2020-05-27 - Tracking The Tracker

Summary:

Spider-Man has an idea on how to track the artifacts that are being stolen.

Log Info:

Storyteller: None
Date: Wed May 27 01:26:00 2020
Location: Alhambre Theatre

Related Logs

None

Theme Song

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zatanna-zatarafenrispeter-parker

The Alhambra Theater is an old building that has been sublet to many businesses. One of those is a magic club owned by Zatanna Zatara and she performs there regularly. It's a nice place for dinner and show and Zatanna certainly knows how to put on a show.

It's near the end and the magician is performing her last act. It's been a good night and everyone is in a good mood.


While Peter Parker can't typically afford to go out to classy places like the Alhambra, bagging a chance to talk to Zatanna seemed like as good a reason as any, particularly after the idea he'd had. Besides, he's wanted to see Zatanna "in action" for a while - if not in the superhero set, then her stage act. And for the fun of it, trying to figure out some of her tricks … at least to the point of figuring out if she uses any of her actual powers in the stage show.

And if he's wrong, he's wrong. It's not like lives are on the line in the club.

He would have flagged down a waiter between acts to see if Zatanna was willing to speak with a visitor once she was done on stage … and once Zatanna finished her act (with Peter joining in energetically in the applause - not to butter her up; she really IS that good), he made his way to the restroom, plotting out a discreet course by which Spider-Man could possibly visit the dressing room without being noticed. Call it long-practiced paranoia; he doesn't want to out himself as Spider-Man even to an ally, if he doesn't need to. If he *does* need to … well. Zatanna won't be the first.


Zatanna often sees fans after her acts, she's aware of the importance of PR after all. However, that's after she takes time to refresh herself in her change room. Certain people have a permanent invitation to join her - sometimes because she couldn't stop them without some 'Big Magic'.

Leaving the stage with a wave and a promise to 'be back soon', the Magician makes her way to her dressing room, leaving the door open for the moment. Spiderman will be able to find his way there easily enough and she's expecting a visit from a certain God-Wolf.


Spider-Man does his best not to draw attention on his way into the back … although when he does reach Zatanna's dressing room, five or six minutes after she left the stage for the last time, he can't help but knock on the top edge of the doorframe. "You up to a visitor now, or need a little longer, ZZ Top?"


There is, for once, a sense of impending danger that does not involve Peter's unusual senses. That happens as a man in fairly nondescript business wear appears at the end of the hallway. His collar is loosened and his sleeves are rolled up. He looks pretty normal. But there is a sense of dread and foreboding that precedes him like wind precedes a storm.

The man pauses and looks down the hall toward the dressing room seeing Peter and then folding his arms and chuckling a little before calling out. "I do hope I am not interrupting anything important."


Zee is pouring herself a glass of water when Spider-Man knocks and she turns to smile at the man "I didn't see you in the crowd tonight. Were you lurking in the eaves or did you just … drop in? And how can I help you?" She asks. "Now is good, though I have some requests to fulfil in the audience when we're done." There was that request from a Peter, wasn't there?

At feeling of dread, the mages blue eyes glance over Spider-Mans shoulder "Come in, Fenris. I'm sure you're used to … interrupting …. tete a tetes."

"Do you know Spider-Man? Spidey, do you know Fenris?" It doesn't seem to phase her that he's there and 'feels' like that.

"I have something for you, Fenris. A tome from my library. It … just appeared on the coffee table this morning."


"Not sure we'd met before," Spider-Man says casually, relocating from wall to floor before strolling in. "And I was in the crowd, just not wearing my wall-crawling duds." He shrugs, and adds wryly, "Some of us have reasons to keep our identities more secret than you do, Zatanna. But either way - good to meet you, Fenris," he nods to the gentleman in business clothes.

"As for what I wanted to talk about … actually -" He glances at Fenris. "If you're in a hurry, my thing can wait. But it's about our 'visitors from out of town,' the ones who made a withdrawal without an account."


