Episode 2 - Turning Mirrors into Windows

In the few beats it takes Eshe to consider whether to save the janitor or head in the direction that he has pointed, Mangas is already mid-flight. "I'll catch up! Don't die!" She calls to him, being in the thick of things effectively restoring her sangfroid. "Miss Fuschetta is in good hands, my friend will help her. Let's get you patched up so that I can go help him.  You have to stay awake, so I am going to keep you talking, k? My name is Eshe.  What's yours?"

True to her word, Eshe keeps the man engaged in conversation as she looks around to find something with which to clean and then dress his wound, asking a combination of personal questions and questions about the missing kids and his injury.  As she helps him, she hopes against hope that not immediately backing Mangas up was the right decision.

Matthew nods.

"Matthew Leons. I'm a special investigator. Myself and my team look into situations of a non standard nature. We have been advised that there is something not quite right about the recent events that have happened here. I wish to be of any assistance I can."

moarhair wrote:

EXT. SMALL TOWN STREET - DAY

"I want answers too. The feds say it's a serial killer, can you believe that? What kind of serial killer kidnaps a bunch of kids over the span of a week? No, no, no, no, no... This is something else. Something they want to cover up!" His eyes start to move in their sockets as he considers the possibilities. "Aliens, maybe... or mole men... The elites harvesting adrenochrome wouldn't be this sloppy..."

"What's your theory?"

Sophia keeps her poker face looking at the man without blinking or looking surprised. Every person with these theories eventually came onto something real, she just had to untangle the truth from the fiction.

"Beats me," she shrugs. "Don't have enough evidence to form a theory yet, but I'm sure something is going on here. Maybe even one of the things you said. Have you found anything pointing to any of them?"

EXT. MIDDLEBURG COMMUNITY CENTER PARKING LOT - DAY

DonQwaf wrote:

"Matthew Leons. I'm a special investigator. Myself and my team look into situations of a non standard nature. We have been advised that there is something not quite right about the recent events that have happened here. I wish to be of any assistance I can."

Agent Sorreyo scoffs. "You spooks sure like being cryptic. Fine, you can come in. As an observer. You get in my way, you'll be back in Langley before you can say 'jurisdiction'. Got it?"

The FBI agent makes some room for Matthew to get by. Capitalizing on the other man's erroneous impression that Matthew is a CIA agent, he climbs aboard the mobile command center.

A few more agents and analysts sit inside, going over reports, planning out patrol routes and compiling data. Matthew has the run of the place, so long as he doesn't get in anyone's way.


INT. MIDDLEBURG COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL - DAY

Another AKA wrote:

"Miss Fuschetta is in good hands, my friend will help her. Let's get you patched up so that I can go help him. You have to stay awake, so I am going to keep you talking, k? My name is Eshe. What's yours?"

"Bob..." the janitor says. Eshe looks around for something to dress the janitor's wounds, but the empty school corridor and the man's cart are unfortunately empty of anything useful. The janitor seems to understand what she's trying to find and points towards the other part of the building. "Infirmary..." he manages to mutter.


EXT. SMALL TOWN STREET - DAY

NightingaleJ wrote:

"Don't have enough evidence to form a theory yet, but I'm sure something is going on here. Maybe even one of the things you said. Have you found anything pointing to any of them?"

The man looks around shiftily, then leans in closer to Sophia. "Aliens. There are pictures circulating on some of the forums online. Small, humanoid," he says as he reaches into his pocket to pull out his phone. He starts to search. "I tried to show them to that FBI agent, but he wouldn't give me time of day, the prick."

He scrolls for a bit. "Ah! There we go." He shows his phone to Sophia. The picture displayed on it is blurry. It shows three small humanoids wearing rain ponchos. The one in the middle is pulling a little red wagon. To Sophia, they don't look like aliens. They look like children.


INT. MIDDLEBURG COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL - DAY

Thelonius wrote:

Mangas races up the stairs, his feet stomping forebodingly, like a war drum.

Mangas takes the stairs three at a time. He makes it to the next floor in a few seconds and turns towards the ruckus. Three beings stand in front of a classroom door a couple dozen meters down the hall. One is a small humanoid; one appears to be a large turtle, but one of its legs is a massive crawfish claw; the last creature looks like a deer, but with armored plates like a crustacean or a bug covering its sides and back. The deer is throwing itself against the classroom door, trying to break it down.

The small humanoid turns as Mangas steps into the hallway. Despite a greenish pouch of some kind bulging from his neck, the hunter recognizes it: it's Frederic Morris.

The clawed turtle roars and charges down the hallway towards Mangas.

Mangas stops at the top of the stairs taking in the odd creatures. When the turtle charges he waits for it to come closer and then charges towards it, leaning forward, tries to grab it by the sides in an attempt to throw it over his shoulder.

Eshe gives the janitor her brightest smile, looking down the hallway. It was farther than she had hoped, but it couldn't be helped. Without better gear, any gear really, Bob was going to die.  She tells him to remain calm and keep the pressure on his wound. "I'll be right back Bob - don't die!" She calls lightheartedly over her shoulder, having taken off in a sprint towards the infirmary. It was the first time in a while where that imperative statement felt more like a plea than a demand.

