Long Live (Open)

[Deleted]

Sofia loved everything about money. The smell, the texture and even the color was one of her favorites. As she eyed the massive amount of it that sat on the table top, a sinister smile stretched across her face. She tuned out the conversations being held around the perimeter of the table while she stared blankly ahead. The rattling of the half-dozen money machines counted the thousands that littered the top of the table and effectively bundled them. The brunette turned her back to the obviously illegal operation taking place behind her. The pointed heels of her knee-high boots made sharp, clicking noises on the wooden floor.

The smile dark-haired vixen quickly began to return to the thin, emotionless line as she started toward the decanters set upon the small bar in the corner. Sofia never trusted anyone to pour her own drink and she grabbed a tumbler and allowed the thick, brown liquid to fill the contents of her glass. Not bothering to stop pouring even after it reached two-thirds of the glass, she waited until it was nearly at the rim before she stopped pouring. With a glance down at the contents, Sofia brought the drink to her lips and allowed the smell of the liquor to mix with the smell of money that already filled her nostrils.

The room was small considering the dozen or so individuals it contained. It was in the back of the Stacked Deck and very few knew of it or were allowed inside. It would take more than hands and toes to count the number of illegal activities happening in the room, though they had little to worry about. Those affiliated with the Roman Empire practically surrounded the place from staff to security. Two large men stood outside the large-parlor style door.

Sofia glanced around the room she had spent many hours in. A large, solid oak table sat in the middle of the vintage room where the money was being counted and stored in the medium-sized safe built into the wall. While the Stacked Deck was a considerably well-known bar against Gotham’s infamous, it also served as a worthy business front to hide the illegal operations that the Falcone family hosted.

Sofia sat back down in one of the comfy chairs that circled the table. Choosing the seat where her father typically perched, the drink in her hand was kept close to her face as she rarely took the time to savor the expensive scotch in the glass.

A muffled voice sounded from the other side of the large doors, grabbing her attention immediately. There were a number of plausible reasons for it, though rather than the duo of voices from the security she was used too, a third and unfamiliar one joined them. Other than a purse of her lips she remained almost emotionless as she started at the double doors and waited the events to play from there.

[Victor Fries - Mr. Freeze]

Victor can't say that feels one way or the other about money. It's simply paper - an object with few properties to make it of any interest at all. Besides, of course, the fact that it's considered valuable and can be exchanged for things that he does care about.

And since he's beginning to run low on many of the things that he needs for his research, he needs more of it soon. Of course it also comes in many different forms in this modern era, many of them electronic, but the advantage of the actual physical object is that it can often be exchanged more untraceably and held with more confidence - he'd rather not play the game of bouncing it to and from electronic accounts that may be hacked and lead the authorities to him or be frozen and unable to be used by him after all the effort that it took to get it.

Which is why he's one to flat out rob anyone who collects enough of it into one place. Which often means a bank, but a bank is not the only place that deals with vast sums of cold, hard cash. It's simply one of the more obvious places to look for it, as the others tend to not advertise the fact that they're in possession of it lest someone try to take it from them. Which is effective only if someone doesn't let it slip exactly when and where the money will be.

In this case, Victor can't be sure exactly how much money has been gathered in the Stacked Deck, but the guessed figure sounded worth the trouble and the source of the information is a reliable one. That the source is a rival of the Falcone's and stands to benefit from the competition being knocked down a peg does not concern him - all that matters is that he needs money and it is here for the taking. He's not afraid that the place will be full of guns - ensuring that his Cryo-Suit is impervious to ordinary gunfire is basic to it's design. He built it with defeating the Batman's ingenuity in mind, so these mafia thugs should be absolutely beneath him - theoretically, at least.

A theory that he puts to the test when he bursts into the door of the Stacked Deck. Knowing that if he were to bring any of his men in with him they would likely be shot, he's come alone - trusting that both his suit and his reputation will be sufficient for his protection. "Panic is ill-advised," he announces to the startled patrons, "My men have surrounded this building and will shoot anyone who leaves before I do. But my business is not with any of you, so I suggest remaining in your seats if you wish to remain unharmed." Even as he says this, more than a few of the patrons produce guns - this is the sort of place that tends to cater to the sort of people who are armed, after all - but hearing that he's not intending to do anything to any of them seems to have the effect of convincing them that perhaps they want to not try to be a hero.

