Episode 2 - Turning Mirrors into Windows

Matt taps the others on the shoulders, bringing them to a halt.

He stays still and listens around them, filtering out the teams breathing, a hand trick he picked up, and focusing on the other sounds around them.

Patience...

Matthew closes his eyes and focuses all his attention to his hearing. He can make out the sound of two creatures ahead.

From one of them, he can hear the sound of low-lying branches scratching against some sort of rough, hardened material. Its footsteps are light, though, and even.

The other's steps are uneven and heavier. Three of them sound similar, but the fourth is different. It sound larger and creaks slightly as it moves.

Matthew deduces that these two must be the deer and tortoise that Mangas and Eshe had tangled with earlier that day. From what he can remember of the others' descriptions, the tortoise is the biggest threat, it's massive claw capable of disemboweling a man with a single blow.

He keeps listening at the sound of the wind blowing through the trees' branches. To the Hunters' right, the sound is lighter, like there's a gap in the foliage. A game path, perhaps? It might allow the hunters to avoid a confrontation with the animals, but navigating it silently will be very difficult in the dark.

Matt taps the others on the shoulders again and makes gestures they remember, close enough that they can see them.
Two fingers. Taps ear. Points towards the creatures direction.
Circles his finger in the air. Points hand towards the gap. Finger to mouth.

Sophia nods at Matt and then follows the previous plan they have set for this situation, separating into two groups. With Matt and Eshe on one and Sophia and Mangas on the other, if needed the two of them would call the attention of the enemies to give an opportunity to the other more squishy members of their team to make the distance between them and the enemies.

They try to avoid any contact and keep an eye on them to see what they do next.

The Hunters follow Matthew's lead and head down the opening to the right of the brook. They walk slowly, careful not to be heard by the mutated animals guarding the approach.

As they pass what they estimate to be the midway point, Eshe's foot sinks into the mud. She loses her balance, reaching up to grab a branch, but it slips through her fingers and smack Mangas, who was coming up behind her, in the face. Between the squelch, the shaking of the branches, and the sound of the two Hunters, the mutants seem to have noticed.

To their left, the hunters hear the uneven tread of the murder-turtle as it rushes towards the commotion.

Sophia keeps going down the track, getting well out of the turtle's path. Matthew doubles-back and pulls Eshe out of the mud. Mangas feels the rage building inside him, but he clamps down on it as best he can and falls back down the path with the Chosen and the Agent.

The murder-turtle emerges from the foliage where the Hunters had been standing mere moments before. It begins to pace, looking for the intruders, and cutting off their path forward. The mutated deer has stayed near the brook, and is still guarding it.

Mangas looks at the turtle with the large claw and his eyes flare. That thing again... He grinds his teeth, tries to surpress the anger, but first a snort, then a grunt escape. Then he starts running towards the turtle, his arms pushing away branches, his stare focused only on the turtle. As he closes in to his oponent, he bends his knees, then pushes himself into a leap, his enormous hands entwined to a hammersized fist. With all of his momentum and force he brings down the fist towards the turtles head.

While Mangas' fists come down on the murder-turtle with a brutal crunching sound, images of Bob's gaping chest wound flash before Eshe’s eyes. Not happening!

Sprinting forward, she arrives at Mangas' side just in time to be on the receiving end of a sweeping blow from the claw. "Oh, that's going to leave a mark," she chuckles through gritted teeth.

As Mangas comes crashing through the bushes, Eshe hot on his heels, the murder-turtle pivots and lashes out with its massive claw. Eshe jumps in the way and the monster opens a large gash on her abdomen.

Mangas' fists come crashing down on the turtle with a sickening crunch. It hits the ground, but immediately starts picking itself back up on shaky legs. It looks like it's still got some fight in it, but not much.

OOC for Eshe:

From its position in the stream, the mutated deer can clearly hear the commotion. It begins to scream.

Matt immediately pulls his sidearm out and fires at the turtle like thing.

It was worth a try...

"Change of plans. Loud and proud!"

Matthew takes aim, trying to parse out friend from foe in the violent melee unfolding in the darkness before him. He sees the reflection of the moonlight on the blood coating the murder-turtle's claw. His finger squeezes the trigger.