Matt shrugs his shoulders.

"It's the nature of the beast."

He moves in and starts looking around, making sure to stay out of the way and not touch anything, but looking for maps of where the kids were taken, landmarks, places that might have a more supernatural draw to them, as well as any reports on who or what might have done this, including autopsy reports.

moarhair wrote:

EXT. SMALL TOWN STREET - DAY

"Ah! There we go." He shows his phone to Sophia. The picture displayed on it is blurry. It shows three small humanoids wearing rain ponchos. The one in the middle is pulling a little red wagon. To Sophia, they don't look like aliens. They look like children.

"This might be something worth checking, can you trace back the places where this and the other photos were taken? We should check them out."

Sophia's mind is going a mile a minute. Could this be the missing children? They were a little to blurry, but even if it weren't, maybe the places these kids hang around could shed some light on the other's disappearance.

The turtle, apparently blind with fury, spurts towards Mangas. When the large man suddenly, instead of fleeing in panic, does the opposite and charges towards it, it misses a step in surprise. The large opponent then bends forward and grabs the confused reptile and half throws, half let's it fall over his shoulder from where it starts somersaulting down the stairs behind him.
Without heeding it much more attention, Mangas continues to walk in big strides towards the other two, that are still busy creaturehandling the innocent door.

INT. MIDDLEBURG COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL - DAY

As Mangas flips the turtle over his shoulder, it lashes out with its massive claw, tearing through his shirt and plunging it into his back. Blood sprays onto the hallway floor.

OOC:

The turtle tumbles down the stairs and disappears from view.

The deer continues to try to bust down the door, but Frederic turns to face Mangas. The pouch bulging from his neck pulses. He gargles and draws his head back, as if he's about to spit.


Eshe quickly finds the infirmary and retrieves the first aid kit. She rushes back to Bob, but when she makes it through the door, she sees the poor janitor frozen with fear. A large turtle with a massive, blood-covered claw is stuck on its back, lashing around in anger. It spins around, edging ever closer to the injured man.


INT. F.B.I. MOBILE COMMAND CENTER - DAY

Matthew finds a large map of Middleburg and the surrounding area. On it are the patrol routes devised by the FBI and the areas that were searched until the first missing child was found dead. He finds it unlikely that the creature would be able to operate in the town core. The routes are too extensive and well planned out. To the south of time are farms, with large open fields, giving the monster little cover to move about. However, to the northwest is a large wooded area, as well as a stream surrounded by dense vegetation that flows into down. Perfect cover.

Matthew also finds, filed in the "kook" folder (a place reserved for the reports of aliens, molemen and other things deemed nonsense by the law enforcement officers), the transcript of a frantic call by a Melinda Grousse, the teacher's aid of the targeted class. In it, she claims the goldfish she won at a regional carnival might be responsible for the missing kids. Matthew remembers Eshe's vision, in which she was being jostled while carnival music played...


EXT. MIDDLEBURG - DAY

Sophia spends the next little while retracing where the pictures were taken in the company of the conspiracy theorist, Don Sheffield. The man is eager, resolved to solve this thing and save the children.

Over the course of their search, she learns that Don's daughter Tiffany is one of the missing children. He is divorced from his wife and she has sole custody of their kid, which he hasn't been allowed to see in months. His wife left him, he says, because she was blind to the Truth of the world and didn't understand all that he was doing to protect his family. According to him, a great change was coming to the world and one had to be prepared for the collapse of civilization that would follow.

Together, Sophia and Don find the spots were the pictures were taken, but unfortunately, little else. Whatever clue might have lain in these parts were long gone.


EXT. WOODS - DAY

The teenager digs around the old log with a trowel. He'd left his weed here, buried in a sealed metal tin, but he can't remember the exact spot. Eventually, metal hits metal, and he whoops triumphantly. He pulls the tin out of the dirt with a satisfied grin.

The teenager sits on the old log and begins to remove the tape holding it shut. He stops suddenly as he hears rustling in the leaves. He looks up and his face bunches up in confusion, then expands in terror. He opens his mouth to scream, but suddenly goes slack instead.

He dreams... and the monster learns.

Sophia does a turnabout and leaves the man where they met, then says she will try looking for more leads but that she needs to do that on her own. She gives the man her phone number and then goes looking for Matt or Eshe, whoever answers the phone first with their location.

Matt notes down Melinda Grousse's number nad moves to thank Agent Sorreyo.

"Agent Sorreyo, thank you. Do you have a card? I will contact you if I find out anything. A question though, if things lean towards...."

He looks towards the "kook" folder.

"...how much do you want to know?"

First aid kit in hand, Eshe pushes the infirmary door open with her hip, freeing her hand to answer her phone. "Oh hey Sophia, can't talk long. I have to go keep Bob from bleeding out. How are things on your... What the hell? Can you hold on a sec Sophia?" The last sentence is a bit muffled as Eshe shoves her phone into her pocket and fishes out earbuds.  She prefers headphones, but in tactical situations, they often ended up broken.