All except for one, anyway. Shortly after his little speech, a bullet ricochets harmlessly off of the glass dome over his head. Victor responds immediately by turning his cold gun on the man responsible, only needing an instant to freeze the man solid. "Any more objections to my presence here?" he asks, scanning the crowd. With that reminder of who they're dealing with, the rest of the crowd is even less willing to object than they were before. "Good," he says simply, immediately turning his attention from them to the task at hand.

Approaching the door to the back room where he was told the money is, he spots the two men guarding the door and aims his cold gun in their direction. "Abandon your posts if you wish to live," he tells them. The men are in the process of trying to decide whether or not to obey that command when they're interrupted by someone inside the room.

[Deleted]

To say the young queen was paranoid was a complete understatement. The feeling alone consumed her on a daily basis. Acting as though it didn’t faze her in the slightest was a feat she had eventually conquered with time. Her often expressionless face did just that. However, the familiar sound of gunfire brought the entire room to the hardwood floors in a matter of moments. When the dark-haired Vixen realized the distance, she knew there was little time to spare. “Get the hell up. Move.” She hissed. Her fiancée began to toss bundles of money into a duffle bag while others quickly tried to stuff the laundered money into the safe that was built into the wall above the fireplace. A few looked regretful as they sacrificed the money, knowing that this flaw in the plan meant that their day was going to surely be held up. Why cause such a reaction to just a small bit of gunfire at a bar that was famous for it? Because as far as she was concerned - it was a bar filled with people who followed her orders and did nothing else. Until now. 

Sofia kicked one of the men who cowered under the table, holding the leg as if it was a comforting blanket. “Get up.” The money was out of sight in seconds and Sofia’s attention was divided between the activity from the bar and the coward under the table. “You know.” Sofia began, as if she understood the stress the man might be going through. “Maybe this isn’t for you.” Her fiancée grabbed her upper arm with a tug as if telling her it was time to go. After all, she was one of the head honchos in this dynasty. She could be the target in this surprise operation and it was a more strategic move for her to retreat and allow her pawns to deal with the action. Despite her skill and confidence in the matter, the Falcone family didn’t need any accidents.

Whoever had the guts to invade her territory was only setting themselves up for failure. Rocco and Sofia would retreat though the secret door in the back with their respectful body guards and a fair amount of money in the bag that they would claim went ‘missing’ during the raid, only to keep it for their own selfish needs. The pair had an unlimited amount of money anyway, though stealing from her own dynasty wasn’t something the brunette was above. Pulling from Rocco’s grasp with a deadly glare, she turned to him briefly. “I’m dealing with something, tesoro Go wait in the car…” Hoisting the bag over his shoulder, he left her with a stern glance as if informing her if she were not outside seconds behind him – she was in trouble concerning more ways than one.

Turning her attention back to the coward, she forced a smile. Being an emotion she didn’t typically display, it was obviously strained and almost manic. “I’ll be sure to write you a glowing recommendation for you next employment opportunity.” Seizing her own handgun from the table, she fired two shots with precise aim at the man’s head. Blood decorated the hardwood floor, but she was just more convinced that none had gotten on her. The room was silent other than the number of men reaching for their guns, prepared for some kind of war that was expected daily with their lifestyle.

Sofia started toward the large safe and slammed it, giving it the door a small tap. It was supposedly indestructible – though there were few safe’s that she couldn’t’ crack herself. A tapestry hung over the fireplace, which one of her men quickly arranged to disguise the safe. Even if it was found she had lack of confidence in the skills of the intruders. The only money that remained were scattered bills and stacks that littered the floor, most of which were now covered in blood. Money also littered the table, though the amount was far from as substantial as it had been moments ago. A majority of it was in the safe, with nearly an eighth of it in Rocco's duffle bag. However, Sofia wasn’t concerned with the measly amount of money left in the room. Let them have the petty change.

