prospiter," but Mr. Strond interrupts him with a simple wave of his hand. The redhead dislodges from him and walks between the two drunk men. She places a hand on each one of them and says, "Come with me, gentlemen. Let's get more comfortable." There is no magic to her tones, no mutant ability, but the draw is still there.
Mr. Strond never looks away from Peter though. "You are not dressed quite like the majority of my clientele; however, your lady companion seemed to blend in nicely. I hope that you have had a chance to play some of the games."
The two guards are armed with pistols, stun guns, and collapsible batons. One of the cameras is focused on the scene at the bar while another screen shows the empty nearby office.
Peter raises an eyebrow at the departing lady with some appreciation. Ok, so no fight, time to improvise. He turns back to Derrick, "I haven't found the right challenge yet. But…" he pauses, "But, what's /your/ favorite game?"
Kitty flicks her eyes and ponders. She wonders closer to where the guards are, staying phased, hovering, floating in a crouched tiger pose. A smirk seeing Peter talk to Strond at the bar. She reaches her phased hand through chairs, swiping her hand at the ear pieces on the guys to try and short them out.
With a confident smile, Derrick Strond says, "Ah, that is quite simple: People. I bet millions on the actions and reactions of people, Mr…ah, I never got your name." The blonde moves a bit closer to Mr. Strond when he talks about betting millions on people. "And what is your favorite game of chance?"
Within moments, the two ear pieces short out with a slight crackling sound. The guard on the left starts to reach up to tap his ear piece, but when the crackle stops almost as soon as it started, he puts his hand back down and resumes work. The guard on his right leans forward and presses a button underneath one of the screens. This screen is showing one of the high-end poker tables.
Peter responds casually, "Call me Jason, that's fine. And I like a real gamester's challenge, one they quite far from here. I'm not sure you're quite equipped…" he looks around.
Kitty grins she slips to the side, she lets her hand materialize and slips out her tablet. She taps away, seeing if she can hack into the security guards video feed showing the view of the office where her goal is. So she can play a repetitive loop of the empty room
Mr. Strond senses a bit of dodging on the part of Peter though he doesn't directly point it out. "I see. Perhaps your interests lay in more physical challenges of chance and skill. There is a certainty of danger that is more obvious there than in these; however, the direct danger here is more subtle. Are you more of a marksman or in the melee family?"
The custom security software of the system is quite difficult to hack; however, after some time, Kitty is able to pierce through the last cyber wall and make it to the root system. Setting up a video loop takes but a few moments after that. The left guard says, "I'm going to hit the can. Be right back."
Peter raises an eyebrow, "A marksman, to be sure. But you do not want me to see if I can teach you Katara? We can probably improvise something equivalent."
Kitty gets the loop running then stows the tablet and phases again as the guy says he is getting up. A wriggle of her eyebrows as she would down to one watcher. She crouches low and holds still, so he doesn't see the waver.
"Ah, perhaps a little wager then, with what we have." Derrick Strond is definitely persistent though he never comes across as needy. "Of course, we will need weapons of sorts and a target. Do you require projectiles or do thrown weapons suffice?"
The guard in question gets up and walks around the desk before typing in a code. This code causes the door to slide open at which point he leaves. The remaining guard waits a few moments before changing one of the screens to the back rooms of the waitresses and help staff.
Kitty rolls her eyes then shifts, and starts to hover along again, she moves to head into the office. The eyes flick around looking for the target.
Peter shrugs, "Maybe another time with the cards… but you're missing out." he stretches his arms out a little. I'll play your game. I'm partial to actual shooting, if that is available."
Kitty rolls her eyes then shifts, and starts to hover along again, she moves to head into the office. The eyes flick around looking for the target. She stays phased and floating in case there are floor sensors.
"I am sure we can arrange something suitable," Mr. Strond confesses. "I have a pair of actual dueling pistols in my office. A hold over from my family history. I am quite fond of tradition, heritage. I will have one of my staff bring them." He gestures to the blonde.
Indeed, in the office of Derrick Strond, nothing has been spare in terms of elegance, comfort or security. A pair of dueling pistols and even sabers are on the wall. They are obviously old though in excellent condition. A large curved couch dominates the lower half of the room while a set of short steps leads to an upper area which seems to be his actual office space. An old wooden desk seems oddly joined to high tech computer systems. The computer on the desk is not connected either through wire or wirelessly to any network. In fact, it seems to be completely stand alone. With the alarm still on, motion and laser grid detection units are in place.
Peter once again seems distracted by the lovely ladies. Is it for show, or his own nature? Bit of both? In any case, he flexes his fingers a little bit. "That will be a delight, I'll have to see if I have seen their equal." he bluffs shamelessly.