Fenris comes closer when invited by Zatanna and stands so as to make room, mostly leaning on the doorpost.

"Pleased to meet you, Spider Man." The one called Fenris says. He ants his head slightly as he takes the book and flips through it. "I hear you're a friendly face in the neighborhood." He probably hasn't heard that from the papers but hey, Spidey does a lot of good and people talk. Fenris listens. Beings as old as he do get a lot of practice listening. Mortals do so love to talk.

"Friends from out of town?" There's a short pause and a wry chuckle. "Ah. The bank that got knocked over by the would be conquerors of faerie, yes?"


"No, I'm not in a hurry. I always take a bit of time after the show and this sounds like its more important." Zee answers with a smile. "Fenris is a … friend. A Colleague, you might say and someone who has a stake in our 'visitors from out of town'."

"Spidey is talking about our Dark Elf visitors, Fenris. He was on hand to help with their minotaur shock troops the other day. From what I saw of the footage afterwards - you had some fun, Spidey."

She can't close the door with Fenris leaning against the frame and she nods as the God-Wolf connects it all. "Scotch, Fenris?" The mage doesn't wait for an answer but pours a liberal measure from the decanter on her table. "Something for you, Spidey? Our out of town visitors, were Dark Elves and we believe they're searching for artifacts to aid in their conquest of Otherworld." She adds.

The tome that she's handed to Fenris would appear to be a fairytale - but the God Wolf should know better. It's the story of a hero who finds a horn and blows it. Only to find himself the leader of a hunt …. when he does.


"Think I had enough during dinner, but I appreciate the offer, Zee," Spidey says as graciously as he can. He's also pleased by how Fenris greets him - he's audibly smiling behind his mask, if the other two can figure that out.

"Anyway. We need to know where they're coming from, right? Maybe to just block them out of New York, or out of our world entirely - or possibly to go *there*, whether to take back what they've stolen, or possibly rescuing anyone if this escalates to the point where they take people instead of artifacts. And that means -"

His sleight of hand pales next to a literal professional like Zatanna, but that doesn't stop Spider-Man from producing one of his spider-tracers with a flourish.

"- being able to track them. And I was wondering if this would help, or if you know how I could modify a few for the purpose."

The spider-tracer is a rather modest-looking gadget, not much bigger than a thumbnail across, and about the thickness of two or three quarters stacked together. Of course it's shaped a little like a stylized spider; the 'legs' seem to help it cling to whatever - the tabletop, the wall, a curtain, whatever.


"Mmmmmm." Fenris looks at the trackers and then at Zee speculatively. "Well… it sort of depends on what you mean by tracking them. If you mean tracking them interdimensionally… it's difficult to do that in ways that won't be noticed. And it may not give you information that really makes sense even if you could since location is not a valid concept in every dimension. Or… even most dimensions for that matter."

There's a short pause as Fenris continues to consider the question. "However if you just want to know when and where they pop back into THIS dimension. Or when and where they exit this dimension. Or… when and where they are in a dimension that you are also in where location is a valid concept… that's probably doable."


"Tracking them would be helpful but as Fenris says, interdimensional tracking is … tricky." Zee looks at the tracker as she hands Fenris his scotch, pouring herself one as well. "However, tracking something they've taken and seeing if it arrives back here and where, that would be helpful. As well exit points, even if that's to tell us where they have egresses we need to reinforce."

"Nice sleight of hand, by the way. If you ever want a job on the stage … look me up." She's grinning at that. "How would you plant these, Spidey? Do they need to be in place or can they be deployed in a hurry? Fenris, what do you think would need to be done to make them interdimensionally robust?"


Yeah, the dimensional gap was a problem Spidey had thought of, to little avail when it comes to solutions. "Usually I just toss a spider-tracer at whatever, or whomever, I want to follow, and it latches on pretty well," Spider-Man says. "They're hard to find, but not impossible if you're really searching. It's a radio-based transmitter, but we could swap that out if you had something your fellow magical types could track. Crystals of some kind?" he asks with a helpless shrug.


