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Post by othus on Aug 2, 2019 5:45:34 GMT
Baja California, Mexico It was an exceptionally hot evening at baja, you could feel the sea breeze turn into some sort of steam that only added to the heat, making small mirages in the distance. The moment Feng saw the body she knew this case was not for the feds. A body torn to shreds with claw marks bigger than what a tiger would leave, then bullet wounds all over the place. The situation was clearly puzzling for the forensic team that arrived to the beach just before her. Nearae and her partner stepped into the sand and walked towards them.
"That will be enough officers, I'm detective Li-Feng Nerae, this is my partner Nova Olivarez, we’ll take over from here thank you”
The feds looked at each other rather puzzled, as far as they knew, they were the highest authority. one of them came to address the pair of women that just arrived just to inquire what the hell they were on about
“Mind if I ask on what authority are you taking over?”- the officer said while crossing his arms. Maybe he was in charge, maybe he wasn't, but the rest of the officers acted like they didn't even exist and kept doing their thing.
“National Defense Department” Nova replied as she took out her badge and handed him over a form
“Please head towards the feds hq and hand over the form, you and your group will be interrogated by National Security agents and then briefed on the procedure”
After a couple calls to HQ, the feds packed their stuff and left the scene, all that was left was the scorching heat and the foul smell of a rotten corpse. Nearae walked up to it and covered her nose with a handkerchief
“Holy shit, clearly I don’t get paid enough for this...what do you think Nova? Were-Jaguar?”
“Nagual. morphed in and out into more than one creature. Also, look around, no tracks that lead out of the crime scene”
“So he turned into some sort of flying monster?”
“Correct”
“Well we are fucked, he could be anywhere now”
Nova looked around and began to think, she looked at the sand and the rocks, there was some sort of explosion.
“Looking at the scene it seems there was heavy resistance, the victim must have had some sort of heat based hidden ability. Even if it turned into a bird, it couldn't have gotten much further, most likely it is going to the closest place full of regulars in order to feed and heal...check maps”
Nerae went back to her car, a white Audi TT, she took her phone out of the glove box and looked at the places nearby.
“greeeat.”- she said as she looked at the screen
“well?”- Nova replied as she saw her partner walk back to the crime scene
“The Grand Mayan Resort”-Feng told Nova as she sighed.
“That's...unfortunate”
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 2, 2019 7:32:33 GMT
Music blasted at top volume from a motorcycle plowing down the seaside road. The rider hunkered low, covered head to toe in leather motorcycle gear. A massive sigil on their jacket declared her gang; Hellhounds. Along with the music played the sounds of ongoing investigations, police, feds, and higher. Cartel-related shootings? Leave that for the federales. Another chupacabras incident? She already had the skull of one of those damn things in her pack, and who knew how many more she had taken down over the years. They were getting to be a plague here. And north of the border, the alien sightings? Who was going to pay her for getting involved?
I need something in the next couple weeks or I’m outta gas. Rosenda changed the channel a few more times before picking up on something very interesting. A nagual? Now that wasn’t something you saw every day. And the Ashen Corps were already on it? She hesitated for a moment. Her particular brand of help wasn’t always welcome with the stiffer Hidden World organizations. The last time she had helped the Ashen Corps, she had destroyed half a village along with the target warlock’s cavern and his pet ivunche all in one. They didn’t seem to particularly care that the village was already evacuated. Totally stiffed her on the bill too.
But surely this would go better? She just wouldn’t use the Krakatoa this time. Her motorcycle became a blur rushing into the horizon, and it was only minutes before she arrived outside the Grand Mayan. She ignored how much her entire look clashed with the place’s fancy decor and marched right in, looking for anybody she might recognize from the Ashen Corps. She just adjusted her old cowboy hat, making the silver wolf's skull in the center gleam.
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Post by othus on Aug 2, 2019 23:13:38 GMT
The lobby was full of incredibly high quality wood detailings, soft lights illuminated the way onto an open area, the heat was immediately gone as the AC took over, giving the entire area a refreshing feeling. Immediately upon seeing her appearance, the Hotel porters rushed to see what she wanted. In their experience, bikers meant trouble.