Kitty's eyes pan the room. She is phased an undetectable to non upgraded security. She moves to the computer and starts to try and bypass security. Very carefully typing with an unphased finger. The eyes peering around, watching the hacked security feed on her tablet for any sign of alarm.
The security code on the computer is custom coded for this stand-alone system. It will take several minutes to try and hack through it, and even then, it will prove to be a most difficult hack. Early in the hacking, it becomes clear that there is also a detonation device designed to cover up material on the computer should the system notice itself being hacked. It is hard to tell if the detonation device is for the data, the computer, or the room.
Meanwhile, the luscious blonde continues walking through the bar towards the guarded double doors which lead to Mr. Strond's private office. Everyone gives her wide berth as she draws many eyes. Derrick Strond watches her as she walks away for almost a full minute and then turns his attention back to Peter. "A vision she is. So, we have our items, the pistols. Now, let us determine what shall be done with them and then the wager."
Star-Lord claps his hands and rubs them, head tossing a little bit as if psyching himself up for a basketball game or something. "Do you have a target range?" he asks Derrick.
Kitty scowls at the computer. She hates when they don't cooperate. She wonders how large the blast zone would be. She looks out at the gambling area. A brief thought in her head that if the Prof is listening, can he calculate if she's put civilians in danger. She dances her fingers between her tablet and the computer, trying to work through the security delicately so she can get the key and get out.
Professor Xavier is definitely paying attention to both of them and the thoughts of those around him. He speaks to Kitty's mind: <The detonation would destroy the room. According to the guard's mind, blast doors will come down over the windows and doors and destroy everything and everyone inside. Let's try to not do that tonight.>
The guard opens the door for the blonde letting into the private hallway. He turns to watch her for a moment though his partner hits him in the arm to make him pay attention to the floor. She pauses at the door to the security office and types a code. The door slides open revealing the one guard at his desk. He presses a button to change the view on the monitor. "Please deactivate the room security. Mr. Strond wants his pistols."
Ever the showman, Mr. Strond gestures around. "I own the entire area. Tell me how much room you need. I'm sure it will put on a good show."
Star-Lord looks around a little bit, "If it's a show you want, we could just clear people out of the longest straight line of sight. Set up targets on one end, and us on the other. As for a wager, I do have something you might find of note." he finds in his suit coat a fist sized stone. It is a silicate formation, in brilliant transparent purple fading through orange to yellow. https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/7125NT4a7PL._SY463_.jpg
Kitty nods and thinks she cannot be hurt by explosions while phased, she is safe. Then thinks well, unless concussive force knocks me out, and then the room is one fire. Crap, don't listen to that part, crap.. i'm good. She taps away, maneuvering carefully, not wanting an explosion and a missed chance of getting the Professor what he wants. Cause she wants him to be proud. Dang it, are you still listening, crap.
Peter, for his own part, is wondering if his alien-enhanced super-agility will stand up to a trained marksman. Also he's not too concerned about the rock, it would be valuable here but he picked up several on his trip to that moon. He wonders what stakes Derrick will offer and considers asking for the lady's phone number.
<Kitty, you have a visitor> Professor Xavier's thoughts float into the woman's mind. To both of them he telepathically sends, <Remember: no alarms or the key is useless.>
The guard looks up at the blonde thankful she can't see what he was looking at. "Yeah." He types a few buttons on the console in front of him and says, "All done. Just let me know when you are heading out." She takes a step towards the console and places her hands on the surface of it. "You will be watching me the whole time, I'm sure." She then turns on her heels and heads out.
Mr. Strond looks at the stone for a moment, and his eyes narrow in the inspection of it. "Interesting. I am not sure I have seen its like before. Tell me about it." He then stands up and starts to head towards the lower wing where the craps tables were.
Kitty jolts. She flicks her eyes over to the door. She crouches and ensure her tablet is free of a senor. She unphases her hand and the tablet, working hard and fast to get the actually video of the office playing. Eyes flicking as the door starts to open and the video stream, goes live. She shifts into the knee/leg space of the desk, remaining phased. She analyses ways to get by the security while she waits
Peter follows Mr. Strond. He explains, "From my personal collection, in case the wagering got out of hand. It is quartz, coated in natural titanium. The gentleman I acquired it from made the ridiculous claim that it was sampled from a crystal geyser from a moon of Saturn, but that seems unlikely. Just the same, I enjoyed the color." in fact, it is indeed from the moon Titan, and Peter knows that because that's where he acquired it.