She moved to make her leave as planned, hurrying in the short amount of time. However, the voice outside the door stopped her. It was unfamiliar and alien to her. Sofia waited for the desired sound of gunfire to break out from the two large men outside the door. Instead, the sound of large retreating footprints lumbering away was the only thing that reached her ears. It was obvious on every face in the room that they were all thinking the same thing. Sofia’s blank expression starred at the door as she stood, unmoving. Her rage consumed her. Sofia loathed cowards.

“Miss Sofia…please, you need to go to the car.” A voice advised. But it was already too late.

[Victor Fries - Mr. Freeze]

Knowing that the people in the room have probably already been alerted to his presence, Victor's impatient enough about entering the room that the second guard's coat gets clipped by the cold gun as he flees from his post. Victor uses his gun to freeze the entire door solid, which only takes him a few seconds, though all there is to see on the other side of the door as he does so is a little frost appearing on the seams of it. Once the door is encased in solid ice, Victor punches it with his other arm. Encased in a cybernetic exoskeleton that gives him a tremendous amount of strength, it not only breaks the frozen door but causes it to shatter as if it had been made of glass.

Normally wood is a flexible material. And strong, but not as strong as, for example, metal. Freezing it actually makes it stronger, but it also makes it unable to bend instead of breaking when force is applied. If he hadn't frozen the door first, he would have punched through it more easily, but his fist would have made a hole in the door rather than breaking down the whole thing at once, which would have been less than ideal for his purposes here. No, he wants his view to be unobstructed the moment that the room comes into view.

Expecting resistance from those still on the other side, he immediately aims his cold gun into the room. "Surrender or die," he says to everyone inside, outlining the options he intends to enforce while he's here - he's quite prepared to freeze anyone who does anything besides stand still like a good little muggee. Whether they attempt to fight back or flee, he's not having any of that. Especially since they're all confined to a relatively small room and he's a very good shot with his cold gun - it'd be like shooting fish in a barrel.

When enclosed in his Cryo-Suit, Victor is quite the imposing figure. Even without it he's a tall man, but the suit makes him even taller and gives him thicker, sturdier limbs. And since his body, with the sole exception of his head, is completely enclosed in the mechanical structure he's been mistaken for some sort of a robot more than once. His head, covered by a dome, is quite human, however. Well, except for the fact that his skin is completely white and hairless, and his HUD goggles glow red and hide his eyes almost completely from view. All told, he's quite a sight to see - unmistakable for anyone else, and quite terrifying to the average person. Especially the ones that are aware of how effective his cold gun is when he has it pointed right at them.

[Deleted]

She started to leave, letting others do the dirty work while she retreated to her elaborate penthouse with Rocco. Her ears pricked up at an unusual noise. “What the hell is that?” She demanded in a low voice, though no one answered the queen. Everyone’s attention was on the door, which was beginning to change. Sophia starred curiously at it, her eyes squinting and glaring at the same time. Ignoring the tug on her arm, she swatted away the man as she waited. “What the-“ She began, as the door had changed composition completely and then - became thousands of shards hurtling toward the group.

Many of the men moved to protect Sofia from the flying shards, knowing that if they lived through the situation and she did not – they were already dead men. She was a valuable asset to the ever-powerful Falcone Crime family and influential woman in Gotham City as well. Her death would not go unnoticed by any, nor would it end well for anyone concerned. Anyone in that room would gladly sacrifice their own lives for her, and many other men already have.

Her awe disappeared instantly and became nothing more than rage. The man that appeared through the frame was impressive in size, though that was not the only unusual thing about him. He seemed to be trapped within a futuristic suit of sorts. The dozen or so men in the room held their fire, both in complete shock and fear, and partially waiting for a reaction from Sophia. “What are you doing? Shoot him, you idiots!” She barked, watching as every man targeted the intruder at once. When the man raised his own fashioned weapon in retaliation, everyone continued to aim though did not fire.

