TIME WARP: The Magazine Job [OPEN]

[Rhett Goddard]

((Have you ever seen Leverage? It's a TV series about.... oh well, nevermind! You've probably seen Ocean's Eleven or movies alike? Think that, and this is it. This is a completely open and party thread, if you think your character could join, then do so! You can contact me if you want, but it's ok if you don't, I want this thread to be completely improvised on the go. All characters welcome.))

New York City
August, 2029

Why were they all always late? It was a question Rhett always asked himself. Their job demanded punctuality, it demanded them to be exact, to do things right and at the right time, and, yet, they all, and without exception, always got late. Of course, Rhett could understand, the traffic of this city never seemed to get better over the years, and it was noon, rush hour, so it was not easier to move around the city, but still, if the blonde managed to get their in time, aided by meta-knowledge of which routes to take and which not to take, then they others could and should: it was disrespectful towards the blonde, and towards their client. But thankfully, the client was not here to see this, nor he'd hear.

As he waited, Rhett leaned in the wall and gazed upon the building in front of him. A huge billboard floated in midair with a simple and yet stricking image: a white background with red letters that boldly read: "Vogue". The blonde smiled. He couldn't believe that the fashion industry had survived this long, nor become this powerful, and he still couldn't believe that it was this important. He looked at his wrist watch one more time and then looked at the building in front of him, it all belonged to the same company that owned the billboard's ad, and it was all their target. It was, by far, the team's highest paid job so far, each of them was going to get the money of a lifetime, enough to retire if they wanted to. Everything for simply getting their hands on simple magazine.

It was strange. Rhett had done very terrible and far bigger things than this, his little company, of which the only permanent member was himself, had done all sort of odd jobs that included, but were not limited to stealing and spying. He detested the name, but in a summed up version, the blonde was a corporate spy. Companies, and sometimes people, like in this case, hired him to get his hand in information, and sometimes items, which he did either by himself, or by putting together a small team which consisted mainly of childhood friends he knew were right for the job. The strange part was, however, that this job seemed to be far easier. The client didn't want the magazine stolen, he only wanted a copy.

But for the amount of money he was going to get payed, he knew from the beginning it was not going to be easier, and so, it was never in his plans to do this alone, and he wasn't going to. He had put a small team of people together.

None of which had arrived yet.

[Rayne Lancaster]

He couldn't believe this. Like flat out, one hundred percent, bow on top - could not believe it. But getting out of this stuff seemed harder then in theory. It was different. He wasn't that teen with his head in high hopes and hanging out with his classmates from senior year. Back then things were simple, well really the year was a disaster but they got into there amount of trouble. Most of it lead by Rhett but hey, beggers can't be choosers. Still, this made him feel like a teenager again - which now felt like a lifetime ago. And now, now who is Rayne Lancaster. Married to an awesome husband and now being the father to a seven year old boy. His name is Cayden, and some would say too spoilt and far too talkative then anyone on Earth. But Rayne is still performing, mostly on televised concerts and hearing himself on the radio every day. He wanted music and he got it. He wanted new friends and he got them. And when he was eighteen, he wanted trouble, and he got it. Sadly, it was sending him straight back to where it started.

Entering the party through the doors, Rayne glanced inside. It was Vogue! Not only is it still the best fashion magazine anyone can ever get there hands on, but Rayne was once again attending. This time not for publicity, but he was on a mission. And he wasn't alone. Standing by the doors, he looked around. Past the wine, designer dresses and mainstream modles, he tried to spot some of the others. Hammel has never had a school reunion quite like this, and his family had no idea. He wanted to keep it that way, because as shallow as it sounds, Rayne was worried about his rep if this all goes south. His family, his career - not the fact that he is on the tight rope anyways being meta and all that. It was risky, but fortunately moving things with your mind didn't disappear in your early thirties, and it was going to be helpful in one way or another.

Spotted! Rhett Goddard standing through the crowd as Rayne looked at him, and walked towards him. He knew what they were here to do and Rayne had a choice to tell him to stick it. But he didn't. Maybe with this fairy normal life he had right now, this excitement was just what he needed. Did he resent his life? Never. But to feel young again, he would never miss the opportunity. Moving through the crowd, he got to him as he stood by him. "Rhett. More - 'friends', are coming right?". If it was just them, he was screwed. Don't get me wrong, Rayne could definitely pack a punch nowadays, but if it is a perceptive dude and a spoon-bender on this mission, then - GULP!

[Ulrich Schneider]

Even as a child Ulrich was a super patient person, and in adulthood that quality has stuck with him like glue. Patience was a virtue, one he valued greatly and put to good use on several occasions. While patiently waiting around though, Ulrich didn't just sit and twiddle his thumbs. He was cold and calculating. He thought things though and formed tactics in his head - a skill he refined while serving in the military. He also refined combat skills, weapons skills, and used his time in service to the magnificent U.S. of A. to help create a wonderful résumé which he used to land a job as a security personnel for Vogue.

Yes, Ulrich was employed, but not for long. He didn't pursue a job at Vogue for the experience, the benefits, or the salary. No way. He did it for one reason - Rhett needed some help and a lot of money was promised for providing that help. It was simple really. All he had to do was help Rhett steal a copy of a magazine for a client and he would have enough money to retire if he wanted. A payday like that was one he was pursuing for quite some time. Extensive illegal gun collections aren't cheap.

Looking down at his cellphone, Ulrich realized that he was a little late. Traffic in New York City was enough to drive an impatient person insane. Luckily, he wasn't too terribly late though; only a couple minutes behind. He stepped out of his cab and walked toward the Vogue building. He was wearing his issued security uniform which was quite fashionable (nothing less should be expected from Vogue). Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rhett standing with another man. He smirked and nodded at them before heading inside to check in and start his shift.