For a split-second, the scene is lit by the muzzle flash. Mangas, his teeth bared, the rage inside him twisting his features. Eshe, tumbling aside to avoid the turtle's next swing, blood spraying in an arc from the air from the gash on her abdomen. The turtle, half its head crushed, blood and brains oozing from it, bringing it's claw down towards the Hunters with murderous intent.

Matthew's shot passes right through the gap left by his colleagues in that moment, and blows the rest of the turtle's head off.

Stunned silence, for a second. The deer has stopped screaming. Its cervid instincts taking over whatever commands the monster had put in their place, it skitters off down the stream.

As Eshe tumbles to the side, pain starting to wash over her, a bright flash and deafening bang light up the scene and for that fraction of a second it seems to her as if a large bear, baring its teeth stands over the turtle.
Then it's dark again.

Having smashed the turtles head, Mangas sees Eshe appear right next to him and the turtles arm slicing through her clothes into the flesh. Blood sprays and a thought sparks in the back of his rage fogged brain. Eshe!
Then the scenes lights up in a flash and he can sense the turtle sinking lifeless down to the ground.
Eshe He leaps after her to see how hurt she is. It's bad.
He sinks down to his knees next to her, holds his hands gently on her wounds and starts humming a chant under his breath. He closes his eyes and bends down his head, as if deep in thoughts. The wound is worse than it seems and Mangas has to share some of his life force with Eshe, to heal it. A piercing pain shoots through his arms and he groans. After he finishes his spell, he slowly lifts his hands, opens his eyes and looks at Eshe.
I did this again, with my darkness. I am dangerous to everybody around. How long until I kill someone?

Eshe had read somewhere that the human body could not detect wetness, which was funny to her, because the blood running down her side certainly felt wet. She can hear the turtle dying; it is a sad keening, and eerily human. Wait, am I making that sound? 

Her body is folding forward of its own volition; an atavistic protective movement. 

She is briefly aware that she cannot tell whether the encroaching darkness is from the dazzling muzzle flash, or her losing consciousness, but cannot seem to care.   When Mangas arrives at her side, she lets herself collapse into him; standing had been so hard.   His deep humming is soothing, figuratively at first, and then quite literally.  

She opens her eyes at the sound of him groaning when had I closed my eyes?, and is able to groggily intuit what has happened.  When Mangas opens his eyes, he catches Eshe looking at him in admiration. "Thank you," she says tremulously before clearing her throat.  She gives him a crooked smile and continues in a strained, but cheerful voice, "The next time I go to run straight at a monster, remind me of this." 


She straightens up with a groan, and looks him over, frowning slightly. 
"Here, let me." She gives him a look that says this is not open for discussion, and does what she can to return the favor using more mundane means. As she works, Mangas can just about recognize the chant that he had used, softly hummed in Eshe's bright soprano (as best as she can recall). It bears none of the arcane power, but all of the care.

Don makes his way to the murder-turtle. He pulls out his phone, turns on the light and takes a few pictures. "I knew it," he mutters, "I fucking knew it. The boards are gonna go wild..."

Once he's done, he makes his way back to the others. He looks at Mangas and Eshe, concern etched on his face, barely visible in the moonlight. "You two can head back if you're too banged up. The three of us can finish this," he says with a nod at Matthew and Sophia.

Eshe waves Don off with an appreciative smile. As if she was going to stand down when they were so close. And if she wasn't going to back off, she doubted very much that Mangas would be any more open to the idea. "Helluva shot Matty." She says in a hushed tone - belatedly and perhaps futilely remembering that they had been hoping to use the element of surprise - and clapping Matthew on the shoulder. "We've got some kids to save. Let's get our bearings and get'er done."

As Eshe gently pushes him down to the ground to check him out, he feels the warm wetness of blood on his abdomen. During his charge the wound from earlier in the school must have opened again. He leans back and lets Eshe reapply the bandages she had earlier placed on his wound. Did she notice anything? His bandage did not only slip, but also rip in places. He remembers the hairy claw he saw where his hand should have been, when the flash of Mats shot lit up the night. The transformation must have been only partial and brief, but it had definitely been there. What if she saw? Will they hunt me?
When Mat suggests that they stay behind he shakes his hairy head and grunts a disapproving sound. In an effort to underline his refusal, he gets up, a bit too quickly and a small wince follows the grunt, as pain shoots trough his body. I made it several centuries, I'll manage another night... "And leave you the fun part? I don't think so. "

Matt takes stock looking around.