When he finally spoke, Sofia erupted in a shrill, dark laugh that bounced around the cold walls. “And who are you to give me an ultimatum, Buzz Lightyear? Get it out of my sight!” She demanded. The brunette was aware of who the man was, but by reputation only, and she had hoped to keep it that way. Despite some of her father’s engagements with the costumed freaks of Gotham, she felt as though their place in Gotham was only a hindrance to her own hidden agenda. Why they chose to parade around in such unique outfits with silly nicknames was completely beyond her.

[Victor Fries - Mr. Freeze]

Unlike so many of the other rogues in Gotham, Victor does not enjoy causing death and destruction. On the other hand, he doesn't go out of his way to avoid it either. If it needs to happen, it needs to happen, and if it doesn't then it doesn't. The only difference is that when things get messy they have a way of getting messier. Kill the wrong person, and then suddenly everyone is up in arms. Not that Victor cares enough to find out exactly who the wrong people are, since that really isn't worth the trouble, but he also doesn't go shooting people who didn't ask for it - that seems to minimize the problem with the least amount of effort on his part.

So when he sees the business end of many guns pointed at him, he holds his fire. He can afford to see who makes the first shot. But in spite of the orders given by the ridiculous young woman, none comes. It seems that his reputation precedes him - most excellent. But since their guns remained aimed at him, he doesn't lower his own weapon, keeping it as ready to use as theirs are.

However, the moment that the men prove their reluctance to fire, they also make themselves unimportant to Victor. And unless the laughing woman can convince someone to pull a trigger, they'll remain unimportant. And as the young woman herself appears to be harmless at the moment, his attention now shifts to what he came here for - money. He can see the small amount scattered around, but that's not what he came here for. His source indicated that there would be much more than this, and the information given to him from that person is normally reliable enough that he immediately assumes that it's been moved somewhere - either hidden or someone has taken it away. If it's the latter, he knows exactly what to do about that, but first he'd better rule out the former.

As evidenced by the mere fact of his suit, Victor has a certain knack for technology - if it doesn't exist, he can probably figure out how to build it, and if it does exist he can probably figure out how to improve it. The HUD he wears over his eyes is a prime example of the latter - there are many things that it can detect that wouldn't be obvious to the naked eye. And of course, given just how important temperature is to him, one of the things that it displays for him is temperature data. In fact, it's sensitive enough that he can see the difference in heat in an object that was touched within the past few minutes - humans are, comparatively speaking, very hot things and they leave that heat all over the place.

Which is why the fireplace area so quickly captures his attention when he pauses for a moment to look over a room. People simply milling around tend to touch a lot of things, so all the heat on the tables and chairs and other objects more in the center of the room is to be expected, but people don't normally touch their wall decor very often. That tapestry must have been moved during the past few minutes, and it doesn't take a genius to guess why. And the moment he identifies the spot, he moves toward it, not caring whether or not anyone will have to move to avoid being crushed underfoot - as one might expect, the combined weight of Victor and his suit is quite large.

And as he moves, he keeps his gun arm raised and comments, "Your arrogance is undeserved, child." And his tone indicates that he's completely and fully unmoved by the guns pointed at him, her insults, and her demands. As she has yet to show any sign that she can put up a real fight here, she's nearly as unimportant to him as the men who haven't fired upon him. And yes, he meant that last word as an insult - he hasn't the slightest idea how old she is and can't be bothered to take a real guess, but if she's going to stand there ineffectively screeching then she's child enough in his eyes.

[Deleted]

The feisty brunette had a temper that was not to be tested. Already, anger boiled inside her as she witnessed this thing invade territory that was rightfully hers. The group surrounding her was obviously uneasy, but Sofia was not. She wanted to see dozens of bullets rip through whatever the hell this Star Trek inspired ice-man was wearing. Sofia wanted to see the life drained from his eyes as he collapsed backward into a metallic heap on the floor only to be swept under the rug. He had already pushed to many boundaries for her to accept anything else. While her father might have been more cunning and compliant, Sofia was heated and trigger happy. She felt as though there was so much more to prove in her position. Her crew was no listening, so she said it again and this time would not.

