Kleptomaniac (Dub and Invites)

A great many wealthy folk, crime bosses, wizards and metahumans in the L.A. area who possess significant wealth, or special items have been on high alert lately. Meanwhile, Diana finally returns to her L.A. home after an extended sojourn to Asia, still oblivious of the events unfolding mayhem in the city.

She turns the key to her place, and saw everything was as she left it. The Plasma screen TV, the fridge, the sofa, the minimal decor. Except... the bookcase was slightly ajar.

She rushed over to slide the bookcase to reveal her secret compartment. Her Ronin cyber suit was gone, along with all the ninja equipment she had. No words escaped her mouth, as thoughts began to race through her mind of someone in her identity running amok in the city...

= = = =

CLOVER'S PLACE

It takes a special kind of intellect to infiltrate a witch's home, and a special kind of stupidity to go through with it. This particular thief had both, and under cover of night, foiled technological and magical sensors and befuddled guardians alike. The Ronin's cyber ninja suit helped, its capabilities making the felon a wall-crawling, hook flying blur as he/she defeated one defense after another to make their way into the library.

Rappeling down from the ceiling and ensuring no one was around, He pulls the moving shelves containing the grimoires he sought, and pulled a few volumes on teleportation, illusions and misdirection. "Heheh. Come to daddy." He stopped to relish his prize, before stowing them away in the folds of his shadowy cloak.

It had been a very long and exhausting day for the Sinclair family. Clover and Lorelei spent the whole day training, Winston tackled several projects he had lying around the house, and Gabriel Sinclair, Clover’s grandfather, had been away on an archeological dig, hoping to find more relics from his family’s past. Needless to say, everyone in the house was itching for a well-deserved rest. Lorelei was the first one down, followed by Clover who defiantly tried to stay awake much longer than she should have, in order to continue training, before finally passing out face first in a spell book.

Winston plucked Clover up without disturbing her and put her to bed before returning to the family study, which was more like a library more than anything, and tidied up before heading to be himself, making sure he set all the alarms as made his way to the comfy padded heaven that awaited his aching body.

Despite the rough day she had, had, Lorelei found herself awake in the middle of the night. Clover and Winston remained sound asleep, while the little blue Atlantean found it difficult to fall back into her slumber. After several failed attempts to close her eyes and drift off, Lorelei decided to get up and wander down to the kitchen for a much needed glass of water. As she passed by the study she stopped dead in her tracks. A muffled voice echoed out from the other side of the big wooden doors of the study. Had Lorelei not had heightened hearing she might not have noticed the intrusion. Unsure if Clover or Winston were still awake, Lorelei nudged the doors open to investigate.

To the thief’s shock, they had been detected. “But how!” they murmured bewildered by the strange looking girl.

Lorelei’s pink eyes shot wide open as a mysterious shadowy stranger stood towards the back of the study, slightly illuminated by the moonlight creeping in through the glass ceiling. The little blue girl’s eyes shifted to the bookcase where she noticed a few books had been missing. Before she had time to react, the stranger opened one of the books and began to chant and in the blink of an eye they were gone.

With the thief’s quick and abrupt exit, Lorelei rushed back up the stairs to wake up Clover and Winston.

The trio quickly rushed down the stairs and made their way to the study. Clover stood before the bookcase where the missing tomes where held. Her fist clenched tightly in anger as the energy in her body began to surge. Random loose objects in the room began to rumble before she was eventually calmed down by Lorelei and Winston.
“I’m going to find out who did this, and I’m going to get my damn books back.”

Diana took in the scene of the crime. The thief was clearly no simple break-and-enter burglar, seeing as the door had been locked with no sign of tampering or lock picking. The thief had also moved what little furniture there was carefully, nothing too out of place save for the slightest hint of dragging on the carpet.

Diana checked her much more ubiquitous safe in the floor, and was quite surprised her bundles of money went untouched. The safe was never even opened.

Diana's time back home training with a native tracker meant now she could come to some conclusions. "Didn't even touch the money, wasn't her motive. The suit itself can't be her ultimate motive either... it's difficult to modify, and even when adjusted it won't fit most people. Which means... the thief has bigger plans."