"If people are too hurt, stay here. I'm going to let the person in charge of this operation what's happening. Patch up and take break while i make the call. Lights on. Surprise is no longer an option."

He flicks his light on, checking the way the other creature seemed to go.

Taking out his mobile he calls Agent Sorreyo.

It takes a few rings before Agent Sorreyo answers. "Agent Leons. It's pretty late. What do you want?"

"Whether you like it or not "spook" stuff is happening in that forest to the north. My team are engaging. The turtle beast thing at least went down with standard ammunition. We suspect the main creature may require water of some kind. At the very least, send an ambulance. One of our people is hurt. Keep others out of the area. If you dont hear from me again, there is a contact number in the black SUV. Contact them and explain the situation. They will deal with it."

Matt hangs up the phone and switches the sound off.

"Lets get this sorted."

"Let's!" Mangas pulls one of the Super Soakers into his hands and pumps it, like his shotgun. Then he starts walking further down the creek.

The Hunters pick themselves up and set off into the woods.

After about twenty minutes, the trees become sparse and the stream becomes a large pond. The Hunters carefully approach, taking the time to look for sentries or traps, but they find neither. They make their way closer.

The edges of the pond look a bit off, like there's some sort of residue that has washed ashore. Using a stick, Eshe pulls some of it out. Mangas recognizes it as the same kind of ooze Frederic spat at him.

On one side of the pond, they find a crude firepit and some logs that have been set up in a circle around it. The muddy ground seems to have been churned by recent activity, but whatever has done it is gone.

"Damn." She looks at the others sheepishly. "Between If I hadn't rushed in and gotten slashed up, maybe... Well there's no point moping now." She sniffs at the ooze and wrinkles her nose.

"Some kind of ritual? Or just making camp in an extra gross way?  We need to figure out what exactly they were doing here, and where they've gotten to."

Eshe begins slowly walking around the pond, looking for footprints, the tire tracks from the wagon, or any other sign of the "fish" going into or away from the body of water.

The moon is almost full and, in the clearing, providing enough light for Eshe to get a decent view of the pond and the area surrounding it. She finds some tracks leading out from the pond: some made children-sized feet, and another by something the size of a dog dragging itself along the ground, presumably the "fish".

A few feet away, the "fish" tracks end and the tracks of the wagon begin, along with a few more made by larger human feet: adults or teenagers.

She follows the tracks and finds another path out of the clearing. If her sense of direction is correct, it's heading straight towards town...

Matt grabs his phone out and sends a quick message to Agent Sorreyo.

"The spook, a fish thing and at least 2 others heading towards town in some kind of wagon."

Matt puts his phone away, and looks for the tracks.

"Don, we need you to head back to the vehicles and head into town. If you can flag down the FBI agent, all the better. Just keep an eye out and try not to get killed."

He looks to the team.

"Hope everybody kept up with their cardio."

After a few moments to stretch, he waits for the others to ready up before taking off at a run, following the tracks.

When Matthew starts running, Eshe is not far behind.

A wagon isn't exactly a high speed conveyance, so she is hopeful that if they go at a good pace they'd be able to catch it in time to stop the '"fish" from... from doing what exactly? What was it doing with the kids, and now adults? The fact that its cadre was growing in size and age range was disconcerting, but there was nothing to do until found the darn thing.

Eshe picks up her pace to get slightly ahead of Matthew.
"Heeeere fishy, fishy, fishy!" Her voice breathless with laughter rather than exertion, she glances over to see if he would remember the Sesame Street t-shirts that she had worn far too often a life time ago.

For all that this entire case was harrowing, and that her body was screaming at her to stop and rest, Eshe is elated.   There was nothing that compared to this moment: they were being honest to goodness heroes.  By choice, she added with a mental nod to Mrs Horton.

Mangas tries to follow the others, but the wound in his side throbs and prohibits him from running faster than an accelerated walk. He forces himself to go faster, to keep up with the others, but quickly they are out of sight. He wants to be faster, has to be faster. He closes his eyes in an effort to will away the pain and when he opens them he finds himself running on all fours. He is faster and it hurts less.  It worked , but then he sees his hands and almost misses a step. His hands are enormous paws and his arms thick and hairy. He immediately knows what happened and veers off into the woods, off the path his friends are using.  They must not see me like this!

