The fellow in her hands arched his eyebrows, and asked her "What you got in mind, honey?"

Honey?

"Why, nothing less than the whole story of your little robbery attempt, darling." Mirage replied back.  "It was just an attempt, wasn't it?  Or did your friends in the van manage to take off with something valuable?"

  He tilted his head, and said "Ransom money, sweet cheeks.  That's what we wanted . . .. "

"Ransom money?  That sounds far more interesting than a simple robbery.  How intriguing.  Indulge me.  How were you going to get ransom money out of the museum?"

  He snorted, and said "Simple, sugar.  The wealthy kids got rich parents . . . . "

Still holding the thug, or rather kidnapper, up by his shirt collar, Mirage pretended to think over their 'brilliant' plan.

"So then, you'd kidnap the kids of some wealthy museum patron and then ransom the child back to them.  Not a bad plan.  Did you actually get away with a child?"

"Not just one kid. There was a whole field trip of wealthy kids there. How should I know? I was just the decoy."

Just the decoy.  That was disappointing news.

"Just the decoy, darling?  And here I was hoping that you were someone important, someone I could make a deal with.  You really know how to let a girl down."  She released her hold on him and let him drop to the hood of the car.  "I can't begin to tell you how dull it's been lately."

A long stiletto dagger appeared in one hand.  Mirage admired the psionic weapon and the way that it's deep crimson colour seemed to shift as she turned it around.  "I guess if you don't know anything of value, there's really no sense in keeping you in one piece now is there?  How many of my daggers do you think I can stick into you before the car sinks?  That might might cheer me up a bit."

The man's eyes widened as the blade appeared in her hand. "Now now lets not get too hasty. I'm sure there's more you might be interested in knowing."

Mirage gave the Thug a slightly disinterested look.

"More?  But you just said that you're just the decoy and you don't know if your grand scheme succeeded or not.  What could you possibly know that might interest me?"

"We uhh aren't the only group. The boss, she calls herself Tzarina. Real scary lady. This isn't her only planned heist. Not that I know about any ops I'm not part of."

"Tzarina, hmm?" Mirage drew the edge of her psionic knife lightly down the thugs cheek.  It was not hard enough to draw blood but it was enough that the thug would know that the weapon was real and sharp.  She was a cat toying with her prey.  "And how would I find this Tzarina?"

"Sh-she didn't tell us. My job was just to distract any cops or heroes that came in. The only one who knew how to contact her was the guy heading the heist. He's long gone by now."

"And you did such a good job of being a distraction, darling."  Mirage purred menacingly.  "You have my full attention, which may not be such a wonderful thing in a few minutes.  You don't seem to have any more information that may be of use to me, so..."

The man's eyes widened and he started to panic. "Listen L-Lady lets no do anything rash here..."

"Aren't you supposed to distract me, darling.  Surely you want to do a good job."  Mirage purred menacingly.  "You've given me a name but not much else.  Are you sure that there's nothing else that you'd like to share with me?"

PM

Dragon Fist stood on the roof on the opposite side of the museum, his mind awash in introspective thought. Up until now, he had alienated most of his friends, going on a crusade that left only broken bodies in his wake. Lashing out seemingly at friend and enemy alike, he had torn through various ranks of the criminal underworld, letting them know the ferocity of his namesake. Fear had seemed to rule, and Dragon Fist seemed to like it.

Arguments with Lin....with Don....Hotwire...everyone he knew and associated with....they just didn't seem to understand. They didn't understand the losses he had suffered. Friday. Mirage. The once seemingly unbreakable Dragon Fist broke under the emotions of his all-too human self. Guilt. Anger. Sadness. His fists and feet knew nothing but bloodied noses, broken arms and legs. They knew the scent of fear. And Dragon Fist seemed to almost revel in it.

Until...

On one of his rampages, a young Hispanic boy witnessed the beating he was levying on an arrogant street tough. The boy muttered but one word softly..."DIABLO"....and suddenly it seemed that Dragon Fist's senses...everything everyone had told him....seemed to echo through that young boy's voice. The voice seemed to hit his emotions like a sledgehammer, and he immediately relented. He needed to think....to reevaluate....to figure out what to do next. The museum was not far away.

And so he crouched, lost in a sea of his own thoughts, as he looked down upon a part of the city that he called home, wondering where his path would take him next.

The Weston Museum was hosting one of the largest showings of Egyptian artifacts that was currently touring the world.  The collection contained millions of dollars worth of treasures from a half dozen newly discovered tombs.  It also boasted the largest number of intact mummies of any collection outside of Cairo.  The show opening had been  attended by many of Westons celebrities and social elite, but the crowds that now filtered through the exhibition hall were no less numerous though not quite as famous.