They were at a standstill, her men terrified to fire and all eyeing the unusual weapon that the intruder wielded. She followed Freeze’s gaze with her own glare, her frown deepening as he seemed to focus on the fireplace. Her hands curled into tight fists, her painted-black nails leaving crescent shaped indention's in her palms. She stood her ground, despite how many others were leaping out of the intruder’s way to prevent being crushed. Sofia’s blood was boiling, and she was tired of the limited amount of action and now he had insulted her on top of everything. While everyone was quick to back away, she stepped forward, placing herself in front of the fireplace. Turning the ironclad knob on the side, the entire unit was ablaze with flames in a matter of seconds. The fire roared and the flames licked the stone border that tried desperately to contain it.

She hissed, her tone deadly. “Fine, if you idiots won’t do anything – I will!” She forcefully grabbed the gun from the man nearest to her. Despite how much she had hoped that someone would beat her too the punch, the first round of shots that rang out were her own. She fired the entire round into the intruder and his unusual suit, unsure what kind of impact it would make. The loud noise of each shot pierced her ears. Despite the large parlor room, it was still considered a small area for shots to be fired. She reached to cover either side of her head with her hands, doubling over for a moment as she began to regain her hearing

[Victor Fries - Mr. Freeze]

Unfortunately for Sofia, her dreams of bullets ripping Victor's suit to shreds is not to be. In fact, each and every one of them ricochets harmlessly off of the metal suit, which is as bulletproof as he has thus far figured out how to make it. Which is pretty bulletproof - he's been shot at so many times already in his career that it would be stupid of him to have not looked quite deeply into the subject. They do manage to cause some minor damage - his suit has several new dents in it, but the damage is trivial at this point.

Damage that he would normally retaliate against by a shot of his cold gun, but he knew what the results of her lone attempt to shoot him would probably be so he didn't let it divert his attention from that spot above the fireplace. The fact that she turned up the fire is actually more of an annoyance than the bullets, and that's actually where most of his attention is. Not even slowing down, he continues toward the fireplace - intending to fling the woman out of the way with a quick swipe of his arm if she refuses to move. She is, after all, in the way.

Having seen her turn up the fire, she's helpfully pointed out to him where the controls for it are. It's really only a minor problem, the fire - in fact, it's not the fire itself that concerns him so much as the gas. If he put the fire out any other way the gas would still be flowing and probably fill the room - that would cause a lot of other problems. Most of them would be worse for her than for him, but he'd rather avoid both than neither. Leaving the fire blazing is only out of the question because, well, money is flammable when it's not being protected by a safe, and he doesn't want to chance that becoming an issue.

[Deleted]

Breathing heavily, she lowered her weapon after attempting to fire it a dozen or so more times even after all of the bullets had been used. Each bullet ricocheted off of his exterior and were sent various other places around the room. Most were avoided and lodged into walls, though one seemed to painfully graze the ear of one of her men, causing him to holler with pain. She ignored his shouts as she hurtled the gun at the intruders head. Obviously gun fire was not going to get the group anywhere, but Sofia still wanted to punish him. He didn’t know who he was dealing with and obviously neither did she.

Sofia stood her ground, her once pretty face now contorted with fury. The heat from the fire behind her licked at her skin, growing too close for comfort but she didn’t have to worry about it for long. Almost effortlessly he removed her from his path, sending the brunette hurtling toward her beloved bar. She landed in a pile at its base, hitting rather hard. A handful of men rushed to her side to assist their fallen queen, while two others flung themselves at Freeze foolishly, as if they might avenge Sofia. “Don’t touch me, you bunch of cowards.” She shouted, helping herself back to a standing position and taking a few seconds to steady herself.

The fire teased the outside of the fireplace, and she questioned her next plan of action. “Why is it you are you here?” She asked, demanding an answer. “You are making a very, very big mistake.” She warned, starting toward him bravely. “I can….and will make your life hell. I will find you and everyone and thing that you love and I will crush it.” She shouted the last few words as if to make her point clear. She wondered if his space suit would be able to get him into the safe, but she assumed it might. After all, if he could find the thing through its hiding place, regardless of how cliché it was, he could probably open a safe.