The blonde moves over towards the desk and places her thumb against the surface. A small panel opens up allowing her to type in a code. This code opens the case on the wall where the pistols are stored. A few moments later the panel closes again. Before she has a chance to move over towards the pistols, she turns and types something on the computer even though she isn't really looking at it. She then blinks a couple times and grabs the pistols from the display case and heads out of the room. It appears for some reason she typed in a code that bypassed most of the security of the system leaving just a few algorithms left. Within moments the room security reactivates.
Mr. Strond nods at the description of the stone. "Seems a good enough wager. And I shall let you select from a few choices. You can spend time with that lovely blonde who has your eyes or I can give you this chip worth ten thousand dollars here in the club. You can cash it out or wager it on something else." He walks along the long glass wall that looks out over the city. "We shall use this strip here." He claps his hands a few times and several guards come in his direction. "Keep this area clear for us."
Kitty grins and clicks her tablet, re enabling the loop of empty office. She stands up and shifts, staying phased and types. A few layers falling hard and fast to her goddess like tech skills. She briefly wondering what shenanigans Peter is up to. A sexy blond left with guns, sounds like Peter. She pauses and looks, then does a thermal scan of the pad, trying to see what code the women typed
Peter continues in step with Mr. Strond. He gives a very friendly laugh, "I think I'd be off on the wrong foot if she felt assigned. Tell you what… a five thousand chip, and her telephone number. It will be entirely up to her whether she wishes to give me the time of day." he looks along the glass wall, and takes a moment to admire the view of the city.
The scan of the keyboard shows a series of numbers and symbols that were typed into the computer: 08/09/98. The computer file directory opens up to Kitty like the treasure cave of Ali Baba. There are several directories. The ones that might draw the most attention are Project 19, Project X4, GenKey, & XMen.
Mr. Strond nods his head to Peter and says, "Of course, Jason. Ah, here she comes now." Indeed, the luscious blonde walks towards Mr. Strond holding the pistols in her hands. She is holding them more like they are art work than weapons though perhaps they are both. She holds one pistol out to Mr. Strond and the other to Peter. "So, now, what to shoot." http://whatshotlondon.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Duel-2.jpg
Kitty grins, a dark happy naughty child grin. I have the cookie jar. Now to find the chocolate chip. She starts to open each of the interesting directories. She holds up her tablet in video mode, recording every detail as she scrolls faster then she can absorb, looking for the key.
Peter gives the lady a smile as he accepts the pistol. He looks it over carefully. "It is beautiful," he exclaims. "I almost hate to disturb it, but it really would only fully satisfy my curiosity to find out how it feels." He inspects the decorative handle. Looking along the hallway again, he says "It would need to be something that won't ricochet in an unexpected direction."
As Kitty tries to access the different projects scanning for the key, she would find that Project 19's files are the most numerous but not even the titles are readable. It seems that they are encrypted somehow. Project X4's folder contains files with seeming end-of-the-world titles such as plague, comet, combative AI, etc. The XMen folder contains files of every publically known mutant both XMen and their enemies. The folder with the GenKey label contains one incredibly large file with over 2 gigs of data in it. <That is the key>.
Mr. Strond heads to a pair of glass doors that open out onto a balcony. A crowd is forming nearby though the guards are keeping them at bay. He takes his pistol in his hand. It is clearly just from the way that he holds it that he has used it and similar weapons before. "Dueling pistols of the time had no rifling and as such are incredibly difficult to aim properly. Only the cowardly used bored pistols." He steps out onto the balcony and gestures with his free hand to some of the decorations. A series of balloons tied together and floating up into the night breeze. "Call a color and shoot it. Point for hitting any balloon. Two for hitting the color you called. No points for a miss. Sound fair..Jason?"
Kitty checks the key and kept help the feeling of pride knowing she is getting the work done. She checks the computer for codes or programming that will go off if her tablet is connected. If she finds none she slips a cord out, making the connection and dragging the file to copy. She wonders briefly, if he has this file on Xmen, could he have recognized her.
Peter blinks a little to clear his eyes and peers out at the balloons. "That works." he takes a slight step backwards, "I think it is customary for the challenger to have first shot."
With the speed of both computers, the file transfer happens rather quickly. A small window on the screen gives the indication of just how much of the file has transferred as well as how time is left before it is finished.
Mr. Strond loads the pre-packaged gunpowder and paper wad unit into the gun before placing the almost round ball into it as well. He lifts the pistol to aim at the balloons in question. "Yellow," he calls picking one of the balloons in the center. A few seconds later, he squeezes the trigger causing an explosion of smoke and fire. A grey balloon pops. He takes a step back and to the left. "Your shot."
