[center][b][i]8:36 PM, July 7th
Gotham Central Bank, Gotham City[/i][/b]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/CMLTAgm.png[/img][/center]

The evening sun disappeared behind the tall buildings of Gotham, casting the city into the comforting darkness it belonged to. Anarkee emerged from her hiding spot, counting on the strange, self-reflective period of transition between light and dark to conceal her as she slipped into the main lobby of Gotham Central Bank. The elites of the city hid their hard-earned green here, squirreling it away from the normal folk of the streets. Of course, those slips of green meant nothing in the grand scheme of things, this was all just a monument to apes, playing at something larger.

"E-excuse me miss?" A male voice called to her as her eyes adjusted to the new light. A pair of security guards, just as she'd thought; likely hired to weed out the simple sheep that wandered in to the grand halls of this temple to greed. They'd recognized her, of course. Anarkee was an urban legend of the city much the same way as her counterpart Grim was. The older of the two guards was shaking in his boots, he'd be no trouble at all. The younger one though... Mid twenties perhaps, unassuming in most respects, but he seemed unshaken by her presence. Either incredibly brave, or extremely foolhardy.

"Hello gentlemen." The woman said smoothly, her fingers on either hand twitching slightly as the micromovements began to set up the concentrated aerosol sprays of her toxins. "I don't suppose either of you could help me in setting up an account here?"

"Of course ma'am." The younger guard said, stepping forward and narrowing his eyes. "You'll just need to give me your name while we give a few people some phone calls." Fearless, as she'd suspected. But not foolish, he was fishing for information and trying to buy time. Anarkee had spent a long time cultivating the idea that she was mentally unstable, some kind of crazy person. If she truly were, this approach might have worked. He was smart. He could be useful. She twitched the fingers on her left hand again, clearing the prepared concoction and setting up a new one. He would be useful. For now.

"Of course, of course my good man!" She said with a wide grin, stepping forward and opening her arms. The older one stepped back, hand going to his belt, but the younger one waved him off. Probably thought he could talk her down. "First thing's first though: I feel a little outnumbered here." The pair tensed, likely getting ready to pounce. "Let me even the odds a bit."

Anarkee lunged forward, her left hand thrust out to grasp at the younger guard's face. A flick of the wrist triggered her toxin, a sharp hiss and a small cloud of particles the only clue that something was amiss. The younger guard coughed violently and staggered back as Anarkee shoved past him and leaped for the older guard, who barely had time to cry out before she was upon him, her right hand delivering its own custom payload. His was simple, little more than a basic Fear dose. He'd be cowering on the floor for hours, unable to do anything but jump at his own shadow. The younger one had gotten a more complicated dose. A base level of Lust, giving him a desire for her and to do as she asked; tempered with a touch of Apathy, so he wouldn't be too tempted to simply act on his basest desires and take what he wanted. Anarkee stood up and dusted herself off, turning to her guard as he began to pick himself up off the floor.

"Right darling, now follow me and shut up. Anyone tries to stop me, and you deal with them, understand?" A pair of puppy dog eyes and an eager nod confirmed her control over the poor boy, and the pair walked into the bank proper. A few nearby patrons turned to look at their arrival, giving a few double-takes and some worried whispering. Reaching into her coat, Anarkee pulled out a pair of Apathy bombs, tossing one into the small crowd and the other by the tellers windows. The glass may be bulletproof over there, but it couldn't filter out her toxins. A few cut off cries of panic and some dropped phone later, and the whole place took on a listless, zombie-like vibe.

Admiring her work, Anarkee smiled and turned to her new toy. "Right lovely, now why don't you open up the vault for me, and then empty out all the cash drawers and bring them to the vault. After that, gather everybody up in the lobby here, including your crying friend back at the entrance. Then you can come back and meet me in the vault." She said soothingly, reaching out and running the flat of one of her bladed fingers down his cheek. The guard nodded and set off, soon pulling one of the tellers out from behind her desk and taking a set of keys from her, and motioning for Anarkee to follow. A short jaunt down a well-secured hallway later, and Anarkee found herself face-to-face with the largest money-pile she had ever seen. Given the volume and clientele of this particular bank, it seemed to carry more money by orders of magnitude than most other banks would. She picked up a bundle of hundred dollar bills, and stepped closer to her unwitting helper, slipping it into his belt. "Let's call that a little bonus between us, for such a good job." She said with a wink before shooing him along to complete the rest of his tasks. 