She grasped the knob on the fire place, releasing even more gas and causing the fire to roar even louder. While she wasn’t sure if it was keeping him at bay for the time being or not, he hadn’t made an attempt to secure her safe just yet. “So you might want to rethink this. I’m sure we can make a little arrangement,” Her shrill voice attempted, unsure of what he would do and honestly unsure of his intentions entirely. It was a rare occasion to find someone who would actually challenge the Falcone’s.

[Victor Fries - Mr. Freeze]

The thrown gun does even less to stop Victor than the bullets, clanging harmlessly off of the glass dome that covers his head. What does manage to stop him, albeit very temporarily, is the two men who decide to try to punish him for his attack on the young woman. The first he strikes in much the same way as he did her, except perhaps a bit harder since he's being increasingly annoyed by this.

Which comes out in the way that he handles the second man. One might think that the large, bulky suit would slow him down, but for most fighting maneuvers the suit actually supplements his speed and makes him faster than he would be without it. So it's without that much difficulty that he grabs the front of the man's shirt and uses it to lift him high in the air - a good eight feet off the ground. And then he twists his wrist as he suddenly throws the man straight into the ground. The results are... not pretty. Skulls are not meant to have dents in them. Glancing down at the man dispassionately, Victor doesn't spare him more than a moment's thought before he turns his attention back to the fireplace.

Only to see that the woman has turned it up even further. And here he was going to be courteous enough to turn it off properly... Well, if it explodes when it warms back up, that's her fault. Pointing his cold gun at the blaze, he shoots directly into the fire. Unlike shooting pretty much anything else with the cold gun, it doesn't freeze instantly - it's a testament to just how hot the fire was that it doesn't. However, it's also a testament to just how cold the cold gun is that it puts out the blaze rather quickly even so. As he does so, he responds to her 'warning'. "I'm here for what I need, child," he states, "And I love very little." Only Nora, and he's had enough close calls over the years to know better than to put her in any but the most safe and secure location he can devise - he rather doubts that this woman could find her.

He continues to fire at the fireplace until the fire is not only out, but the pipes that supply the gas for it are frozen closed - any further attempt on her part to use the fireplace won't work until the ice melts, and by then he intends to be long gone. With the fire taken care of, the tapestry is torn down with a simple flick of his wrist, exposing the safe. "You, on the other hand, love many things, and have much more to lose," he adds, simply as a commentary as he steps closer to look at it. What exactly he means by that is unclear, since he leaves it at that. Unlike most people cracking a safe, he pays no attention to the lock - instead he's looking most closely at the seam of the door, lifting a finger to trace its shape.

[Deleted]

Sofia didn’t as much as cringe as the ice-man made quick work of the two who lurched to avenge her. A familiar snapping sound seized the brunette’s attention and the welcoming sight of blood caused the size of her angry eyes to double. She tuned out for a moment, focused on the scarlet substance dripping from his limb. The man cried out in pain, bringing Sofia back to the situation. “Shut up!” She screeched, as if he were ruining her concentration. Many starred in horror but Sofia only wished that she had not thrown her gun so that she could permanently silence the fool. Thankfully, he passed out from the pain in a matter of minutes thought Sofia had lost interest long before that time.

She glared at the man who was so easily getting away with what Sofia assumed was a robbery. “And what is it you need. You are after my money, yet you do not seem to be in need of it.” She eyed what had to be a billion dollar suit. “So what is this about? Power? Control? Or did….” She paused for a moment. “Did someone put you up to this?” She snarled as she signaled the six remaining men to hold their ground. Surely this intruder would just eliminate them one by one until she was left defenseless. “That would make much more sense…you are just the muscle. My dynasty has done nothing to you, but perhaps your employer?” She felt as though her theory made since. “Show up in some super suit to do the work for a coward…and then what?”