“Um welcome, excuse me, could you-” The porter couldn't even finish his sentence before a large man grabbed him by the shoulder. He was wearing a full piece white suit with a red handkerchief in the pocket elegantly folded in the shape of a fleur de lis.
“I’ll take care of this, go back to your stations”- He told them and they immediately left.
The 6’5, 300 pound individual that made Myke Tyson look like at a baby stared at Rosenda for a second and back into the lobby.
“We are not talking here. over there, it’s more private.”- He told her and signaled towards a hall that was marked as business hall.
As they entered one of the soundproof rooms, the man finally began to speak.
“Things like this are better spoke in private. Now, allow me to introduce myself, I am Bosede Abioye, owner of this resort.”- The man checked his gold watch for a moment and after straightening his jacked continued talking
“Now, I know your kind, you are not here for vacations yes? you are here for trouble, you know the Ashen agents? them I have to tolerate, corrupt, filthy, little rats...but not you. So, you can either tell me what the hell are you and the two bitches that came through that door a minute ago looking for, or, you can get the fuck off my property.”
Nova and Nerae arrived and booked a room, they had no luggage, but this would probably take at least the entire night to be solved.
“not bad huh? I guess playing the detective does have some perks...I think this case might actually take more than a few days!”- Nerae told Nova as she winked at her.
“We are not wasting taxpayers money on this, we are booking the night off our own pocket”
“Whaaat?!! you know how much a night here costs, right?”
"I have made the calculations, if you quit smoking for the next fifteen months and two weeks, you should be able to pay for the night without any impact to your income. you will also have 33% more chances of getting a boyfriend and your life expectancy will rise by 19 months."- she said as she gave Nerae a thumbs up along with the ghost of a smile
"Just fuck off!!"
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 3, 2019 7:29:01 GMT
Rosenda turned up at the voice coming down above her, eyes not quite focusing on his face. They were uniformly, white, iris, and pupil, the color of an overcast sky. They were set in dark flesh marked with wrinkles and scars, a face framed by greying black hair pulled up in a tight bun. “I could use a vacation, but you’re right that that’s not why I’m here.” Rosenda leaned forward, sticking out a hand covered equally in dust and leather.
“Rosenda Ramona Ruiz, BHA silver star.” She rocked back in her hair as soon as the handshake commenced (or didn’t), putting her feet up on the counter. “From what I picked up over the scanner, you’ve got a nagual on your hands. Never met one, but they’re shapeshifters. Not too different from those skinwalkers up north I suppose. We’ll just be removing them from the premises and get going, that sound good?” Rosenda’s smirk matched the tilt of her hat.
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Post by othus on Aug 3, 2019 23:57:36 GMT
The man raised a brow and proceeded to shook his head as he sighed. "Of course there are naguals around, most of my clientele is HW aware. now, this is a private place, Bounty Hunter or not, if you want to be here book a night like everyone else. I recommend the business class"
As he finished his sentence, the man got up and headed towards the exit, he looked behind his back one last time as he left. "IF you are interested, we are holding a concert tonight at the beach. Welcome to the Grand Mayan, and enjoy your stay...madame"
Outside, Nerae and Nova saw the movement in the lobby, it was nothing short of a mess
"This place is a freakshow"
"Anyone who gives the hint of being half animal is a good starting point, just ignore metahumans"
"yeah but this place is still full of half breeds, how are we even gonna get started?"
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 4, 2019 6:09:33 GMT
“Well, you’re the boss here. Be right back.” Rosenda backtracked to her motorcycle and grabbed an oversized briefcase from the side. She popped it open on the side of the road and a heap of leather hit the ground. A minute later she came marching into the resort in top southern fashion. Mahogany pants ran into snakeskin boots, a dress shirt up top completing the look. Sunglasses with silver rims guarded her sightless eyes. She made her way to the front desk and slapped down a stack of worn pesos. “This should cover me for one night.” She said, listening not to the people in front of her but the room behind. She picked her way through individual conversations. Most were boring. Business deals, vacations? Ugh. People talking about half-animals? Bingo.