The purple-suited woman spent the next few minutes picking out a few appropriate bundles of green, swapping some in and out of their little paper bands so the numbers were no longer sequential, and making sure she avoided any dye packs. Money may simply be a social construct, but her contacts within the criminal underworld did like it ever so much, and it was a useful tool for getting things done. Then she reached deep into the recesses of her coat and removed another few toxin bombs. She had taken the liberty of preparing extra Greed grenades for this trip, and she nestled them on top of the pile lovingly. The she removed a bottle of lighter fluid from its hiding place near her bombs and began to douse the stack of money. She had a lighter ready too, but needed a few more moments to finish her work.

When her toy guard came back from his tasks, Anarkee waltzed back out to the lobby, pleased to find everyone lined up on their knees. That would make the next part of her plan much easier. A quick count of the customers, tellers, and guards let her compose her message, and she nodded, setting to work as she flexed her razor-tipped fingers. A few moments after that, shaking blood off her hands and pleased with the effectiveness of her Apathy bombs, Anarkee dragged her consort back to the vault.

"Oh my darling, you've done such good work for me today." She cooed, watching as he blushed at her compliments. "I'd love to take you with me and let you in on all my little secrets, but alas... Our time runs short, and you're the last letter I need." She said, mock sadness filling her voice. "You're quite lucky, really. Were I any of the other crazed lunatics running through this city in a mask, I'd give you a big speech about how you're my 'Chosen One' here to 'Spread my word to the masses'. But I'm not crazy, dear. No no, though you're going to bear my mark, I know that's all it is. A mark. A symbol. And symbols only have the power you give them. I wonder what power you'll give me...?" The woman mused before reaching out with her clawed gloves again.

[center]---------------------------[/center]

With her bloodied hands full of Greed grenades, and trailing a cloud of billowing smoke behind her, Anarkee stepped out of the hall and back into the lobby. She tossed the grenades and watched as the effects began to take hold. Life came back to her victims bloodied faces, their eyes squinting and filling with envy. They stared shiftily at each other, their newly deformed visages seemingly ignored for now.

"Attention, Gotham City parasites! All your lovely, lovely cash that you've spent your entire lives cultivating, is in the open vault behind me!" Anarkee cried, getting the attention of every shifty-eyed vulture in the room. As one they rose to their feet, each vying for a position where they could sprint past the others and get as much as their grubby little claws could grab. "Unfortunately, you'll have to be quick!" Anarkee continued, a grin on her face. "Because the pile is currently the source of that lovely smelling smoke behind me, and will smoulder to ashes in no time at all!" The crowd broke in a roar, the stamping of feet almost drowning out the cries of pain as some of them trampled the others underfoot like a nightmare of a Black Friday as the gathered worms rushed to the flaming pyre to excess in the vault. Anarkee sighed with contentment as she heard the cries and wails of pain and the crackling of flames behind her as she headed for a back exit, content now to simply melt away into the darkness.

A police report on the incident would show that those trampled were the lucky ones. They had mostly avoided the fire. The others had burned, though a few survived. Notably, a young security guard was mostly unharmed, though his story would be less than helpful, and doctors at the hospital would recommend him to a series of psychiatrists to help him through his difficulties. All told there were 20 victims. 12 dead, 4 badly burned, 3 trampled, and all survivors mentally broken. $1,600,000 was lost. And one cryptic and grizzly cypher left behind, carved into the faces of the victims.


[hider=Message letters and clues]
AaceeGghinrrstvW. One Anarchy symbol, possibly used as a third 'A', carved into the face of the mostly-unharmed young guard. One Grim symbol. Two unmarked faces, possibly symbolizing spaces between words, indicating a three-word sentence.
[/hider]