She needed to find a way to stop him. While the sum of money was insignificant and he only seemed to be contributing to a cause that she had been doing herself for years now. Sofia had been siphoning her own amount of money from her Father’s dynasty for her own selfish collection. By doing so she would stage a robbery and instead take the money herself, putting it in an off-shore account for an emergency situation. From there she would host a witch hunt for the thief, pinning the crime on someone that Sofia simply wanted out of the way. While this situation seemed to resemble her own pattern, there was no profit for Sofia when this scenario played out.

“Whoever you are working for….I can make you a better offer.” She attempted, though there was no desperation in her voice. She was sure that with her resources she could double whatever offer he had negotiated until she found the proper way to destroy him. “You know nothing of me, though I see we have a similarity. There are little things that I love, though revenge is one.’ She didn’t back away or cower as her easily ripped away the tapestry to her safe. Her men grew tense as she closed the distance between herself and the intruder. “And I can assure you that if you walk out of here….this is not over. I am not one to cross!”

[Victor Fries - Mr. Freeze]

The end results of his actions toward the men who attacked him is not something that Victor pays any attention to. He hurt them badly enough that they won't do that again - that's all that matters. No, his attention is firmly on his task, though it's not one that requires all of his attention. Thus far this has been very much like taking candy from a baby to him, so he's certainly not focused enough that he can't listen to his surroundings.

But of course the soundscape is dominated by the over-talkative woman who seems to think that her words might do anything. He responds, but only a little, his voice somewhat distant and distracted because he's also thinking of many other things at the same time. "Appearances can be deceiving," he says instantly when she says that he doesn't look like he needs money. He always needs money. His suit is actually less expensive than she's guessing, but that's because he built it himself - he only had to pay for the parts, while if he were to sell it in its completed state (something he'd never do) it would sell for significantly more because nobody else has the ability to do what he does with cryo-based mechanical engineering. But it's not the only or even most expensive thing that he's built, and then he needs to maintain it all, his suit runs on diamonds, and that's only a part of what he spends on the material he needs to continue his research for his wife, so even large amounts of money disappear quickly when it gets into his hands. But that matters very little to him - what is money when he might be able to use it to purchase something that is truly priceless.

After that her words seem to devolve into wild accusations based upon what, he's assuming, is her attempting to explain the situation from her own perspective. One that he does not share in the least. "I have no employer but myself, and I doubt you'd be more generous to me than I am," he remarks dryly, using his HUD to give the seam of the safe's door one last look over. And he's speaking the truth when he says that - he's not here on anyone's request but his own. Oh, he got a tip from someone about it, and he intends to give the one who gave that tip a small portion of the results to encourage him to do the same again, but that hardly counts as working for someone. And he has absolutely no reason to discuss it, especially here and now.

Satisfied, he backs away from the safe a few paces and aims his cold gun at it. "I do not fear you, child," he states, simply indicating that her threats are useless. She's not one to cross? Well, neither is he. And he as a far more public track record proving as much that she could peruse at any time. On the other hand, he doesn't know or really care who she is at all.

Firing his gun at the safe, at first it seems to do little but coat the door with a layer of ice. But then there's the sound of straining metal, and then the door suddenly breaks with a loud, metal-wrenching bang. Unlike the wooden door, ice alone is not enough to make the door of a well-designed safe break, but that's not all that's happening here. Victor has to crack open safes of various kinds on a regular basis, so the tip of his finger in this particular suit has a rather helpful little thing that works on many of them - it can inject a special gel-like substance into small spaces, which is why he moved his finger along the seams. And while many are familiar with the concept that water expands when it freezes into ice, often causing problems like potholes and such, this gel is one he developed specifically because it expands much, much more than water does when it freezes. So much so that the effect when he cools it with his cold gun is to essentially make the door of the safe no longer fit into the opening its in, causing everything holding it in place to strain beyond their limit. Now unsupported, the door falls to the floor and reveals the contents of the safe - some of it now more than a little bit cold, but that's nothing that letting it thaw out won't cure.