She slipped through the crowd, emerging right before them. “Hey, Ashen pups. Got any leads?” Rosenda took a single sniff to learn about her new agent companions. Both women, both young. Mid-twenties at the latest as their hormones went. They didn’t have any especially virulent conditions she could sniff out, but one was a smoker. Ugh. Bad reminder of her own smoking days. “Oh, how rude. I’m Rosenda Ramona Ruiz. You might know me from your comrades in the Ashen Corps? I’ve worked with your organization plenty over the years.”
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Post by othus on Aug 5, 2019 5:34:18 GMT
Nova and Nerae looked at each other as Rosenda introduced herself, that was indeed a name thrown around at HQ from time to time. Not quite Rosenda Ramona, more like, Rosenda la loca, but that was probably it.
"Detective Li Feng Nerae, nice to meet ya. I...might have heard of you. Sorry, I'm pretty new in the Ashen corps"
"Detective Nova Olivarez, I do recall your name being registered in the database as an outsource contact, it will be my pleasure to work alongside you."
Bounty Hunters being employed by the government wasn't exactly rare, after all, the Ashen agents numbered below 100, and while they all have been incredibly well trained, there is just too much to do for them to be present at all times. Both Nerae and Nova were new recruits, Nova being the costlier adition, as her abilities were somewhat exceptional.
"Unfortunately, we don't have much. we know the Nagual is hiding within the establishment, and that its last victim was killed some hours ago"
"In its current condition, the Nagual will have to be agressive and act fast. It is extremely likely it will attack someone at the concert, any ideas on how to get at it?"
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 6, 2019 6:50:43 GMT
“Hey, everybody’s got a first day.” Rosenda chuckled and turned to the room. “Never hunted a nagual, but I’ve got experience with plenty of similar creatures. You just need to know their tastes. I once got a vampire by finding what blood type she liked, getting a target with that type, and shooting her with a stake gun. I miss the stake gun. Just wasn’t practical for how expensive those air canisters were.” She scanned the crowd with ears and nose, thinking carefully. “So, time is of the essence if you two are right. There’s a lot of private places in a resort. The nagual could already have somebody in a room. I can go listen in the hallways, tell you if I hear anything suspicious. I’ll come back when I shoot them in the head.”
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Post by othus on Aug 7, 2019 7:21:38 GMT
"Oh, if you are gonna listen in the hallways I could also be of help, let me get a taste of your ability"- She said as she walked towards Rosenda, her red eye's pupil began to dilate almost to the same size as her iris. Nerae slightly winced in pain as she copied the ability, then nausea overcame her. The sensory overload was never pleasing
"Oh god, everything smells so strong...Now that I can smell myself, I do apologize, perhaps I do have to cut back on the cigarettes"
"You don't need enhanced senses to smell that. Now, I'll set up my stuff at our room and provide intel, Nerae can cover the first floor, Rosenda the second. sounds good?"- She said as she handed earpieces to both.
Nova's room was on the 5th floor, As she walked towards it, she began to add cameras in the hallway leading up to her door. As soon as she was done with that, she began to set up her laptop and headset.
"Alright, I'm ready, do not engage unless you are certain it's the target, we don't want to spill innocent blood."
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 8, 2019 5:24:01 GMT
“Huh, so that’s what you can do?” Rosenda chuckled. “I’ve met some people who copy powers. Fought one once. He copied my senses so I choked him out with a smoke bomb. Hate those things, but it turns out he hated them more.” She straightened her shirt and walked down the hallway, taking a preliminary sniff. It was all the usual. Old carpet. The combined scent of hundreds of humans. Alcohol, the little mints you got on pillows, cleaning chemicals. Her nose found them all and sorted them into neat little categories, discarding the unnecessary so quickly she barely noticed them. Her ears did the same, sorting through mindless chatter and the buzz of television to listen for any signs of the Hidden World in the rooms lining the hallway. Rosenda could come across as a clown on the surface, but her senses required the greatest of discipline to use properly.
