A/N: Alright so just some clarification, the game that they are playing is a role playing game, which means that each person creates a character and then pretend to be that character after being given a situation. Just a reminder, when I'm writing the game they will be referred to as their character names:
Dick Grayson: Robbie Malone
Beast Boy: Jim Finch
Aaron: Darien Max
Gabby: Rachel Stone
Alicia: Aimee Simons
A Roll of the Dice
Chapter 3
You mean that you have an idea on how to get into the building and all the way up to the penthouse without getting caught at all? You haven't even asked all that much about the security!" Rachel stated curiously, "What's your plan Mr. Malone?"
"Well…What's the security like on the roof of the building?" he answered carefully with a question of his own.
"What are you thinking Dick," Pete broke out after this comment, stopping the game for a moment. "How would Robbie be able to get onto the roof of the tallest building in Star City? I know that he is a circus aerialist, but isn't that taking it a little far?"
"Robbie has the knack (1) Monkey Climber, which allows him to climb vertical things, like buildings," Dick explained with a shrug. "And he has enough intelligence to know his capabilities."
There were sounds of understanding from everyone else in the circle followed by a chuckle from Aaron. "I guess that it would make sense for an acrobat to have at least one epic (2) in dexterity."
"There are various cameras and motion detectors along with several state of the art locks on the door that opens to the stairs that are equipped with the same security devices," Aimee answered as she looked at the others in confusion. "Do you have a plan to get to the roof without having to deal with the rest of the security?"
"As long as you can take care of any exterior security, I can get to the roof, just let me worry about the rest of the plan," Robbie answered with a charming smile.
They group finished their meal before they returned Robbie to his trailer at the fairgrounds leaving him with the plan to meet him at the parking lot at 11:00 the next night. They then returned to their hotel to rest before having to attend a meeting with their parents in the morning.
The next day dawned overcast and foggy with rain threatening all day. The people of Star City went about their business as normal, seemingly waiting with their breath held in excitement over the still present circus tent filled with its colorful merriment and wonders. The day seemed to race by for Aimee, Darien, Jim, and Rachel as they prepared for their mission that night, mainly by hacking into the Queen Industries mainframe so that Aimee could learn her way around the security controls. They also scoped out the building throughout the course of the afternoon, and prepared any supplies that they would need to back up Robbie when he went into the building for them later that night.
By the time that it reached 11, it was the blackest night that Star City had seen in years, with the clouds so thick there was no hope of seeing either the moon or stars, and the fog becoming so thick that you could maybe see for about 10 feet before any objects and lights were almost completely obscured. Darien dropped Aimee, Rachel, and Jim a couple blocks away from Queen Tower before driving to the fairgrounds once more, where he had trouble finding Robbie in the darkness as he was dressed completely in black.
"Is it too dark for you tonight, Darien?" Robbie laughed as he climbed into the vehicle, "You passed me at least four times."
"Yeah, yeah, just get in, smart guy," Darien grumbled good naturedly, before driving towards Queen Tower once more. As he drove he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small earpiece and handed it to Robbie, "Here, this is a radio set for you, so that we can keep in touch while you infiltrate the penthouse. Go on, try it out."
Robbie put it in his ear, and pushed the tiny button before questioning, "Hello?"
"Hey ya, Robbie!" he heard Rachel answer happily, "So Darien found you alright then?"
"It took him a while, but yeah he found me and now we're on our way."
"Great, I'll talk to you in a bit then."
A few moments later, the two rendezvoused with the rest of the group across the street from Queen Tower. After Aimee returned to the security mainframe, and Jim and Darien took up their posts on opposite sides of the building, Robbie began climbing the side of the building. All things considered, he climbed quickly, not as fast as if he had had a ladder, but faster than any of the others expected. He skirted all the windows; especially those that he was warned had security features by Aimee over the radio. After about 10 minutes he pulled his body over the side of the roof, and quickly moved to the door located in almost the exact center of the flat rooftop. He glanced at the locks, which were all electronic, requiring some form of keycard. He paused momentarily to pull out a small, cylindrical object that appeared to be a penlight (3) from his back pocket. He pointed at the locks, and after a short time all the locks clicked open and the door swung inwards
"Hey Robbie," he heard Aimee's voice in his ear, "I just found that there are also pressure plates laid in the stairs. Is there a railing that you can use to walk along?"
His eyes searched for a moment, "Yes," he whispered back, "No worries, I can manage going along the railing, it is wider than oh say a tightrope." The connection clicked off once more and he slid down the polished wooden railing keeping a balancing hand on the opposite wall of the narrow stair case and only stopping when he reached the door at the bottom of the stair.