She sighs and grabs a coat and her sword. Cortana tells her it was already 1 AM; She decided she needed to find herself a den of scum and villainy if she wanted to find something about her little thief. She finds an Uber and heads into the seedier parts of town.

After clearing her mind and calming down, Clover joined Winston and Lorelei in investigating the break in. Whoever the thief was, they were pretty good. They had seemingly avoided tripping the security alarm, and infiltrated the house without anyone knowing. Had Lorelei not woken up when she did, there’d be no doubt that the break in would have gone undiscovered till morning. It was hard for Clover to believe that someone could have broken in so easily and just waltzed off with two of her precious codices. With no actual evidence to go off of except for the rope dangling from the opening in the glass ceiling, Clover resorted to less conventual methods to track down the mysterious stranger.  

After a brief phone call with a notorious skullfaced assassin, Clover discovered that there was a club in a shady part of town where the more successful criminals congregated. Wasting little time Clover got dressed and ordered Winston to drive her to the seedy bar, much to his displeasure, the hulking butler agreed.

When the black sports call rolled up to the front of the bar, it was apparent that White Skull had downplayed just how lavish the place was. Troves of people lined the sidewalk all waiting for a chance to get inside the building and rub elbows with some of LA’s most infamous.

Heads turned in shock and confusion as Clover stepped out of the vehicle, the look on her face was anything but welcoming.
“Shall I keep the car running Miss Sinclair?” shouted Winston over the mixture of the roaring engine of the car and over tuned bass from the club.
“This might take a while Winston, why don’t you head home. I’ll call you if I need something.”
Before Winston could argue with the girl she had already broken into a quick stride away from the car, making any attempt to change her mind impossible.

Like a woman possessed, Clover b-lined straight for the door of the club, ignoring the line completely. Her momentum was halted however, when a rather oversized bounced moved into her path. “sorry little girl, this place is for adults only. Why don’t you go back to your grandpa a--” before the bouncer could finish speaking, a greenish blue flash of light lit up between him and Clover. The bouncer was blown backwards, crashing through the clubs red door and landing on his back with a loud thud.

The music came to an abrupt stop as Clover walked into the club, stepping over the bouncer on her way in, all the while acting like she owned the place. Things were tense for a few seconds as no one knew what to do about the girl. A mysterious figure in the back could be seen whispering into the air of someone else. A few seconds later the music started back up and everyone was back to partying, leaving Clover to wander around the building looking for any lowlife that might have possibly hired the thief, or tell her where the thief might be hiding.

This kingpin of crime type of fellow sitting at the center of the menagerie of underworld figures eyed Clover since her entrance, then gestured the waiter to tend to her needs.

The posse sitting with the large crime boss included a monstrous shark faced metahuman, a grey-moustached warlock and a cyborg mobster. They all eyed Clover nervously, seeing her powerful abilities but unwilling to show fear either.

The "It seems we have one more guest. Please, sit. I believe we have certain common grievance, my dear. You are missing something valuable from your possessions as well, I presume?" He asked with a cool and polite tone, while his associates seemed just about ready to hop out of their seats and maul Clover. It was clear the thief was a brazen fool who pilfered from the coffers of the city's most dangerous individuals.

As the festivities resumed, Clover made her way to the bar. She had no desire to drink, nor did she think the bartender would oblige her. Instead she used it as a perch from which she could overlook the whole club. Amidst the joyous faces were the occasional hardened thug or unique looking meta, but none of them seemed to scream ‘I’m a criminal mastermind.’ Or ‘I’m a collector of rare and precious spell tomes.’. The raven-haired girl found herself grinding her teeth out of frustration and just when she was about to leave, she was approached by one of the club’s waiters approached her.

The would be kingpin wanted to have a word with her. She followed the waiter into the VIP section where she was introduced to a motley crew of mobsters, each unique in their own way. The young girl showed little fear as she took up the empty seat opposite the posse. Upon sitting she crossed her legs and placed her hands in her lap, clasped together. To those looking on from the outside it almost appeared as though Clover were the one in charge. This wasn’t true of course, but she always carried that sort of air about her and refused to show any weakness.