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Post by othus on Aug 8, 2019 6:04:53 GMT
"Oh trust me, I'm not anywhere close to you by doing this. I must be a Were-Chihuahua right now...I can feel the trembling and the crippling anxiety"-Nerae told Rosenda before moving towards the second floor.
As Rosenda began to search for particular smells, she would be bombarded with odor from humans, elves, chanekehs, and multiple were-creatures. The more animalistic ones seemed to be headed towards the upper floors.
Nerae had quite some trouble adjusting her senses to the situation, copying weapons was easy, but copying powers was often much more difficult. still, she had once or twice taken enhanced sensing abilities from Espers and Chanekehs, were- animals however seemed to be quite different.
"Any news in floor two?"-Nova asked through her comms.
"Not really, If i stick my nose to the doors I can actually tell what kind of individuals are inside, there are no signs of Naguals you know?"
"Well that's weird, Rosenda, anything on your side?"
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 8, 2019 6:56:17 GMT
“A surprising number of non-humans. The owner told me there were lots of Hidden Worlders around here, but I didn’t expect the sheer numbers I’m picking up. Certainly an exciting place!” She sniffed harder, tracking the lines of scent. Some creatures were easier to track than others. Immortal types like faries left less of their cells on everything. Mammals like humans, on the other hand, were always leaving themselves all over. There was a thin layer of grease on everything they touched. The paths she was picking up on all went up further.
“Got a lead. I don’t smell a nagual, but I’m sniffing out a bunch of other werefolk. Seems they’re above me. I’m heading up and seeing if I can catch a lead. I’m pretty well-known among lycanthropes and werewolves, so maybe I’ll be able to get some information out of them.” She set foot on the stairs, confidently striding up. Hotel stairs weren’t a bad place for an ambush, but she doubted she’d be facing one. The nagual probably didn’t even know they had her on its tail yet.
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Post by othus on Aug 8, 2019 7:13:37 GMT
As Rosenda went to the third floor, Nerae followed. An immediate change of smell would overwhelm both. the air had a dense, bitersweet, metallic aroma that was spread through multiple rooms.
To Nerae, the smell immediately turned her stomach. it was nothing like the previous rooms
"What the hell is that smell?! it's everywhere"
"Anything?!" -Nova inquired, clearly disturbed, but for no apparent reason
Nerae looked at Rosenda and signaled her to open the first door to her right, she unholstered her gun and made cover for Rosenda as she went on to open the door by force if necessary.
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 8, 2019 20:58:02 GMT
Rosenda paused at the top, taking deeper sniffs. She didn’t recognize this smell. It wasn’t blood. Too sweet. It wasn’t oil either. Bad perfume? “No idea, kid. Keep on your guard.” Seemingly out of nowhere, Rosenda’s hand held a black pistol. She silently slipped the safety off and put her ear to the door before swinging it wide and taking the first step in.
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Post by othus on Aug 12, 2019 6:29:03 GMT
As Rosenda entered the room, she would immediately see the corpses in the middle of the hallway. A man and a woman. The bodies were dried up to the bone with a gaping hole in their chest, a semi transparent liquid was pouring out of the wound. Nerae followed Rosenda. The smell was many times stronger, and the sight of it was nightmare inducing, the whole scene almost made the agent throw up. It took her a second to regain her composure and move again.
Without speaking, Nerae unholstered her weapon and moved further into the room as she signaled Rosenda to follow. the place was quite large, with a dining area, a living room and a hallway that leaded to the master bedroom. a noise could be heard coming from further onto said room.
As the agent moved towards the Master bedroom, her anxiety rose, maybe these powers weren't suited to her after all. The first thing Nerae saw was a little girl, probably no older than five crouched right in the center of the bed, trembling as if it were a cold night. The sweet scent was even stronger on this room, but it was completely overpowered by another scent.