She watches the file transfer. Those eyes flick. She's a hacker at heart, and they always love a flourish. She clicks in the xmen files, she opens her own file. She scrolls to the bottom and adds 'I am also smarter then you Mr. Strond, you genetically inferior dbag'. She saves the files, coding it so the date remains the same as previous. Likely to never be found, but there all the same.
Peter watched Derrick carefully and now follows the same procedure in loading his weapon. He calls out, "Blue," calmly, and extends his arm, pausing only a moment to sight before firing, counting on his muscle memory to do the job. A red balloon pops with a bang. "Best score after three shots?" he suggests belatedly. Good thing it's a tie.
The computer indicates the file transferred successfully with a slight ding. The indication window disappears from the screen. The number of people in the XMen folder is easily over fifty.
The luscious blonde holds out to each man a bag which contains everything needed to reload and rearm the weapon. Derrick nods his head. "Agreed. Second round." He steps up to the position and raises his hand. "Green." He here pauses to hold his breath and prepare against wind. Another puff of smoke is immediately followed by a popping sound. A yellow balloon popped this time. The crowd of twenty clap their hands.
Kitty pauses, clearly wanting to drag the whole file to the trash. She briefly starts to type, planning on leaving a worm that will corrupt all the data. She stops, no trace, no alarms or the Key is worthless. She exhales and has video of the files. She trusts Charles. She pulls the cord from the computer. She starts to back out, ensuring all the security layers fall back into place. The computer back into sleep mode she phases completely.
Peter loads and tries again, calling out "Red", this time trying to keep the weapon steadier. Not the problem, and focusing too hard throws him off. The shot misses entirely, and he winces, shaking his head.
<Well done, Kitty> projects the Professor into her mind. He knew her struggle and her little addition, and he was glad she didn't destroy the data. <We should depart. Professor Quill, I think we are about ready.>
Mr. Strond loads his gun for his third and final shot. He aims the gun and calls, "Yellow." Whether it was due to a deformation in the ball, a gust of wind, or a mispull on his finger, his bullet misses as well. He nods his head and moves back to his waiting spot. "I believe it is your final shot, Jason." He doesn't verbalize that the score is 2 to 1 in his favor.
Peter reloads, then stands up straight again letting his body and instincts do the work, extending his arm. A glint in his calm, steely eyes, he says, "Green." and fires, BANG! Alas, it was not to be. The balloons remain stubbornly intact. He scratches his chin. "Well." he remarks, "That was exhilarating." he reaches into his coat to dig out Derrick's prize.
Kitty phases into the room with the guard. She stays low, still paranoid, ensuring no visual anomalies can been seen. She slinks to the back and taps the tablet, letting the true video start to play. Then phases through the wall. "I'm out Professor. She briefly hopes Stark never perfects the tech to catch hear. Mostly cause stealing his ship was fun. She moves a distance away then reaches and yanks her sandal strap snapping it. She unpahses to a side, straightens then limps her ruined shoe along, eyes panning as if she didn’t know Peter would be at the center of the crowd on the … balcony, oh crap that can't be good.
Mr. Strond hands the gun back to the blonde making sure to give it to her handle first because the barrel will be quite warm. "Good shooting, Jason. These are notoriously difficult to fire. Should you wish a rematch, I will let you pick the weapon of choice." He is ready to depart and rejoin the crowd who are cheering for their patron; however, he doesn't plan on leaving until he gets his prize.
Peter first offers the pistol grip first to Strond's assistant, then the exotic crystal cluster to Mr. Strond himself. "I just might. Thank you, you've been an excellent host and a formidable opponent." he nods slightly, almost making it look like a bow.
Kitty walks up as they come in off the balcony. She smiles wide and slips to Peter's left side, snuggling in. She pouts a lip "Handsome my shoe broke. And some woman said people are firing guns. I want to go home" She pouts out her bottom lip. Not a glance towards Strond.
Professor Xavier begins making his way towards the elevator as Kitty heads out onto the balcony.
Mr. Strond takes the crystal and looks at it for a moment. He will need to get it to a lab and have it thoroughly investigated. "I am most sorry to hear that, miss. I hope you are able to enjoy the rest of your evening. Good shooting, Jason. Until next time." He nods his head to them and begin walking towards the private hallway with his blonde assistant in tow.
Peter nuzzles Kitty's ear, "Alright hon, let's head out… and not to worry, that was us anyway." he leads her down the stairs towards the exit to meet the Professor outside.
"Did I really just seeing flintlock pistols and a rock from Titan in his hand, really? You got to fire a flintlock?" Kitty whispers in his ear "And if he has the rock, you lost.. i have to installer text Rocket" She limps the broken strap sandal along.