Clover listened intently to the kingpin’s words, her eyes never wavering from the man. “Well that all depends. I can hardly see how your grievances are any of my concern.” she said. Her emerald colored eyes shifted from side to side eyeing the kingpin’s associates out of the corners of her eyes. “Besides I can hardly see what I have to do with retrieving your property. I’m only concerned with getting back what was taken from me. I highly doubt any of you have anything to offer that I don’t have already.”

Clover meant business and was treating this as just another business meeting. The mobsters wouldn’t have called her over if they weren’t thinking about using Clover to their advantage. Clover was too smart for that, and by the end of this conversation she’d have the thugs eating out of the palm of her hand, if she got her way.

"My dear... it is actually in everyone's interest the thief be found as soon as possible. Seeing as you seem quite eager as any of us." The Kingpin simply stated, shrugging off any of Clover's suspicions. One of his more competent henchmen, a latina computer expert with a shaved side of the head, and some degree of cybernetic implants, produced some HD photos.

"We got us a bad chica crackin' opening some pinatas that don't belong to her."

"Hmm. Indeed. Behold, a well placed hidden camera proves more useful than a cadre of bodyguards." He showed them a shot of the perp.

"Ronin?! The hero-for-hire?" The gray skinned man said, recognizing the cyber ninja as he pilfered the crime boss's vault of loot.

"Seems heroics hasn't been paying."

The crime boss rearranged some of the security photos, digitally enhanced for the benefit of the gathered company. "What's more, I have a theory, coupled with reliable information that Ronin has prior history with an assassin once in our employ. See this blade?" A ringed finger pointed to a dark katana, carried by the young woman in the picture.

"...That is the Blood Sword, and the assassin who carries the same name." The Warlock pointed out, recognizing the cursed blade even from a mere photo.

"Yes. I dealt with this one before. Ruthless, efficient, and skilled with a blade as to make bullets look slow in comparison. I believe Ronin either liberated the blade from the assassin... which I find unlikely, or more simply... Ronin was the Blood Sword." The gray haired kingpin said.

"So you are saying... we find the sword, we find the thief?" The cyborg mobster droned in his monotone voice.

"Indeed." The warlock pored over the pictures for himself, the sight of the cursed blade of great interest to him.

"Then what're we waiting for?! Let's find this Ronin, break his legs!" The gray-skinned metahuman with the sharp teeth slammed one fist on the table in barely controlled fury. The others at the table were not so quick to follow the presented information.

The cultured kingpin stroked his beard and simply nodded. He said nothing about the conclusions his associate had drawn. "Perhaps." He eyed Clover for a moment, and waited for her to make her own conclusion based on the... evidence... presented.

Clover continued to keep her calm and cool demeanor as the photos were displayed to the whole group. Taking Lorelei’s vague description of the thief into account there was no doubt that whoever was underneath that suit was the culprit. Something about the situation didn’t sit right with Clover however. Everyone in the VIP lounge seemed all too eager to jump to conclusions, prompting a simple [color:117e=b63449] “typical thugs” to escape the girls lips as she continued to study the photos. After several minutes of gazing at the photos wordlessly minus the one outburst, Clover was still unconvinced as to what the mobsters thought they were going to get from her.

“Pictures say a thousand words…the same can’t be said for any of you however.” Clover leaned back in her seat, her emerald eyes searing a hole through the kingpin’s skull. The thugs obviously wanted her to deal with this problem for them. *Leave it to a mobster to try and get someone else to do their dirty work for them.* she thought to herself as she rose from her seat.

Though the mobsters had offered her nothing worthwhile, nor make their intentions clear, they had given Clover what she was looking for. The photos had given her a better description of the thief and what they were capable of. She could leave the club and continue her investigation on her own terms now. “Unless you can offer me something useful, I believe we are done here. Good luck getting your property back gentlemen.” she said before attempting to leave the VIP section.