"Blood?" Nerae asked as she gave closer inspection on the girl. she was covered from head to toe by it, her eyes looked lifeless, and barely responded to the sight of Nerae.
The agent looked at Rosenda, wondering what to do while she kept a healthy distance from the child.
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 12, 2019 21:12:16 GMT
Rosenda didn’t see anything, but the smell was enough to tell her exactly what she was dealing with here. She carefully stepped into the room, sniffing it out. One man, one woman. Both dead, with no heartbeats or breathing. From the lack of rotting smell and the fact that hotel staff hadn’t found them, they were pretty fresh. “Whatever did this might still be here.” She warned, moving along the wall. She smelled blood, and a lot of it. It was overlapping another human, this one accompanied by signs of life. A child. Rosenda hesitated. “Be ready to shoot.” She said, stowing her own gun in an instant and approaching. “Hey, kid. It’s okay. Can you tell us what happened here?” She asked softly, offering a handkerchief to wipe some blood away. She knew damn well it was dangerous, but what was she to do? Shoot a child on suspicion of being a monster?
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Post by othus on Aug 16, 2019 5:19:16 GMT
"Shoot?!"- Nerae answered in shock, she was not ready to shoot a kid, even if it was a monster.
It was clear the kid was not human, tiny fangs poked out of her mouth and her eyes were not entirely human. still, the kid was barely reacting to Rosenda's gesture, she looked at the hand that offered a handckerchief but did not reach for it, it was at that moment that her eyes widened greatly as she looked past rosenda back into the darkness of the hall, something moved in the back, the noise it made wasn't much, but it was enough that it made Nerae look back.
a spear like object shot from the darkness aiming to impale Rosenda or the kid if she dodged
"Watch out!" -Nerae told Rosenda as she raised her weapon to shoot into the hall but she was instantly swat away by a much faster attack that sent her flying against the wall. whatever had hit her, it was incredibly strong. Nerae coughed blood as she tried to figure what had even happened
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 18, 2019 3:41:08 GMT
Rosenda held up a finger when Nerae yelled the first time, signalling for silence. “Come on, kid. It’s okay, the hanky is yours.” She waved it just a little before her head twitched. “Fuck!” She spun as the spear came flying from darkness. Her left hand shot out like she was going to catch it, and she did, in a fashion. The spear impaled her palm, stopped in the bones of her hand before reaching her torso. Her gun was already in her other hand, firing three shots into the darkness. There was no noise from the magically silenced pistol as she fired, not even to her own ears. She could kill this problem long before anybody here caught wind of trouble.
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Post by othus on Aug 19, 2019 22:53:28 GMT
As soon as Rosenda fired the shots into the hallway the creature shrieked in pain, it was a high pitch sound that did not resemble human nor beast. The spear that had pierced her turned into dark smoke that began to gather along with more of the smoke in the hallway onto the ceiling. At first, it began to condense into some sort of formless liquid, but then it began to show form.
"...teeth?" Nerae said as her eyes widened. The entire ceiling was covered by hundreds of teeth and dozens of eyes, which promptly descended aiming to swallow the entire contents of the room.
The agent made a run towards the hallway, knowing there was absolutely nothing she could actually do against something like that.
"Nova, we need you down here!"- She told her partner through the comms
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 21, 2019 6:29:34 GMT
Rosenda cocked her head and grinned, showing off sharper-than-they-should-be teeth. “Thinking a little scratch like that will put me down is the last mistake a lot of people make.” She tried to close her pierced hand, but it didn’t even twitch. “Damn.” It would take at least an hour for her hand to heal enough to use it. She didn’t have that kind of time. Her attention was quickly drawn to something else by the noise coming from above. Nerae’s words were all she needed to start for the door. The noise was pervasive, everywhere above her. She fired off some shots in the vague direction of the ceiling before swiftly holstering her pistol and grabbing the back of the child’s shirt. She drug her along as she lunged out into the hallway, flumbling for her gun with her off hand. “Dammit! Take the kid, I need my good hand!”
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