"Sorry about that, I need my hands free to go deal with the spinning murder turtle." Even as she said the words, Eshe knew how weird she sounded, but weird was just part of the job. "How are things on your end?" She asks while dashing back towards Bob.  

If the janitor is strong enough, she'd have him hold her staff and she would pull him away from the rotating reptilian razor.  Otherwise, she was going to get to try her hand at a pretty lethal game of curling.

INT. F.B.I. MOBILE COMMAND CENTER - DAY

Agent Sorreyo sighs. "If you have some sort of insight that can help us find these children and stop this killer, then by all means, share it with the class. But do me a professional courtesy: spare me your cryptic spook BS and don't waste my time with nonsense, Agent Leons. This isn't a game. Kids lives are at stake."


EXT. MIDDLEBURG - DAY

Don takes the phone number and frowns. When Sophia walks away, he follows. "If you've got more leads, I want in. I've got enough heat to deal with whatever comes our way. I've been training for this. So, where to next?"

"Cut it out, Frederic." he grumbles and leaps forward in order to reach the kid, before Frederic can release his sticky projectile and tries to turn the kid towards Morris, the moose.

Matt matches his gaze, equally serious.

"Exactly."

He turns and walks away, keeping an eye out for Sophie

EXT. MIDDLEBURG COMMUNITY CENTER PARKING LOT - DAY

Matthew quickly spots Sophia across the street. She is talking with a man in his mid-to-late thirties who is dressed like a survivalist/militiaman. She hands something, then walks away, pulling out her phone. The man follows her, seemingly pleading with her. At this distance, Matthew cannot make out what the man is saying.


INT. MIDDLEBURG COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL, GROUND FLOOR - DAY

Bob doesn't seem to be in a good enough shape to be moved. Eshe takes her staff and approaches the wheeling turtle/crawfish/thing to try and push it away. When she extends her weapon, the turtle grabs it with its claw and pulls. Eshe stumbles forward and the creature snaps at her with its jaws. Eshe braces herself and pushes, but the creature's grip is strong. Her staff slips through her hands as the turtle goes careening down the corridor. It stops a few meters away, still clutching the staff in its grasp and waving it around haphazardly as it thrashes.

OOC for Eshe:

INT. MIDDLEBURG COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL, SECOND FLOOR - DAY

Mangas lunges forward, but he is a bit too slow. Frederic spits a stream of ooze, which splashes over the much bigger man. It stings, like acid, and starts to seep through his skin and into his body.

Mangas grabs Frederic, easily overpowering the child. "Nooooooo! Release me! The unjust ruler must be vanquished! The Sovereign demands it!" Frederic cries out as he struggles to free himself. In another context, it would have seemed like something an innocent child would say as part of a make-believe game.

As he squeezes to keep the child from escaping, Mangas finds himself struggling to breathe. The air is just so... dry. He's suffocating.

The deer throws itself at the classroom door again, and it finally breaks. Inside, Miss Fruschetta shrieks, backing away towards the windows.

OOC for Mangas:

"What.. Ruler?... What... Sovereign?" Mangas gasps for air, struggling to keep Frederic under control. "Hold still... Why... Don't... You... Spit... On... Rudolph?" he turns the boy towards the deer and squeezes him and the spit sack, hoping to spray at the boy's companion and thus stopping him from harming the teacher.

Mangas squeezes Frederic's neck sack, but the child is struggling, so his aim is off. The ooze sprays over the deer, and hits Miss Fruschetta instead. She screams in pain as the acid stings her skin, then starts to gasp, struggling to breathe.

The deer lines her up and paws at the ground like a bull getting ready to charge.

Frederic cackles. "Now the unjust ruler dies!"

"Hey! No! That isn't yours - bad murder turtle!" Eshe scolds the turtle while taking a quick look at Bob.  Against all odds, the janitor looks even more wan than before and the Chosen worries that he'll not last much longer without first aid. Thing is, first aid'll be pointless if snappy remains a threat. She figured that it was only a matter of time before her staff provided it with the leverage it needed to get back on its feet.

The claw looks too mean for her to tangle with without her weapon, and so Eshe looks in the hallway, hoping that something might be of use. "Sweeet!" She exclaims, hefting her weapon.

"Hey, Franklin! Cool it!" Eshe assumes the faint groaning coming from Bob is in appreciation of her terrible pun, as she sprays the turtle with the fire extinguisher.  Between the cold and the displacement of oxygen, it had a good chance of slowing the thing down long enough for her to finally help Bob.

"Rrrroooaarrr!" Anger washes over Mangas, let's him forget the gashing wound on his back, forget the choking toxin on his skin. Why is he thrashing so much "Look what you did!" with another roar he throws Frederic towards the deer, as if the boy were a puppet. A cracking sound echos through his skull and a pressing, yet pulling sensation tears his face apart. He grabs a chair, flings it at the wall, where the small piece of furniture explodes into splinters. His upper body feels heavier, he has troubles to stay up straight. The small table in front of him gets kicked into a random direction disappearing in a cloud of burst wood. Somewhere he hears the sound of tearing fabric.