DonQwaf wrote:

"Don, we need you to head back to the vehicles and head into town. If you can flag down the FBI agent, all the better. Just keep an eye out and try not to get killed."

Don scoffs. "The FBI wouldn't know an alien if it burst from their chest. They'd probably say it was a tapeworm. But you..." he eyes Matt suspiciously. "You work for an Agency that deals with this shit. I wanna know who, or I ain't playing ball. I won't be kept out of the loop."

***

The Hunters hurry down the forest path, their ears peeled (and nostrils flaring where Mangas is concerned). Soon, they can hear the squeaking sound of an axle in need of grease and see the beams of flashlights through the trees. They close their own lights and creep closer.

They can see two children and a teenager bringing up the rear of the "fish"'s convoy. They are taking turns turning around and looking down the path for signs of pursuit. Wherever the cart is it's not lit, but they can see the light from a couple more flashlights a few feet ahead of the rearguard. The "fish" is most likely somewhere between both illuminated zones.

"I can draw and hold their attention," Eshe whispers to Matthew, trying to keep her voice lower than the squeaking. "That way you all," she looks around realizing that she does not see her friend? Yeah, we're definitely buds! anywhere. Trusting that he will catch up shortly, she continues, "can get within range to pelt the 'fish' with our gear if needed... Maybe I can talk it down." Before anyone can balk at her hesitation to harm the thing outright, she adds, "It worked with the gremlins. What do you think?"

While she waits for an answer, she peers into the inky woods again, straining to try and see Mangas.

Mangas approaches the trek under cover of the dark trees. The woods smell intense of soil, the last rain and bark. He can hear the treks whispers and rattles clearer than his distance to it would normally allow.
Looking to his left he can see Mat and Eshe behind the trek, as he approaches it from the flank. On silent paws he gets close enough to see them creep forward and then stays and waits.

Before taking off, Matt turns and stares at Don, his tone of voice pissing Matt off to no end.

"Then leave. I appreciate your help till now, but if you are going to sulk because you don't get your way, when peoples lives are in danger, then my organization wouldn't want anything to do with you anyway."

Matt turns and starts off. following the wagon tracks.



****

At Eshe's line from sesame street, he turns and smiles,

"Here fishy fishy indeed!"

****

As they see the entourage and lights he slows.

"We don't know how controlled those kids are. We dont want to hurt the kids...but it might be the best way. Take out the fish as soon as we can..."

DonQwaf wrote:

Before taking off, Matt turns and stares at Don, his tone of voice pissing Matt off to no end.

"Then leave. I appreciate your help till now, but if you are going to sulk because you don't get your way, when peoples lives are in danger, then my organization wouldn't want anything to do with you anyway."

Matt turns and starts off. following the wagon tracks.

Eshe stares at Matthew in disbelief; it wasn't as if Don would be able to find anything out about the organisation. Unless he was curious about Catholicism or Warhammer 40k.

As Matt turns, she can tell that he'll be sprinting any second.
"Custodes. They’re very well organised and even better at keeping things off the books. Now, Don please head back to town - we need a man on the ground there." Eshe rattles off quickly and quietly. . "We're counting on you Don," she ends with a nod; just in time to sprint after Matthew. She knows that she should be annoyed with both of them and their ridiculous egos, but is too pumped on adrenaline and only finds the entire situation amusing.

****

DonQwaf wrote:

"We don't know how controlled those kids are. We dont want to hurt the kids...but it might be the best way. Take out the fish as soon as we can..."

Eshe nods. The last thing that any of them wanted was to see the kids get hurt.

"Okay. I'm going in. Be ready to focus on the fish."

As everybody is focused on Eshe, an enormous bear steps out of the forest. It has unusually bright eye and saliva drips from its fangs. Then it stands up and opens its mouth and roars so loudly one can feel it in the bones.

Her initial approach had been a bit rough, having  of course tripped on a root. But once recovered, she had drawn their focus with a quasi-preternatural charisma.

“I would like to say that I come in peace, but I do not know that for sure. Release the children and surrender!” The roar punctuates her last word, and Eshe wonders which one of her patrons she could thank for the minor heart attack she just had.