Security for the showing was tight, not surprising given the value of the exhibit.  Guards watched every door, searched through bags and purses at the main entrance, and kept a watchful eye on patrons as they moved about the valuable collection.  They were looking in the wrong places.

A young girl ran up to one of the display cases and pressed her face and hands against the glass.  "Cool."  she said in an excited tone.  Her eyes swept over the ancient remains as if she were looking at a selection of ice cream.  She turned to her approaching parents and gestured excitedly, pressing a finger against the glass.  "Look Mommy, the mummies even move."

"Don't be silly, Abbie."  The woman said, finally catching up to her daughter.  "The mummies don't.."  her words were cut off as she watched the desiccated corpse raise its arm.  "...don't...move..."  Her eyes went wide and she instinctively reached for her daughter.

A second later, a shattering of security glass preceded a loud scream.  One scream lead to another, and shouts of panic, as the ancient inhabitants of Egypt rose from their places of rest, easily breaking through the glass encasing them.  The exhibition hall erupted into a chaotic, panicked mass as the now restless dead began to attack those closest.

It was another long, incredulous minute, before one of the guards, surprised by the event, managed to put in a cal for assistance.

Lost in his reverie, Dragon Fist took a random look inside the museum. Seeing people began to run piqued his curiosity. The screams of the many innocent denizens inside snapped him to almost immediate attention. Maybe the museum was promoting some sort of extracurricular activity to promote the showing of the Egyptian artifacts.

"Oh hell, I hope this isn't some sort of publicity stunt," he muttered to himself as he soared on his wings closer to the museum.

As Dragon Fist soared closer to the front of the museum, he could see a stream of patrons rushing through the narrow front entrance.  The entrance, with several of its doors locked in order to control the flow of people into the museum, was inadequate to allow the large number of people trying to get out.  One of the locked doors shattered as someone crashed through it. The individual, bloodied by shards of glass, tumbled down the front stairs.  Several others lost their footing and tumbled down as well.

Dragon Fist could see one of the fallen individuals get kicked about as fleeing patrons stepped over them.  If this was a publicity stunt, it was turning out to be a very dangerous one.

Dragon Fist swooped down to where the fallen patron was. It was displays like this that made him doubt his faith in humanity. It was all he could do to not lash out at the massive stampede that was before him.

Shoving people aside, he made his way to the fallen patron to help them up. "Let's get you out of here," he said, grabbing the person, not offering the individual a chance to say no.

He set them down in an out of the way spot not far from the entrance. "What's going on?!? What's got everyone so spooked aside?" he asked, almost menacingly.

Antoinette was just about to enjoy the museum when this all broke out. Seeing people panic, she knew she had to switch over to her alter ego. With people panicking, it was actually a simple matter to manifest her costume without anyone noticing. Not that that mattered too much to her.

Seeing Dragon Fist help out the one who was getting run through the kicking machine, Lifelight puts her forcefield up and hurries over to the other one who got scratched up by glass and directs healing energy at him to close his wounds so he can continue fleeing with the rest of the crowd.

As soon as she saw that he was OK, Lifelight flies over the people towards the inside of the building to go to where everyone is fleeing from.

Never fear, Miss Adventure is here!  At least, that's what Mittens wants to say while standing in a dramatic heroic pose, cape billowing in the wind.  But what would be the point with nobody being able to hear it over the noise of a panicking crowd?  Ah well.  At least she can help a little with crowd control by portaling out whatever fallen people are still in danger then forcing the locked doors open.

I can only guess that the reason for this panic is an armed thief started shooting, she's thinking to herself, Only one way to find out.

While she appears to walk on thin air over the crowd in order to get to the source of the panic, Mits announces to the crowd with her trusty megaphone, "PLEASE ESCAPE IN A SAFE MANNER, AND REMEMBER: TRAMPLING PEOPLE IN YOUR WAY IS A CRIME.  THERE ARE SECURITY CAMERAS WATCHING YOU, AND ANYTHING YOU DO ON TAPE CAN AND WILL BE USED AGAINST YOU IF YOUR SHOVING IS THE REASON THE FALLEN CHILD IN FRONT OF YOU WINDS UP CRUSHED TO DEATH."

Though 911 is speed dialed, she makes it a point to not open a portal to the police station this time.  That didn't turn out for the best when the Yokai Zords attacked.

  Matt makes a note to self, avoid any 'the Venus de milo isn't supposed to have arms!' moments if called upon to undo any of the night's property damage.

  He makes a bet with himself that like every disaster, the emergency exits will have been conspicuously unused.  See also, the lonely life of emergency brakes.

  A slide whistle sound accompanies the arrival of a known to some appendage falling from the sky line, and retracting in an a measured eyeblinks span of time to result in Matt's full in person attendance.

  "When I get in there, it will be another example of why learning from history is nothing but trouble. I just know it." He would wave hello to Mittens, but she's clearly busy.