Miss Fruschetta has troubles breathing, pain pumps though her veins. The surreal scene in front of her blurred by tears she feels her consciousness slip away. Is she already dreaming? She must be. Where the large man just stood, an enormous bear appeared, struggling with pain, a large gashing wound on its back, its fangs bared. Now the bear sprints towards the deer. This has to be a dream. She faints a slumps down on the floor.

INT. MIDDLEBURG COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL, GROUND FLOOR - DAY

Eshe tries to hurry applying first aid to Bob, but his injuries are extensive. He has lost a lot of blood and patching up the large gash in his chest proves to be quite an undertaking. She focuses on the task in front of her, ignoring the sound of the turtle still lazily spinning on its back, the sound of fighting from upstairs, the roar and crash and screams.

By the time she's done with Bob, the second floor has gone deathly silent.


INT. MIDDLEBURG COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL, SECOND FLOOR - DAY

Mangas easily tosses Frederic into the class. The child bounces off the deer and flies to the back of the class, hitting the wall before crashing to the ground next to some low shelving units. Each cube-shaped space is labeled with one of the class' kids names. On top of the shelves, about three feet from the ground, is a large aquarium. Though filled with water and decorations, there are no fish in it.

Mangas sees it from the corner of his eye. It looks so enticing as the dry air scratches his throat with every pained breath. But then, he crashes into the deer. His claws and teeth scratch at the animal's chitinous carapace, but barely seems to scratch it. The deer pounds him with its paws and attempt to gore him with its antlers, but it is off balance and doesn't manage to do more than superficial wounds.

After a brief tangle, the bear and the deer separate. Mangas tries to get back up on his legs (paws?), but he struggles. He can't breathe, his vision is swimming and blurring, his balance is shot. He knows he will soon pass out and then, the sweet release of death will follow.

OOC for Mangas:

Frederic gets up from the ground. He looks scared, tears running down his face, as he takes in the scene. "Miss F?" he squeaks as he sees Miss Fruschetta take one long rasping breath, then slowly exhale and stop. Something changes in Frederic's eyes: the transient innocence gone. In an instant, he is back to how he was moments ago.

"Our work here is done. The unjust ruler is dead and her hound will soon follow!" He climbs onto the deer, and gets ready to flee.

Through the haze of pain and anger, Mangas knows the child is wrong. There is still a chance, but time is fleeting. He will not be able to both stop Frederic's retreat and save Miss Fruschetta, and doing either risks his own life.

Another AKA wrote:

"Oh hey Sophia, can't talk long. I have to go keep Bob from bleeding out. How are things on your... What the hell? Can you hold on a sec Sophia?" The last sentence is a bit muffled as Eshe shoves her phone into her pocket and fishes out earbuds.  She prefers headphones, but in tactical situations, they often ended up broken.

"Sorry about that, I need my hands free to go deal with the spinning murder turtle." Even as she said the words, Eshe knew how weird she sounded, but weird was just part of the job. "How are things on your end?"

"Uh? Alright—" Sophia ignores Don for now and focuses on Eshe. "Do you need back? All good here, well no, I didn't find anything. Have no idea where to go, bu by the sound of it should wherever you are?" She doesn't lower her voice or anything so Don or anyone passing by could easily overhear her if they paid enough attention.

Struggling for every molecule of air, Mangas vision blurs. The desperation calms his fury, which slowly turns to despair. He starts rubbing his fur to get off the toxin, but he cannot get through the thick layer of hair. It has to come off, but how?
Suddenly it hits him. Summoning the strength left in himself, he stands up and starts patting the large glass container. It is very heavy, but slowly budges. Millimeter by millimeter it edges to the edge of the shelf. After an eternity it reaches a tipping point and a large splash of water washes down on him. He catches the container and pours the remaining water over Miss F. The empty aquarium falls off his suddenly limp arms, all strength has left him. He did all he could and he gives into the sweet relieve of unconsciousness. "Eshe..." , he croakes. During the whole turmoil he completely forgot to call for her. Was she ok? Where did the turtle go?

"Yeah, backup would be good. We are at the Mid-Bob! Hey, hey, don't fall asleep on me now." Sophia hears a man groan weakly, sounding pained and annoyed. "Yeah, I know you're tired, but you have to stay awake.  Sophia, we're at the Middleburg Community Charter School. The sooner you and Matt can get here, the better. Damn it Bob!" Eshe continues to bully and cajole the man into remaining conscious until she can be sure that he is no longer at risk, leaving it to Sophia to either stay on the call or hang up.

Once Bob is out of the woods, she stands for a moment, taking in the scene before her and finally realizing how quiet the school had become; Bob's labored breathing and the turtle's shell grating against the flooring were competing for the honor of being the loudest sound in the eerily still hallway.  It would seem that the ruckus upstairs was over.  But then, if the fight was over, where was... "Mangas!" She exclaims. She had been so focused on Bob and the turtle, so sure that the big guy could take care of himself... 