As Eshe stumbles through the small strip of forest between her and the fish creature's convoy, her companions can see small lights emerge from the foliage as she passes. These motes fly behind her, giggling with glee as they follow the Chosen to her confrontation.

OOC:

When she emerges from the woods and issues her challenge, a dozen will-o-the-wisps hovering behind her and casting eerie light into the small clearing, the Hunters are finally able to lay their eyes on their foe. Barely able to fit in the small wheeled wagon is a monstrous-looking fish the size of a large dog, with an uncomfortable number of eyes and tentacles. It and its minions, four children and three teenagers, all with visible marine-inspired mutations, stop and stare in confusion at the Chosen and her fae entourage.

The bear bursts out of the woods and roars, breaking the spell. The fear response in the children/teenager minions' brains seems to override their mental condition and they scatter, running off into the forest, screaming in terror. The fish monster lashes the air angrily with its tentacles as its servants abandon it.

Sophia comes rushing into the clearing, her spear held high and crackling with lightning as she prepares to skewer the fish, but she suddenly stops in her tracks. She wheels around and points her spear at Mangas, her eyes unfocused. The Hunters hear a voice echo through their minds: YOU WILL MAKE MUCH BETTER SLAVES THAN THOSE PITIFUL CHILDREN. TOGETHER, WE WILL FORGE A MIGHTY KINGDOM IN THE DEPTHS.

Sophia lunges at the bear. "For the Sovereign!"

Eshe is outraged at the idea of that thing having its psychic mitts on Sophia. She snatches a water balloon from a makeshift bandolier, brings her knee up for the windup, and sends the balloon flying with a follow through that would impress many a local soft-ball league.

"Suck it Flipper!"

One of the fish's eyes swivels to look at Eshe. It rears back and makes a noise akin to a dry-heave, then spits a glob a mucus at the Chosen. She gasps, her breath shortens and she starts to struggle to breathe, the air feeling incredibly dry.

Eshe's balloon catches it in the face. Its smooth, catfish-like skin immediately begins to dry and crack. The creature hisses, its tentacles lash around itself angrily, then plant themselves in the ground. The fish, gasping, begins to pull its cart towards Eshe and Matt.

OOC:

As Sophia charges, the bear roars again. Then it bends over and seems to shrink. Then Mangas stands up and shouts, with a raspy voice: "Sophia, no!" Then, as she comes close, he reaches out for her spear, grabs the shaft and pushes it past him. Then he ignores her, starts spurting forward towards the fish, pumping his Super Soaker, ready to shoot as soon as he is in reach.

Mangas quickly gets within range of the fish monster and sprays it with the chemicals in his water gun. The liquid hits the creature's dry skin, but, unlike the first time it was exposed to it, it doesn't seem to have any effect. It appears to have made the creature vulnerable, but killing it will require more... traditional methods. Mangas drops the Super Soaker and cracks his knuckles.

OOC:

Behind him, Sophia wheels around and charges back towards him.

Seeing the dry, vulnerable skin Mangas shouts "We have to hurt it, where the chemicals hit!"

Matt had watched everything happening. The huge bear appearing and scattering the children and then changing into Mangas, Sophia suddenly turning on Mangas, Eshe gasping for breath and the fish thing squirming after being hit by the water.

As he takes in all that is going on, he hears Mangas words.

With a fluid motion he draws his sidearm and starts scooting at the creature, standing his ground as it crawls towards him.

Matthew's aim is true, but the fish's skin, though dry and cracked, still seems to provide it with some protection. The monster grunts in pain, but keeps on coming, its cart's wheels squeaking from the strain. It lashes out with one of its barbed tentacles. The blow lifts Matthew off his feet and sends him flying into the shrubs lining the trail. The fish charges into the gap between him and Eshe, as it tries to head down the path towards the pond.

OOC:

"We must not let it get to the water!" Mangas charges and closes the gap between him and the fish. With his fist he tries to hit the dry spot on the fishes skin.

Mangas' fists connect with the abyssal fish's dry skin. Some of it flakes off and sticks to his knuckles. The monster's blood oozes from the cracks, leaving a trail behind it. The creature's tentacles lash at him, their barbs scoring deep gashes in his arms and legs. One of them hits him in the back of the knee. Mangas topples over and falls onto his back. The fish continues its mad dash, pulling itself away from the large, unnaturally strong man.

ooc for Mangas:

Sophia passes by the gasping Eshe as he charges towards Mangas. She stops as she reaches his prone form. She raises her spear, crackling with lighting, as she prepares to skewer the fallen werebear.