The old crime boss's assistant decided to save Clover some trouble.

"Well you don't have to look far, chica. Guess who just rolled up in an Uber."

The bouncer massaged his aching elbows and neck, as he returned to the door with mostly his dignity in tatters. Just as he started processing the line of people coming in, a second young lady arrived off an Uber'd yellow Humvee.

She was wearing a black coat, and a katana was strapped to her back. She had the eyes of a killer.

"Ugh... They don't pay me enough." The bouncer decides to head to the washroom, letting Diana come in.

Diana moved to the table where the boss and Clover were. She was more or less the same height and build as the thief, with the sword the only thing the thief lacked. "McShane. I'm looking for a thief that-"

"YOU GOT ALOT OF GUTS COMING HERE!" The grey skinned mobster rushed Diana, all gung-ho, resorting immediately to a Haymaker to the face. Said Haymaker connected to no such face, instead being caught in a Judo throw, bowling over a few tables and patrons.

"I'm looking for a thief who's been hitting high profile targets... and he's not done." Diana finished. The other members at the table decided not to test the suspect that had arrived.

Clover was about to leave when the kingpin’s secretary spoke up. This made Clover look towards the entrance of the club, just in time to see the bouncer scurry off to some dark corner and a small Asian girl that couldn’t have been much older that her stroll right on in.

The girl in black made a b-line to the VIP section where the kingpin, his associates, and Clover had gathered. Clover eyed the new arrival, sizing her up and mentally comparing her to the images of the thief she had been shown only moments prior. While both the girl and the thief were almost identical in stature, one key detail stood out…the sword. Going off of the images of the thief and Lorelei’s description, it was apparent that the kleptomaniac hadn’t been carrying a sword with them in any of the photos or when they robbed Clover’s study.

Clover quickly dismissed the idea of the thief just not carrying a sword with them on their heists. It would make no sense to just abandon a weapon like that especially in their line of work where they were more than likely to get caught or have a confrontation with someone. As Clover collected her thoughts, one of the mobsters leapt up from their seat in a fit of rage at the new arrival. Their fist met with the air, before they were grabbed by their outstretched arm and tossed over several tables. Clover arched a brow as she heard the girl address the kingpin by name. They must have had some past dealings or run ins at some point, and what’s more, the girl seemed to be at the club for the same reason Clover was.

Despite everything the kingpin had said up to this point, things weren’t adding up. If Clover and this girl had come to the same club seeking answers then it was obvious the kingpin was lying or withholding information. The thought of being toyed with, began to rouse up a frustration in Clover. This became very clear when she had another episode like she had, had back at home. A light blueish-green aura emanated off of Clover’s body, followed by everything not bolted to the ground vibrating and shaking with increasing intensity.

Her eyes shot over to the kingpin, his compatriots, and the secretary. “Either you start talking, or I bring this place down on top of you and your friends. I want answers!”

"He's a nobody." McShane said calmly, Clover's display of power having little effect on him. He poured himself a new glass of champagne and continued speaking, seeing as these two girls had far more agency than a table of old mob bosses. It also seemed Clover would not impulsively attack the old assassin, try as he did feebly to frame Diana by her armor.

"He's not connected with any group in the city, and no one knows who he is. He found my list of valuable objects and made off with it, confounding my guards..."

"He took my cloak of shadows!" The warlock at the table added, with table slamming.

"And the other bosses' assets. I know you are no heroes, but I know you will stop him anyway."

"You seem quite keen on stopping this thief." Diana crossed her arms.

"Because I know you won't let him continue wearing the Ronin armor." MchShane suggested.

Diana squinted. She had an alternate answer, one that suited the boss McShane. "Because he's upsetting the peace."

"Motivation is irrelevant to me at this point. I will tell you both what he is after next, and you can work out the details afterwards. I have already warned the owner." McShane got a cigar from a box and began lighting up. Completely cool.

Diana sighed and looked at Clover. "Well, he's right. I won't let him keep using my suit. Are we going to be working together to stop our thief?"