Holding firm to her faith in Mangas' abilities and to her bemused acknowledgement of the fact that he would get really weird if she made a fuss, Eshe remains calm and turns towards the stairs.

INT. MIDDLEBURG COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL, SECOND FLOOR - DAY (Mangas, Eshe, Miss Fruschetta)

As he reaches for the aquarium, his rage subsides as his survival instincts take over. His fur recedes and his paws change back into hands.

Mangas' insight proves correct. Once covered in water, his breathing comes easier. Getting Miss F drenched yields similar results, and he can see her chest start moving again. He looks around and sees the Frederic and deer are gone.

When Eshe bursts into the room, she finds Mangas sitting in a puddle, his clothing torn and wet, a deep gash very similar to Bob's on his back. Miss Fruschetta also lies in the puddle, breathing with some difficulty, and has yet to regain consciousness.

In order to keep breathing, Mangas and Miss Fruschetta need to be kept wet at all times. As soon as they start drying up, their breathing becomes belabored again. As time goes, the effect seems to lessen, but for now, they are still vulnerable to the toxin's effect.


INT. MIDDLEBURG COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL, GROUND FLOOR - DAY (Matthew, Sophia, Don Sheffield, Bob the janitor)

Matthew and Sophia take the SUV and drive to the school. Don follows in his lifted pickup truck, which is covered in stickers about aliens and the Illuminati, and flies both the American and Gadsden flags from poles at the back of the cab.

Inside the school, they find Bob, pale from blood loss, but patched up and still breathing. Eshe's staff lies on the ground further down the hallway, but the there's no sign of the murder-turtle the Chosen of the Tricksters had described to Sophia.

Don scans the hallway through his rifle's sight, covering Sophia and Matthew as they take in scene, "in case the aliens come back to finish the job".


EXT. WOODS - DAY (No PCs present)

Cody, Katie, and Rob make their way down the path. Cody is complaining about the bugs, as usual. No matter, they almost made it and Hayden always has the good shit.

The three teens emerge into the clearing. "Yo, Hayden, what's u-... Why are you hanging out with kids?" Rob asks. His question goes unanswered. Instead, his eyes go blurry and the darkness takes him.

As the teens are lost to the dream, the monster's understanding grows again. It's finally clicking into place. It knows what it needs, now, to bring this world to heel.

"You stay with this man and we will look for our teammates."
Sophia says to Don as she walks to take Eshe's staff, she takes out her phone to call and see if she can hear Eshe's phone. At the same time, she looks around for any sign of blood or anything that could tell her what had happened here.

Matt had briefed Sophia about the area of interest and of the so called "kook" caller as they made their way to the school.

Handgun drawn, he followed and covered Sophie.

"I got your back Sophie...."

Taking the stairs two at a time with ease, Eshe arrives at the upper landing and makes a beeline for Mangas.  While his clothes have seen better days and he looks a bit worse for wear,  she breathes a quiet sight of relief at seeing him not only alive but conscious.  "Hey.  It is good to see you," she says, a lopsided grin tugging determinedly at the corner of her mouth. "Once we have gotten Bob and Miss Fruchetta out of here, you've gotta tell me what the heck happened up here. Oh, and we should update Matt and Sophia," she pauses as her phone vibrates. "Speak of the devil. Hi Sophia!" Eshe exclaims. Sophia and Matthew can easily hear her voice from within the school and it [/color]does not take long for the group to find one another within the less than labyrinthine halls of Middleburg Community Charter School.

Once together, the hunters ensure that both janitor and teacher will survive their respective ordeals, debriefing the duo as thoroughly as they can given the circumstances.  All that remains is to go over what they have learned and figure out their next steps and for Mangas and I to get a change of clothes Eshe thinks ruefully, looking at the traces of Bob's blood on her own clothing.  It was hard to believe that they had not yet been Middleburg for even a day. 

Mangas' head is throbbing. Incredulously he looks at his once again human hands. How did this happen? How did he loose control? Has the curse finally caught up with him? He looks up and sees the petrified Mrs. Fruschetta staring at him. "What did you see?" , he croaks. She just stares at him. "WHAT DID YOU SEE?" When the teacher flinches and cowers back even more, the big man adds slightly calmer "It's important."
"There was... A deer... A turtle... That boy, he looked like Frederic... And the bear..."
"No bear. Forget the bear! It was just me. I chased them away. The bear was in your head. There was no bear, you understand?"
"No bear. Yes. Maybe you are right... Even though I could have sworn you... were a bear..."
Mangas hears steps running down the hall, towards the class room. With hurried eyes, he looks over his shoulder, then back at Mrs. Fruschetta and stares at her, hissing "Do NOT mention the bear."
She nods silently.
"Ok, now who might this hound of yours be?"