"We could use magic to boost the power but to be perfectly honest with you, Spider-Man, radio might actually be the better option. Humans haven't been using radio waves for that long, historically speaking, and a lot of very old beings have blind spots to the use of technology of this kind. They just… don't think of it. It's too new a concept for them." Too new a concept. The concept is just about a hundred years old.

"I'm sure Zatanna can help you with enhancing the trackers though. May I ask what you intend to do with them when you track and find them?" Presumably punch them, that's often the answer that Fenris hears but who knows? Spidey may have more complicated plans.


"The problem is having something so … foreign … on them might tip the one who it's attached to, off. A small charm that makes it blend in, perhaps and depending on what you're thinking something else when it returns to this dimension." Zee is thinking though.

"Radio is likely best - it passes through dimensions and most beings just ignore it. If we were working against a more technologically advanced group, that would be a concern but now? It's like sunshine to us - it's just there and we ignore it."

Sort of.

Zee is quiet as she sips her scotch and thinks on the solution that Spider-Man is offering "The problem is we have so little data. Fenris, Agent Grey, myself and others are searching for what the Dark Elves are looking for - all we know, at this point, is that they're looking for four artifacts. One, is supposedly in Shadowcrest. One they got the other day. The other two? There's conjecture as to what they are."


"What *do* we know about those first two?" Spider-Man asks, toying with the spider-tracer as he casually takes a seat on the wall.

Or, well, maybe "sitting" is the wrong word. His feet are planted on the wall next to the door, above the level where the light switch should be; his legs are bent so that his back and shoulders are also against the wall further up - maybe not actually clinging there, although his left hand is probably helping as he drums his fingers quietly and relaxed, like somebody might on a desk or table.

"I don't know where Shadowcrest is, but I assume that's in our world somewhere - someplace known to you, if not to me. And I know the artifact that was at the bank was apparently some kind of wand." He considers briefly, going "hmm" under his breath. "Wonder if they might match with card suits … or if not playing cards, tarot or something?"

Yeah, it's a pretty wild guess - and it depends on whatever Zatanna or Fenris know about the artifact that's in Shadowcrest. Could match up … or could completely and blatantly contradict his tenuous theory.


"Wands, cups, swords and coins you mean?" Fenris says, quoting the minor arcana. "Good hypothesis but no. One of the items is a horn and I happen to know which one." He looks at Zatanna briefly. "I did some digging after our last conversation."

"It's called the Horn of Proteus and it's associated with lost Atlantis if you believe the legends. Supposedly it can command sea creatures and and other beings that dwell in the water. I'm not entirely clear how this is useful in Faerie but…"

Presumably the would be kings have a plan. It might not be a good one, it often is not, but there you have it.

"And even more than that, I've heard that it is here, in New York, in the hands of someone with corporate connections or so my contacts said."


"Very little about what was taken from the vault. The bank isn't very forthcoming about who owned that. Agent Grey from WAND, just to make things confusing, is trying to trace what was in the case." Spider-Man probably knows that Spider-Woman is looking into that … through other means. Maybe that's something he could touch base with her with.

"Shadowcrest is my home and you might say that it's in this dimension. It can be reached through Westchester. You might also say that it's not …" It's a magical house, after all. "The artifact they seek from there is known as the Crown of Command and before you ask, I don't know where it is. My ancestor who can into possession of it, hid it well and the House isn't coughing the secrets easily."

"It is a Horn then? Why … that one? It doesn't make sense…"


"Maybe the 'wand' was a magical conductor's baton of some kind, then," Spider-Man says. He *might* be joking - but it's not just the horn that he's thinking of when he says that.