Surprisingly enough, the door was unlocked, and he stepped through into the dark penthouse suite cautiously. "Alright, I'm in," he confirmed in a whisper over the radio, "Where would the mirror be?"
"There should be a large desk in the middle of the main room," Aimee's calm voice stated in his ear. He spotted the desk and began to make his way over to it as she continued, "Try the upper left hand drawer."
"Don't even need to," Robbie chuckled out, voice full of relief, "It was sitting right on top. Alright, I'm on my way back out." He retreated once more to the staircase, climbed up the banister, and made it to the roof in the space of only a few moments.
"Are you really going to make it this easy on us, Pete?" Gabby asked, breaking out of character for a moment. "I mean really, nothing exciting's happened at all."
An evil sort of smirk crossed Pete's face, "I dunno, Gabs, do you think it really has been too easy for you?"
Beast Boy groaned loudly, slapping a hand across his eyes. "Gabby!" he groaned, "You jinxed it now, right when I thought we'd get out of this without anyone getting injured!"
"What are you worried about BB? Robbie's the one that's on that roof, so it won't be Finch that gets hurt this time," Alicia pointed out.
Beast Boy's face broke into a smile, "You've got a point there." He then turned to Dick and said, "Remind me to thank Rob for suggesting you come along, Dick. It's nice to have Robbie along to take the dangerous spot this time."
"No problem," Dick deadpanned before breaking into a fit of laughter.
"Alright, Dick I need you to roll Perception (4) Awareness (5) for me Dick," Pete said while peering over his steepled fingertips.
Dick grabbed five of his D10's and rolled them around between his palms for a moment while asking, "7's and higher are successes and 10's are worth 2 (6), right?"
"Yes," came the easy answer.
Then came the soft sound of Dick's dice rolling on the surface of the table, and a pause while he counted his successes. He pulled a slightly disappointed face and looked up, answering, "Three."
It was Pete's turn to look serious and roll dice behind the cover of his hands. There was the sound of dice rolling. He contemplated silently for a moment before saying, "Alright, you feel like someone's watching you, but you can't tell where or who they are."
"Alright, well, I will run for the edge of the roof more quickly then," Dick replied.
The sound of dice rolling came again. "Okay, here's what happens…"
Robbie ran to the edge of the rooftop, worry beginning to grow in the pit of his stomach. Just as he approached the ledge of the rooftop, an arrow came hurtling out of the deep shadows, and impacted his left shoulder. Fortunately, it was one of the Arrow's boxing glove arrows, so it did not pierce his skin, but it knocked him off balance enough to send him stumbling off the edge of the rooftop. Reacting quickly, the circus aerialist managed to catch hold of one of the building's many ledges a couple stories down from where he started.
"Robbie," Darien's voice came through the radio with worry clear, "What's going on man? Are you alright or do you need some help?"
Robbie's initial response was a grunt of pain as he forced his now injured hands, arms and shoulder to continue his climb down the building as quickly as he could manage. "Could you have Aimee check all the cameras and see if she can find one of the Arrows here?" he requested through gritted teeth, "I got hit up on that roof."
Some swearing came through from the other side of the radio before Darien answered, "We're checking on it from this side. Just get down as fast as you can."
"Alright."
"Robbie," Rachel's voice came softly into his ear, "Are you injured? Do you need us to go into the building and get you out of there?"
"I can make it down," Robbie answered with a sigh, "I'm half way there."
"DINNER!" came a loud voice from the kitchen startling the group of teenagers out of their game once more. It was Aaron's mom calling them for a meal once more, "Who's ready for some pizza!?"
A/N
1: Knack: kind of like a spell. They give you the ability to do things that normal humans cannot.
2: Epic: In Scion, an Epic in a characteristic gives you an automatic success on a roll featuring that characteristic, making it more likely that your character will succeed in whatever it is that you want them to do.
3: For anybody that has ever seen the show Dr. Who, this is his Sonic Screwdriver. For anyone else, it's a fun little tool that aids you in making any electronic device do whatever you want.
4: Perception: A characteristic that you can give to your character, it allows them to perceive events, objects, and people that are around them.
5: Awareness: An ability you can give your character that makes them aware of their surroundings.
6: In White Wolf games, if you roll a seven or higher on a die it counts as a success for whatever it is you are trying to accomplish. A roll of 10 on one die counts as two successes.
Hey everybody! Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I've been busy with my class and then I was sick there for a while, but I'm back! Hope you liked this chapter, and I'll try to get the next one out before I have to move out for the summer! Please Review