Miss Fruschetta scrunches up her face as she thinks. "I don't know. I don't have a dog." She looks Mangas up and down. "Maybe he meant you? You came to my rescue, you were also losing your breath at the time and you're... hairy." Mangas thinks about it and it makes sense. Frederic was looking at him when he said it. In the confused mind of an enthralled child, it could have made sense.

Mangas goes over the day with Miss Fruschetta. She spent the morning informing parents and children that the school was closed until the kidnapper situation was resolved, then she set to do some work in her class. She heard a commotion downstairs, then saw Frederic and the two strange, mutated animals come up the stairs. She takes a moment to pontificate on the dangers of pollution and the need for better environmental controls. She says Frederic yelled something like "Unjust ruler, your time has come! The Sovereign commands it!" She got scared so she shut the door and locked it. Luckily, the doors had recently been reinforced in case of active shooter events, so it managed to hold until Mangas arrived to save her.

Miss Fruschetta's account doesn't provide much new information, but it helps confirm some of Mangas' observations. Based on this, he is able to formulate a list of the Monster's capabilities:

• Mind control: It is able to put people and animals under its spell. So far, it has only affected children, meaning its ability might be weak.
  
• Mutation: It is able to modify the body of its minions. The turtle had a massive claw, the deer had a chitinous carapace, and Frederic had a venom pouch. It may be able to do the same to itself.
  
• Poison: It stands to reason it also is able to excrete the poison that Frederic had. The poison makes it so you cannot breathe air, but can breathe underwater or if kept very moist.
  

Whatever it is, this "Sovereign" seems to prefer avoiding putting itself in danger and prefers sending out its minions to do its bidding. Based on what Frederic was spouting, its knowledge of the human world seems to be limited and expressed through the lens provided by its minions.

Tying her damp, freshly showered, curls into a tight bun, Eshe joins the team, "Alright, I'm good to go. That teacher's aid would have probably freaked out if we had showed up covered in blood, regardless of whose it was."

Between the four of them, they had worked out that Miss F's Teacher's assistant had likely been the first to find the creature and that it currently had its lair somewhere in the woods to the northwest.  It was now just a matter of finding out whether Melinda Grouse had any other information for them before they went geared up to track down their quarry, and (most importantly) save the children.  

They pile into Matthew's car and go to the Grouse residence. Grouse HouseEshe chuckles to herself.

EXT. GROUSE HOUSE - EVENING

By the time the Hunters pull up to Melinda Grouse's House, Don following in his lifted pick-up truck, the sun has begun to set, painting the sky in rich tones of pink, purple and orange.

The house is unremarkable: a simple bungalow built from the same template as the Morris' house. The Hunters make their way up the steps to the landing and ring the doorbell. After a few minutes, Melinda Grouse opens the door.

The teacher's aide is a short, young woman. She has dark, frazzled hair, heavy bags under her eyes, and is weary a bathrobe, a loose dirty T-shirt, baggy pyjama pants, and worn brown slippers. She smells like she hasn't showered in a few days.

When she sees Matthew, her tired face lights up. "Are you with the FBI?" she asks. But then, she sees the other Hunters and Don, and she goes from hopeful to crestfallen. "Oh, you must be volunteers. I haven't seen anything new, everything's fine here. Thanks for checking in," she says robotically, her dejection obvious in her tone. She starts closing the door.

Eshe reaches past Matthew and places a firm grip on the door.  
"He's with the agency, we are free agents." She gives the teacher's aid her more 'trust me, I'm a professional' smile, leaning in slightly. "You have to understand that when cases are... let's use the term 'tricky', it is nice to have plausible deniability," with a tilt of her head towards Don, she adds "Layers of it, when possible.  So, would you like to be heard and taken seriously or would you like to keep waiting and hope that someone else will eventually want to use the information that you have to save the kids?"

INT. GROUSE HOUSE - EVENING

Confusion, then understanding. Melinda Grouse nods sagely. "Right, of course! Come in," she steps back inside, leaving the door open. The Hunters notice a 9mm pistol in the hand she had kept behind the door. The teacher's aide was scared and being careful.

The Hunters follow her into the house. The inside is a mess. There are dirty plates on shelves and tables, discarded clothing on ground... Her couch is covered in notebooks. She grabs them and looks around for a place to put them down. Not finding any, she drops them on the ground out of the way. Her laptop is open. She snaps it shut, but before she does, the hunters catch a glimpse of a webpage showing pictures of various sea monsters.

"Sit wherever you like," Miss Grouse says, plopping herself down on an armchair.

Eshe sits on an arm of the couch which is largely free of the wreckage of Miss Grouse's life. The state of the home and of the teacher's aid were hallmarks of someone struggling to cope with the supernatural. People reacted to it differently, including like this: a laser focus on understanding the phenomenon to the exclusion of everything but the minimum required to stay alive.

"Tell us about the goldfish that you won at the... " Despite having debriefed one another before coming here, Eshe had not made the connection between the Miss Grouse's gold fish and her vision until that very moment; the jostling, the confusion, the carnival music. I was the goldfish! She clears her throat, and looks apologetically at Miss Grouse. "Ah yes, at the state fair."