It only took Ulrich a few minutes to get to his security post in the surveillance room. He had a plan.

Reply to this message me when you start pursuing the target, he text Rhett.

His plan was simple. When Rhett and his posse move in, Ulrich was going to disable the all the cameras in the building by damaging the main console in the surveillance room, incapacitate security he came across, and help everyone escape. After that, he would get his cash and split (maybe after chatting with Rhett for a little while first).

[Rhett Goddard]

((thanks for joining Charlie!!!! We're totally improvising along the way, so don't worry about throwing new things into the mix and making up stuff as we go at it! My chatango is herlrelur if you want to contact me, though. Thanks again!))


The September issue of Vogue was no joke. For years, it had always been the magazine's most important, and biggest, publication of every year for reasons Rhett could not entirely comprehend, but which didn't matter much for his job. This year's September issue was meant to broke several records, which was the reason the big party was being thrown, and Rhett figured was the same reason the client wanted an early copy of the magazine for himself before its public release, which was scheduled for within the next week. Why the party was being thrown a week before the magazine hit the shelves, though, was beyond the blonde's comprehension.

"Don't worry," Rhett reassured Rayne as he approached him, "this job's too big, we're not alone." And indeed, a couple of seconds later, Rhett received a text from Ulrich informing him he was ready and in position, which prompted a small smile from the blonde. "Great," He placed his cellphone back in his pocket and looked back at Rayne. "Our inside person's ready to down the cameras any moment now."

Rhett was happy to see that both Rayne and Ulrich were ready for the action, both were important and crucial for the job, as was the case with every person that Rhett managed to gather in any team for any of his past jobs. It was always like that, Rhett was a strategist, and a very good one, and he would not get someone who isn't useful involved, or give them a role if it's not of importance and necessary, otherwise he'd do it himself.

Ulrich and Rayne were both very good at what they did, the former usually thanks to his fighting skills and the second one for his meta ones. The image always passed through Rhett's mind, if this were and RPG game like those Rhett had played in one of those slick enhanced reality gaming consoles, Ulrich was a warrior-type, Rayne was a spellcaster and Rhett was rogue. Little else was needed, really.

"Are you ready?" Rhett asked Rayne as he snatched a glass of champagne from one of the passing waiters, "you haven't forgotten your assignment, have you?"

He wouldn't expect the black-haired boy to forget it, and Rhett could easily tap into his power to make himself aware of the answer to his question without asking it out loud, but it was more of a friendly "be ready" kind of thing. The blonde's attention shifted rapidly, however, from Rayne to a couple of meters away within a small group of people in the party. A dense group of people were gathering, and Rhett's ESP informed him that an altercation was brewing up into a fight between two rather drunk fashion models.

"Crap, we can't let that happen," Rhett worried, "or they'll send more security to the party floor."

Swiftly, Rhett took his cellphone from his pocket and wrote a text to Ulrich: Can you do something about that? Don't let security be tightened up. He was sure the other blonde was going to be smart enough and assume Rhett meant the fight, but he wasn't sure Rhett could do something, if he couldn't it was up to Rayne and him to find a way to stop it before they could start their real job.

[Romeo Buckland]

“Come on dude, the lady said she wasn’t interested.”

“Really now? ‘Cause the way she’s looking at me now is more along the lines of ‘Save me from this bozo who doesn’t know the first thing about treating a lady’,” Romeo answered with a cocky smirk coupled with a haughty wink that send the girl in question clinging tighter to the other man’s arm and hiding behind him and their friends.

“Rome, you don’t want to do this. Not when all these people are looking,” a guy from behind the Irish mentioned as he held the man back by grabbing Romeo’s shoulder, cocking his head subtly to the crowd. It wasn’t the slightly aghast, slightly judging expression these society types had on their faces his friend was referring though – if anything Romeo knew these people loved what little excitement this altercation he’s initiated is bring in their life – but more to the photographers hired to cover the event, who, as if on cue, stopped their coverage of the fancy dresses and extremely thought-out floral arrangements in the room and began inching towards the group.

When he entered the industry around fifteen or so years ago, Romeo told himself that he knew that with extreme fame came extreme scrutiny from the public’s eye. That he had to worry not only about keeping himself practically ageless (frozen in his prime and all that) and honing his supposed acting skills, but also making sure he had a presentable, if not entirely satisfactory, public image. And while he’s managed to maintain that during his stint as a starletrising star, once he began starring in blockbusters and became the goose that laid the golden eggs for whoever who hired him, well, his ego just didn’t let itself be repressed even further – it practically exploded and did its best to make up for lost time, so to speak. In a span of two years, the Irish found himself more in the front page of tabloids than that of movie posters and magazine spreads. It took his management team almost three years just to turn things around, and while he’s managed to score a film and possibly a TV pilot within the past few months, their plan was to make Vogue’s magazine launch be Romeo’s ‘formal’ return to the public. It was undoubtedly the magazine event of the year – heck, possibly even the century – and they were extremely fortunate to have nabbed it.

Romeo would be a fool to waste it like this.

He was actually considering of backing out, possibly grabbing a drink from the bar and letting it go really, until he heard the snort from the guy across him. He must’ve heard what Romeo’s friend told the Irish, or just realized that should something erupt, the Irish would lose much more than he would. Romeo’d lose no matter what. It just didn’t sound right to the Irish, not one bit.

“Oh fuck this,” he muttered, roughly shaking his friend’s hand off his shoulder and lunging towards the other man, Romeo’s fist locking on his jaw and sending him sprawling on the floor.

He can imagine his manager’s and publicist’s faces now.