"A horn that can command sea creatures, a crown of some kind of other authority … sounds like whatever they're up to, they're getting ready to direct an even bigger force than we've already seen them bossing around. Minotaurs, those horsemen from the park …"

Spidey trails off with a sigh, rubbing his forehead briefly. "I wonder if the Crown is safer hidden in your mansion than if we had it in-hand," he says to Zatanna. "But if we can find the fourth artifact before the Dark Elves do, all the better. Best is if we can take their boss out before they assemble all four, or even three."


"Malekith?" Fenris actually strokes his chin on that one. "Maybe. I mean, Odin's tried that and it hasn't taken yet, but if you could actually get him to come out and play then confronting him directly isn't out of the question. Malekith isn't known for throwing down personally. He'd rather cast spells, command minions and generally manipulate from somewhere safe."

There's a short pause again. "Although… if we were upset enough he might call a Wild Hunt, and THAT he would need to summon personally. Of course, IF someone were to goad him that badly then you'd have a Wild Hunt to deal with so… there's that."

Another short pause and the Old Wolf adds. "And of course, you'd want friends if you were going to do that. But your instinct is VERY correct. Allowing them to assemble all of the artifacts is a VERY bad idea."


"How much do you know about the Dark Elves, Spidey?" Zee says slowly. "Malekith, their leader, is ruthless and has thrown down with Odin, the Knights of Otherworld and others before. He is not someone we tangle with lightly and only if the field is tipped dramatically in our favour. However…."

The magician perches on the corner of her bench, crossing her legs, as she thinks. "… finding the artifacts and making it costly to deal with us, might keep them away from earth and give the Otherworlders a fighting chance."

Fenris gets a cock of her eyebrow. "Given your involvement so far, Spider-Man, should Malekith decide to call a Wild Hunt, you and the others would be prime targets. It wouldn't be too hard to push him to do that."


"'Malekith' doesn't ring any bells off the top of my head," Spidey replies, shaking his head. "Although the 'Wild Hunt'? *That* I've heard of … and yeah," he says grimly. "I'd need as many friends and allies as I could whistle up. Possibly more."

The last time he was 'hunted' comes to mind a little too easily to laugh *this* off, particularly considering what it took to get Morlun out of the picture.

"So for now, make it so hard to get the other three artifacts that the Dark Elves either give up, or come to us to try and make a deal … and maybe we can turn the deal around on them." He sounds skeptical. "You probably now more about what we're dealing with than I do, Zee, so I'm following your lead."


"I'd start, if you were so inclined, by looking into the Horn of Proteus. I've heard that someone high up in Hammer Industries has it. Possibly the CEO. Possibly to do research on. My contacts weren't quite clear and I am a little too busy at the moment to follow that up personally. From what I hear, these are not the kinds of people who should be poking at powerful magical artifacts, whether they know that's what they're doing or not."

Fenris tucks the book under his arm. "I'll look into this, Zatanna. Now, I should be getting on. Pleased to meet you, Friendly Neighborhood Spider Man." The rather foreboding man waves a hand and reality just sort of tears in front of him. Then he steps through it, it closes behind him and he is just gone.


"Self styled King of the Dark Elves, you might say. Not a nice person at all. Drop by Shadowcrest at some point, I've got some books on the elf, if you like. And that sounds like the start of a plan, plus this connection to Hammer AND, I'd still like to use your trackers, please. "

Zatanna hops down and looks at the two men. "Don't be a stranger, Spidey" She does need to do the after show rounds and Fenris has gone. "We need data, though, Spidey and if you can help us it get up - that would be great."

As it is, she leaves Spidey the room to make his exit as he needs to or follow her back into the club.

There's someone named Peter Parker who has asked to meet her.


Spider-Man stares briefly as Fenris just opens a door and walks through it, without even a wall. "Huh … yeah, I'll bring some spare tracers up to Shadowcrest when I can. Don't usually get up to Westchester much, but I'll see if I can make the trip. Glad I can help out!"

Spidey does, in fact, go out of Zatanna's dressing room by a different way … but Peter Parker will turn up somewhere shortly, having gotten lost on the way back from the restroom.

Or something.


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