X-Men Mission: Repent Harlequin, Said The Tick-Tock Man - log 1

[x-dominion.livejournal.com]

Arcade opens up the Excelsior New York, his new building in New York. But during the opening, an old 'friend' drops in.



"Now this. This is a building. Am I right? Course I'm right. Senator." Jacob Lowenstein was in his glory. As the centre of attention in the opening of his massive new building, the Excelsior New York, he was surrounded by city officials, politicians, tech millionaires, society families and the cream of New York's diverse powerbase. The reception was taking place at the apex of his new building, capped by an impressive 360 view of the city, broken only by the elevator banks in the center of the floor.

The upper floor was almost a park; inset troughs of sweet smelling plants and wooden planes broke up spaces decorated with sculptures and artwork. The interactive panels allowed for whole walls to be used like telescopes over the city or to broadcast scenes from other properties that Arcade owned. The building had been touted as the most advanced skyscraper in the world, and the short tour of the top few floors had confirmed the level of technological expertise that had been integrated into every step of the construction.

Warren turned his back on Lowenstein, and made a quick gagging face at Miles.‎ It was purely a jealous motion, considering even Warren had to admit he was impressed with the building. When he'd received the invite, he'd almost thrown it out but he hadn't had a good society event in a while. Plus, he'd just bought this suit. "Can you do your twitter thing and make it seem like I'm both bored and impressed? You're good at being me.". He thought for a moment. "But make it seem like I also have a beautiful woman with me, and the food is amazing. In....10 words or less. I also believe in brevity."

Miles had never felt more out of place. In comparison, the boutique clothes store he'd nearly been kicked out of when Warren took him a year ago seemed downright homey. It didn't help his (dis)comfort knowing that the suit Warren had thrown him into probably cost more than half a year's rent of his parents' apartment. At least there was food. He had one canape in his mouth and another in his hand when Warren instructed him to do the work he'd been invited here to do, so he answered with a muffled noise of acquiescence and pulled out his phone from his pocket with his free hand.

"Okay," he said once he swallowed the food, "Like, 'Never get tired of this view' with a picture of those women by the windows? So, like, imply this isn't really anything new for you but you like it."

Warren nodded approvingly. "You know, since hiring you, my popularity has never been better. When I run for president, I need you by my side." He lifted a glass. "Worthington/Morales, 2036. You'll be old enough then, and probably running one of my companies." He paused and took a thoughtful sip. "Or run your own. Actually, I have no idea what you're going to be doing when you grow up. Wow. Do I ever listen to you when you talk?"

"Yeah, right." Miles's snort and guffaw were met with raised eyes from a couple of passersby. "Running your company. No, thanks. I have no idea what the hell I'm going to college for, but def not business. No offense. I seriously think I'd go full-on supervillain if I had to do this all the time. I dunno how you haven't yet."

"How do you know I'm not?" Warren cocked an eyebrow. "The most succesful CEOs have been known to have sociopathic tendencies. After all, we value money and privilege over little things like family and feelings." He tried to keep a light tone, but this conversation was hitting too deep for his liking.

Murmurings started up around him, which provided a thankful distraction. "Something's happening," he said, trying to catch the cause of the restlessness.

Lowenstein had finally stepped to the podium, looking as pleased as the cat that ate all the canaries. "Thank you all for being here today for the formal christening of the Excelsior New York. I grew up in the city, in the arcades down at Coney Island where everyone spent summer days reading the train down to walk the boardwalk and soak up the sun. Funny to think of it being such a peaceful place in the midst of all the noises and the cheers. For the last few years, my hometown has been anything but peaceful. Some times, it almost seems under siege. Well, it deserves more than that."

"See, I'm not a hero who can fly around stopping bad guys. I'm not like our friends in SHIELD, who have joined us today, on the front line against terrorists and lunatics. I'm just an inventor; a builder. So if I can't solve the problems that SHIELD or heroes do, what can I solve as an inventor. This place." He tapped the podium with his finger. "This is what I can do. This is not just the most technologically advanced building in New York. It is also the safest. Deep driven carbon latticed foundations, energy redundancy for over six months. Interior impact sensitive ferroplast fill chambers. Full environmental micro-targeting and sealing for any potential hazard. You could fly a half dozen planes into her and she'd laugh it off. This building has everything that - hnh?" He stopped suddenly as he was suddenly separated from the podium, drawn back several feet. Solid glass panels had slid out from beneath the flooring, separating the guests into smaller groups, caging them in. It caused enough of a stir, but no one was panicking. Not yet. Mostly, people were curious.

“May I… have your attention?” Verde had stepped up to the podium. In his hand, he held a digital tablet of some sort and in the other -- his glass of champagne.

Lester Verde had waited long enough for this moment. His patience had grown thin. His irritation had only grown when Lowenstein had continued to babble on about his building. It didn’t surprise Verde in the least that the man had failed to recognize him. Dressed in one of his best suits and looking like he belonged in this crowd was a far cry from those days when he was hunkered behind his desks all day long like a social recluse.