"Ah, yes, the "fish"," Melinda says, chuckling mirthlessly. "I should have trusted my gut. First time I saw it, I thought it looked... wrong somehow. I brought the bag up to my face," she says, miming the action. "It didn't look like what I thought a goldfish ought to look like, but I never had one. Fish are weird, I told myself." She shrugs. "Maybe I'm just used to how they look on TV."

She pauses and shivers. "It stared back at me and I thought: 'it looks angry. No, not angry. Indignant'." She scoffs. Eshe remembers how she felt during her vision. Indignant describes it very well. "I laughed at myself. It's just a dumb fish, I'm just projecting or something. So I brought it home."

"I didn't want a pet. Taking care of the children is enough for me. I like to take care of myself when I come home. I figured I'd bring the fish to the class and teach the kids about responsibility by having them take turns feeding it, cleaning the tank..."

She pulls her knees close, curling up on herself. "I slept terribly that night. I had a nightmare where I was underwater, swimming through a maze of dense algae, trying to find my way out. When I woke up, my sheets were soaked through. The fish, which I'd put in a bowl on my dresser, was staring at me. I moved it out into the kitchen. It was creeping me out."

"The next day, I brought it to school. God, how could I have been so stupid! It's all my fault!" Tears start to run down Melinda's face. Eshe grabs a nearby tissue box and hands it to the teacher's aide. She takes it and wipes her face. "Thank you. I'm so sorry. I'm a mess." She takes a deep breath.

"Where was I? Oh, yes. The kids were ecstatic. They all wanted to feed it, argued about names, started planning how to decorate the aquarium... We came up with a schedule. The next few days were normal. Somewhat. The fish grew fast. After a week, it was four times its size. I heard the kids talking about strange dreams they'd been having. All a bit different, but all underwater. Like mine. And all of them about trying to find a path through or to something. Like mine."

She shakes her head. "I didn't think much of it. The fish was new and it was occupying a lot of their attention. It was normal they'd have dreams that were inspired by it. That all changed when Bobby went missing. And the fish. Both were gone. Bobby sat just in front of the aquarium. He'd been falling asleep in class over the previous few days."

Melinda stands and starts to pace, getting agitated. "I should have connected the dots. I should have seen this coming. I should've have flushed this damnable fish down the fucking toilet!"

She plops herself back down on her chair. "Instead, because I wasn't willing to entertain that something... unnatural... was happening, Bobby is... dead. And a bunch of my kids are missing. When it finally clicked, I called the tip line. I told them what happened. They got angry at me. Told me not to waste their time and seek help." She looks lost as she relives the despair she felt that day.

Melinda looks up at the Hunters and her expression softens. "But now you're here. Someone else knows. Someone who can do something about it."

"We're going to deal with his," Eshe says, "but we need to know how. Did you see anything that hinted at any sort of vulnerability?"

Melinda thinks for a moment. "One time, Charlie grabbed it and pulled it out of the aquarium. The "fish" fought like hell to get out of his grip. In the struggle, Charlie cut it, somehow. Kids. Anyway, we got him to put it back in the aquarium, but when I looked to see how badly it was hurt, the cut was gone! At the time, I figured I hadn't seen it properly, but Charlie had fish blood in his hands. Maybe exposing it to air? Making it dry? It might be a mutant or a monster or something, but it is still some sort of fish, right?"

Sophia nods and makes some notes then start thinking about how the photos showed them carrying something in a red wagon. "Are there any close sources of water? Like a pond or a stream? It needs water so it probably will try to keep close to one. Then she turns to Don, do you think the kids in the photo could have been dragging a fish tank in the wagon?"

Melinda gestures helplessly. "Take your pick. The whole county is crisscrossed by streams and dotted with ponds and lakes. You'd have to narrow it down somewhat."

Don pulls out his phone and starts looking for the picture. Eventually he stops, then uses his fingers to zoom in. After a little bit, he shakes his head. "There is something in there, but it doesn't look like a fish tank. I suppose they could have filled the back with water to keep the alie-... uh, the "fish"... wet." He puts his phone back in his pocket. "If we go to a local hardware store, we could pick up some industrial sweeping compound. A bag'll soak up a puddle in no time. If it's in a pond or a lake, though... well, we'd need a lot of bags."

"Yeah, well first we need to find it but it seems it might be coming to us if we stay here." She says looking at Melinda, they have the right lure for this fish.

When the group reaches Melindas house, Mangas does not stick around for her answering the door. People often don't react well to his... aura, and given the recent developments, he does not expect Melinda to be too excited about the likes of his. He grunts something undecipherable and walks around the house to the backyard, or whatever was behind the house. The kids, monsters (in this case they are literally the same, not just figuratively), had mentioned they'd come for the help next. If they aren't here yet, they will be soon. And Mangas will be ready. After sweeping the area behind the house, he sits in an old camping chair he found on his sweep, house to his back and stares into the distance. His trusted shotgun lies ominously on his lap.