[Deleted]

“I don’t believe you!” She shouted, angrily, chucking one of the decanters full of a dark liquor at the man’s head. Sofia wasn’t used to not getting her way. She wasn’t going to give up, though it seemed as though the remaining five men in the room were half tempted to run for their lives and then take their chances with the Falcone Family later. While this internal war raged on in their heads, Sofia continued to feel more and more helpless as he shot her down once more. He claimed to have no employer and continued to keep his answers short and vague. She was holding onto her handgun so tightly that her knuckles were beginning to turn white. “But you will.” She promised her voice low as she was forced to stand back and watch this man steal from her. But this wasn’t over yet.

“I said, do something.” She ordered the remaining men. Three did what was almost instinct at this point and lurched to attack the hulking man before them. Two decided to flee, sprinting toward the door. Sofia’s head turned to follow them, hatred growing in her eyes as she quickly fired two shots into the back of their retreating forms. The smallest trace of a smile played on her lips before she turned her attention back to the crisis at hand. He hand managed to get the safe open.

Despite how fascinating the technique had been, she waited to see what would become of the few who moved quickly to defend her honor. In all actuality, if he did manage to hack the safe – it was still only one safe. This wasn’t a desirable action, though it seemed as though this seemed to be a common pattern. No matter what, the Falcone Family always managed to find a way to get it back with an added flair all their own.

[Victor Fries - Mr. Freeze]

Though his concentration is on the door, the decanter of liquor does happen to be substantial enough to get his attention. But getting his attention does not mean damaging his suit - actually it only dirties it. Still, that's enough to greatly annoy him, so he figuratively puts doing something about the young woman on his to-do list. He'd do something about her now, but he's in the middle of something that requires a bit of concentration.

He also ignores her threat. He heard it, but he has no reason to give a response - she's either wrong or she's even more foolish than he already thinks that she is, but he has no reason to correct her. Instead he stays focused on his work until the door of the safe falls. It's only then that he feels that perhaps is the time to worry about the young woman. However, instead he finds himself being charged by three men. He responds to this by quickly turning his cold gun on them, demonstrating just how good of a shot he is by not really having to think about where he's aiming. Seemingly, he misses one of them. But it's intentional - the third man he abruptly grabs, throwing him at the young woman. That ought to repay her properly for throwing the liquor at him.

Having done that, he calmly turns his attention back to the money in the safe. Hmm, yes, this is approximately the amount that he'd been expecting to find. Perhaps slightly less... Still, it's worth the time and effort. Seeing that it's in stacks, he immediately notes that he'll need a way to carry it. But the instant that he notes that problem, he remembers the tapestry he removed. Quickly straightening it out on the floor, he then scoops up the money with his hands and deposits it in the center of the tapestry. Then it's easy enough to grab the tapestry's four corners, and he has it all nicely bundled.

"A pleasure doing business with you," he remarks as he straightens, ready to leave.

[Deleted]

Surely this man was not indestructible. Everyone had a weakness, but she couldn’t seem to place her finger on what his may be. Her annoyance continued to grow as she was basically forced to helplessly watch this man steal from her. One thing was for sure, she would get her revenge no matter what she had to do. Until the plan was executed it would be on her mind until her personal justice had been served. He would regret ever crossing Sofia Falcone – even if it was not today.

Each of her remaining men took a shot at the thief, though each seemed to be just as disappointing as the next. The final one was thrown at her. Before Sofia could act, she felt the weight of the man colliding with her, knocking her over with ease. The brunette didn’t even have the time to process what was going on, before the familiar sound of gunfire pierced her ears. She cried out, but not because of the deafening sound but the burning hot sensation just above her hip. The man quickly scurried off of her, his face masked in horror when he realized what he had done – accidently shot his bosses daughter. He began to ramble off apologies though Sofia was in far too much pain to pay attention to him.

Blood began to quickly soak through her shirt as she squirmed in discomfort. The pain was so agonizing, that she was quick to forget about the robbery that was in place. Her angry eyes looked upward toward the man leaving with her money. A piercing scream mixed with anger and pain flew from her lips in the form of a sentence primarily composing of swear words – both English and Italian fused together.

“I’ll have your head!” She promised, her view of the word around her becoming blurry as she continued to squeal in pain.

Ooc: Fin? Then later she can seek her revengeeeee! After a certain doctor fixes her up.