"What is this?" Lowenstein immediately went for his watch, typing rapidly to access the security features. But his system was offline and the room around him was changing in ways that he'd never designed.

“Good question, Lowie. But I’ll get to you in a moment.” Verde took a sip of his drink before depositing it on on a random server’s tray. “I’m here to prove to you that this man is a fraud.”

The ceiling and the floor beneath them started to turn in a counterclockwise motion, sealing off all possible exits, while the view of the outside disappeared, replaced by a solid barrier, cutting off all means of communication.

“Most technologically advanced building… Well, I’ll give him that. But safest?” Verde shook his head. “I’m afraid not."

The lights began to dim, replaced by a solid beam of light focused directly on Jacob Lowenstein.
"I need your help in prosecuting this man. This... criminal."

"Verde? Lester Verde? You have got to be kidding me." Lowenstein actually laughed. "So it was your company doing the internals. I need to fire my background checking staff. But yeah, sure, I'm a criminal for taking over your parts of a project when you were too inept to keep it working."

"Too inept?" He scoffed, managing to remain calm as he walked across the stage to where he'd kept his most precious item. "Look around you. This is my work. You, Lowenstein, have done nothing to secure the safety of your guests! And all of you--" He pointed at the crowd. "You'll have him to thank for being a hostage and for what you're about to witness."

Verde opened the box, revealing a single round object. He unhooked his robotic hand and secured the large metal to his stump.

"See, I've an idea. A hand for a hand, Lowie. How about it?" The stage floor beneath Lowenstein began to shift and a metal contraption hooked itself to the man's legs, holding him in place. "Or how about you tell the crowd what really happened? How you betrayed me? When I... was your friend."

This evening was going from slightly interesting to absolutely horrifying...at least for the party goers who were getting visibly upset by this turn of events. Warren, on the other hand, was unaffected, at least to the untrained eye. His hand was in his pocket, fingering his communicator lightly. "Miles," he said quietly, raising his glass to his mouth, "don't react and don't move. This isn't the place or time."

At first, Miles thought his spider-sense was going off to warn him about the risks of undercooked meat in the beef tartar canape he'd just taken. But he was halfway into full Spider mode when the room starting going all Inception until Warren surreptitiously ordered him to stand down. An order he vociferously objected to.

"It's just one guy," Miles protested. "I can take him easy. Camo mode and a venom blast. Boom, he's done, we get out of here."

"And everyone else?" Warren took a sip of his drink, frowning when he realized it was empty. He lifted his glass to signal a waiter. "We can't leave these people. Vapid idiots, true, but something's going to go down and we'll be the heroes they're stuck with. Great publicity." A visibly shaken waiter appeared and Warren gratefully took another glass. "Good to know service doesn't stop in the face of adversity. Remind me to hire this crew for my next event. Also, you should call the others. You're sneakier."

Phone still in hand, Miles was able to quickly tap the SOS app before a message popped up alerting him he had lost 4G. Also 3G. He couldn't even get 1G or any service bars. "Ay, putama . . . Something's blocking cell service. Think I got the SOS out in time. But still. If we don't do something, we're gonna be stuck here and probably gonna die. And I am not dying in a tuxedo surrounded by people with underwear more expensive than my car, sabes?"

"My underwear is ‎ gold embossed," Warren replied. He tapped at his iWatch and frowned. He'd wondered why he wasn't getting his usual continuous pings. "And no one is dying. This is all for show, I'm sure of it. There are entirely too many beautiful people in this room to kill."

"I'm so sorry that you're all kinds of butthurt, Lester." Arcade said, deliberately stressing the man's name. "But you have the cream of society here, and the best you can do is threaten them?"

"I'm not threatening them, you idiot! I'm threatening you!" Verde screamed and smashed the podium, breaking it into pieces with the metal ball, causing the glass cages surrounding the audience to vibrate. "You ruined my life! You took everything I had. Do you think you were just going to get away with it?"

Close to destroying everything else in sight, he stopped himself right then. Verde took a deep breath, deciding to calm himself before returning to his attention to the crowd. He let out a smile. "Let me explain what's going on. I will be setting you free. All of you. In due time. But first, what I need, what I want, is for this man to be prosecuted and well, what else makes the world go round, boys and girls?" The floor began to shift, lifting the audience members high up into the air at different heights to keep them secured and separated as it began to continuously move in a clockwise fashion and at a reasonable speed for now.

"Money of course. You're all hostages now. Play the part well and no one has to get hurt. As for you..." Verde stepped in front of Arcade. "You're not going anywhere. Now quick question. How much do you value your own hand, old friend? I was thinking about a hundred million dollars."

"I was thinking you always were a small thinker, Verde. Believe me, you just pissed off the wrong people to get to me."

"Oh, we'll have to see about that." Lester had considered every angle. He wasn't a complete idiot. He knew what he was going to have to deal with eventually. He'd expected it. It was why he had secured control of one of SHIELD's labs where he planned on monitoring the movements of the Avengers.

"If you'll excuse me. I'll be right back." He lifted the floor beneath Arcade with the press of a button and it turned the man upside down. Maybe the rush of blood to his head will help him realize the dire situation he was in.