That's a really good idea Don. At the same time we should get one of those fertiliser spray things and a bunch of ethanol or acetone. On top of its drying effect, it's flammable and presumably being on fire would dry it out." She laughs.

"As for where to find it, Matt didn't you find info at the FBI saying that the kidnapper... the fish... Did the kids name it? 'Mr. Fin-ly' would have been cute name... Uh, where was I? Right, didn't the feds figure that it was probably to the northwest, in that large wooded area. Where there's, like a stream with dense vegetation, or something, no?"

Matt nods.

"Thats right. They had notes regarding the northwest area. A large wooded area, as well as a stream surrounded by dense vegetation that flows into down. Seems like a likely place for a creature that wants to stay hidden and stay wet."

He had been slightly out of it, thinking through the various things they had learned so far.

"And good idea with the drying stuff. It might also pay to get some respirators or masks of some kind if this thing is using poison."

He ponders for a moment.

"I wonder if we could possible get the upper areas of the waters for that area temporarily damned..."

Eshe nods at Matthew.  "Good call on masking. We could get those painter's jumpsuits and masks, minimise skin exposure to the poison. They tend to be loose enough that we should be able to get one that fits Mangas... Who is still outside." She walks to the back of the house and slides open the patio door to give Mangas an update.
"We've got most of a plan sorted. Just need to buy some stuff from a hardware store... and a toy store." She eyes him carefully, estimating at his measurements. We should also keep some water guns with just water, she decides once realizes that even the largest jumpsuit would leave Mangas with a lot of exposed skin.

"Alright, we have a shopping list and an idea of where to strike. Time to get moving!  Melinda, thank you very much. We will be able to stop this thing because of you."

We get a montage of the Hunters shopping for supplies:

We see them empty the shelves of nail polish removers at a local pharmacy while a stockboy looks at them quizzically.

We see them load bags of sweeping compound onto a platform cart at Home Depot. An employee comes to ask them something. Don rebukes him, but Eshe stops the employee and asks him something. Cut to the Hunters piling containers of ethanol on top of the compound bags.

We see the Hunters at a toy shop, checking out the water guns. While the others argue about which to get, Mangas sighs, then pushes a cart along the shelves, using his arm scoop them all into the basket.

We see a smash cut of the Hunters at the cash registers of each store. Every time the cashiers tells them the total, they all turn to look at Matthew, who looks increasingly annoyed each time, before reaching for his wallet.

We see the Hunters in a motel room, filling the guns with the liquids. As Sophia pours acetone into a water pistol, it starts to go soft in her hand, the chemical melting the plastic. She pulls on Eshe's sleeve with a puzzled look on her face. When Eshe sees, she jumps to her feet yelling and gesturing at everyone to stop, her reaction a bit out of proportion with the risk.

We cut to the Hunters walking in slow motion as they leave the motel, supersoakers filled with ethanol strapped across their backs or hanging from straps under their arms, colorful water pistols tucked into their pants, carrying weed sprayers filled with the corrosive acetone, and lugging big bags of sweeping compounds.

EXT. WOODS - NIGHT

The Hunters bring their vehicles to a stop at the end of a small dirt road that lead to the wooded area to the northwest of town. In the light cast by their headlights, the vegetation looks so dense as to be a virtual wall of leaves and branches. Crickets are chirping and, once the truck and SUV's engines have been turned off, the Hunters can hear the sound of a bubbling brook nearby.

It doesn't take long for Mangas to find the stream. Following it should be easy, but doing so in the dark will prove troublesome. The Hunters face a choice: go in (mostly) blindly, or risk exposing their position by using flashlights to see where they step.

Sophia nodes. '' Darkness first, flashlight once everything hits the fan." Sophia makes sure the flashlight strapped to her head is secured before continuing. She isn't scared of taking point, better that way so Mangas can hit them with everything he is got.

Mathew pauses as they are unloading from the car, before taking a moment to also slip the grenade launcher over his shoulder and tuck it behind him.

For when the shit hits the fan...

"Also lets stay close and in near each other. We don't want to become that cliché where somebody suddenly disappears and nobody notices."

Oblivious to the ridiculousness of water pistols and gardening equipment, Mangas walks the woods with surprising grace, despite the darkness. It is obvious that he spent a long time in the woods (How long? How old was he?) and knows his way around. He does not float through the thicket soundlessly, like some native people are said to do, but next to his companions he is barely audible, which is double impressive, given his physique.
"No light." he half whispers and continues deeper into the woods, following the creek.

EXT. WOODS - NIGHT

The hunters follow the brook into the thicket of trees. They can hear crickets chirping, the gentle bubbling of the water around their feet, and the distant sound of cars. In the relative quiet, it feels like they're making a racket, but Mangas knows from experience that they are doing pretty well and probably cannot be heard from more than a few dozen feet away.

After about fifteen minutes, Mangas stops as he hears some noise coming from ahead of the group. Something large is shuffling around the vegetation, but in the dark, he can't make out what. Without some light (or shifting into his bear form), it will be hard for the Hunters to see what they are facing.

OOC (click here):