The rumbling came to a slow stop as Clover eased off from flexing her power. The Kingpin finally began to take things a bit more seriously, even if he didn’t show it. Finally, the young girl was getting the answers she was after. The mobsters claimed to have no affiliation with the thief at all and each went on to whine and moan about the possessions they had been robbed off. *How ironic* Clover thought, as the notion of a thief stealing from other thieves was such a clichéd concept. The kingpin continued to wear a smug smile as he addressed the katana wielding girl next to Clover. They seemed to have history, but the idea seemed so odd to Clover, as the girl was around her age to begin with.

Before Acknowledging the temporary partnership with the girl, something the kingpin said struck a chord with Clover. McShane noted that the thief had stolen a list from him. A list that contained a bunch of valuables and no doubt their locations. *Could my tomes have been on that list? How would anyone even know about them?* She thought silently to herself. Part of Clover wanted to pressure McShane further, to confirm her suspicions, but she let the idea slip from her mind. If the thief did in fact steal a list from the kingpin, then whenever Clover found the thief she could just check the list herself then come back and deal with McShane if questions needed answering.

With all that behind her, Clover turned to the girl beside her and offered up a handshake. “Looks like we’ve got no choice. The suit he stole from you and the books he took from me could put a lot of people in harm’s way. I’m Clover by the way.” She said with a polite smile, showing a kindness to this stranger that she had denied the mobsters.

"Diana Mendoza." She introduced herself, accepting Clover's handshake "...with the suit I'm Ronin. Say, you wanna grab a cup of coffee? I feel like I'm about to keel over."

What followed was a brief interlude at the nearby convenience store. It was 2 AM in the winter cold, and Diana was about ready to keel over. Thankfully she found salvation at the automated coffee machine, and even offered Clover. She got herself the biggest cup and filled up.

She plays a video message from the Kingpin's mexican hacker minion, who made a pretty visual summary of where the thief was liable to strike next. Dyslexic swordsman and all that.

"Okay, mi amigas, listen up." She zooms in on a derelict looking building, a narrow unassuming structure squeezed between two office complexes with large ionic columns flanking its entrance. "The last place the thief hasn't hit is this old library. It houses an artifact alot of people wanna get their hands on. You'll want to get there and get the artifact before our friend does... or take it from him. comprende?"

Clover took a sip of the fresh coffee in her hand. The warmth emanating from the cup was a welcomed comfort on such a frigid night. The kingpin’s secretary was kind enough to leave the two girls with a video summary on the thief’s next target. A rather shoddy looking building stood out of place between the two large office complexes that occupied it on either side. The secretary went on to explain that the building housed an artifact of some importance, claiming several individuals had already tried to get their hands on whatever lay in the depths of the decrepit building.

“The libraries still a good distance away, hopefully we can make it there first, before our friend does.” Clover blew the lid of her coffee cup to cool down the piping hot contents down just a bit so she wouldn’t burn her tongue. She pondered calling Winston for a ride to the rundown library, but one quick look at the standstill traffic lining the street in front of the small convenience store left her dejected to the thought. There was no way Winston would be able to get to them, and then reach the library, especially since the thief was now in possession of one of Clover’s tomes and had a decent head start on the two girls.  

Clover broke into a brisk walk down the sidewalk with Diana. Clover took the occasional sip from her over sweetened coffee before the silence finally took its toll on the young girls psyche. She’d glace over at her partner in this endeavor and strike up a small conversation. “So that suit of yours is pretty neat. You make it yourself?” she asked partially out of curiosity and a genuine interest in the tech behind the suit. *Something like that could really help me out if I was ever in a pinch* she thought to herself shortly after asking the question.

Diana took the non-verbal cue of the traffic and started a brisk walking pace towards the library. Clover at least was easy to converse with; she must've been Diana's age group.

"Hmmm nah, I used to run with the Prodigy group. They made the suit for me. Lets me be a ninja, wall crawl and have a grapple." Diana explained to Clover what to expect from their thief, and decided intel would be extremely useful. "So, what did he take from you?"