With her heart's desperate bid to keep her body oxygenated providing a frenetic EDM soundtrack to the fight, Eshe moves to divert Sophia's blow with her staff.  "Gut… The… Fish…" She manages to wheeze through gritted teeth.

Sparks fly off of Sophia's spear as Eshe's staff connects. The Divine whirls around, using the momentum, and thrusts her weapon at the Chosen. The holy spear passes clean through Eshe's torso, it's tip bursting out of her back. She gasps and stumbles backwards. Sophia blinks in shock, the act of skewering her friend snapping her out of her daze.

"Eshe!" she cries, rushing forward to catch the other woman as she tumbles to the ground. Her horrified expression turning to confusion as Eshe's body turns into a mess of twigs, leaves, and moss...

+++

A few seconds earlier...

Eshe, gasping for breath, sees Sophia rush towards Mangas as the large man is toppled by the evil fish thing's tentacles. She wills her legs to move, to push her towards her friends before one kills the other, then frowns as she sees... herself? ... emerge from a nearby bush.

The Eshe changeling charges forward, adeptly blocking Sophia's downward stab, before getting skewered by her skillful riposte...

Matt watches the chaos unfolding in front of him and nearly loses his focus seeing Eshe....turn to leaves...

Focus....

He takes a breath and opens fire again at the fish.

Matthew looks around. He sees Eshe gasping for breath, remembering Mangas in a similar situation and how keeping him moist had allowed him to breathe. He sees Sophia, shocked as she stabbed Eshe's trickster trouble, snap out of the fish's mind-control. If they could shock its other victims similarly, perhaps to could break the spell on them too.

He searches the vegetation for his quarry, but between the vegetation, the darkness, and the fish's mad dash to get away from the Hunters, he's lost sight of it. His training kicks in and he holds his shot rather than firing blindly.

Mangas vision grows blurry. Pain pulsates through his limbs. He realises he is back in human form Enough!
He forces himself up and starts rushing after the fish. After the fish and towards the water.
Enough is enough!
He tries to grab one of the tentacles and pull the fish back away from the water, towards the others.

There is something deeply disconcerting about seeing herself run forward, made all the worst when her botanical self is skewered by Sophia's spear. Eshe draws a shallow, shuddering breath; her sclerotic lungs struggling valiantly to take in enough air. It was a terrible feeling, but at least they had come prepared for the world's saddest wet t-shirt contest.

The water pistol was not the most effective tool, but she made it work - the important thing was to get back in the fight.

Eshe sprays herself with the water gun. With every squirt of the plastic piece, her breathing starts coming in easier and easier. By the time she's caught her breath, she's lost sight of Mangas and the Fish. Sophia has made her way to her side.

"Are you okay?" she asks, concern and bewilderment wrestling on her face. Before Eshe has the chance to answer, a roar echoes through the woods, filled with rage and pain and... something else that sends shivers running down the Hunters' spines.

+++

Mangas rushes through the forest. In front of him, the "Fish" barrels forward on the cart's squeaky wheels, its tentacles pulling it forward at a breakneck pace. It uses the last of its strength to plant its rear tentacles into the ground and launch itself the last of the way.

It emerges from the treeline like the General Lee jumping over a creek. It plunges towards the pond, its salvation finally within reach. It pulls its tentacles out of the earth, getting ready to pull them in close before hitting the water.

One large, hairy hand closes around its left appendage. Veins bulge as it squeezes with superhuman strength and pulls. The fish lashes out with its right limb, plunging its barbs in Mangas' open wounds and twisting. With a roar, the werebear pivots, swinging the fish creature by its tentacle in a wide arc back towards the woods.

Its body hits a tree. Its skin splits and tears with a wet, sickening sound. It comes apart pieces of it flying through the branches and leaves, the monster's blood and entrails staining the vegetation with their ichor.

Mangas falls to one knee, blood pouring from his chest, still clutching the torn off tentacle in one hand.

I... never... even saw... the ocean... he hears in his head as the head of the fish exhales its last breath.

OOC for Mangas: