15025/Hunting things that go bump in the night...

Hunting things that go bump in the night...
Date of Scene:	02 May 2023
Location:	NYC - Hell's Kitchen tenements
Synopsis:	Chasing one more infectee into the dark of Hell's Kitchen. Discoveries were made by various individuals.
Cast of Characters:	Arana, Sinister, Lucifer

---

Arana has posed:
Ana Corazon is here because of human sacrifice. She's gotten a tip about a CULT!

Seriously, this is one of those days. She heard from not one, not two, but SEVEN different people! On the street! It's got to be true, right?

"So got to be true. I can not spend another Tuesday watching dad's Red Dwarf marathon."

She's also talking to herself.

With some music in her earbuds (nice, bone conduction. Got them cheap even.) she looks down an alley, all 'whoosh' and 'didn't see me!'. She moves past, then looks down another one.

This is Hell's Kitchen right? If there's a place for a cult, this is IT.

Sinister has posed:
It's a weekday. NYC never sleeps. It's rounding the clock at nine, which means the night is well under way. And this? This is hell's kitchen. It's got it's own street level crew and a certain sort of people that live here -- usually they're the ones that can't afford to live anywhere else, or they're the ones that picked here in particular for its degree of both the ties that bind... and anonymity. If anything the gangs of Chinatown taught the NYPD in the 70's and 80's is that you don't talk, unless you really know who it is you're talking to. It takes grit to live here and the whole place is a tough nut to crack, often enough.

It's unforunately also a place where people can't quite crawl out of and tends to be a place to try and hide, for that exact reason.

Luigi's pizza is on the other side of this Alley and frankly, if there was going to be a Cult of human sacrifice, this might be it, it's got vibes out the back here and a series of derelict and boarded doors connected to it.

And currently, it has a darkclad figure staring into the window of one of those boarded up spaces, peering down into the sub-basement where stairs lead down into who knows what. Given the costume, it might be a superhero, or it might be something else. "This was it. I got this far, then lost them..." That in NO WAY sounds ominous at all. Sinister also appears to be talking to someone...

Lucifer has posed:
Next to the possibly superhero clad non-superhero person is someone who is not in any way shape or form in a superhero costume. Lucifer is in simple tee shirt and jeans, blonde hair slicked back, green eyes a bit darker so they don't shine in the lack-light. He watches as Sinister peeks through windows and gives a little smirk. "Not like you to lose a target like that. Do you know if they went into the building or...the basement or something?"

He turns and walks the few steps it takes to peek into the neighboring building's window. "Do they have any sort of signature that you can trace? Or pick back up?"

This really is one of those two shady figures hide in an alley way and whisper among themselves about people in basements. What could possibly be going on?

Arana has posed:
Oh, did I forget to describe my outfit? Well, with two divas like this in the room I should get on that. Lose my girl card at this rate...

Anya Corazon (pronounciation version) is wearing her classic Dora the Explora outfit! She's got on jeans, which fit like jeans, and a tank top with a SPIDER on it! Black on white, so you can see stuff. Also, a backpack. So, all in all, not your best dressed fashion model spider-girl but you can at least see her buying groceries in this rather than super-stuf.

Pff.

That being said, all that description gives Ana time to turn around, slap her typist across the head, and then catch sight of what's going on around her. She frowns, getting back into character, and then looks over both of the guys' shoulders curiously.

"Hey. 'Sup?" She's turned off her song, since Freddie Mercury might be a bit too awesome for this moment. Or not, I don't judge.

Sinister has posed:
"I'm honestly now sure how I did... it's like they obfuscate..." voice right there "...d." Sinister straightens, looks first at Lucifer, then over his shoulder at Ana's profile and then down a bit, as he apparently was looking clean over the top of her head. He's a tall fellow, with a CAPE. That cape by the by has a mind of its own, the ribbons it's made of ripple even when there's no breeze and almost seem to sniff the air at times. "Well, hello." A blink of volcanic flame red eyes and he looks from Ana to Lucifer and back to Ana once again.

"That just happened, didn't it..."

Yes, yes, it did. "What is up, is the name of the game. As noted, usually it's radioactive traces. But that faded and I have a rather worrying feeling that this one just might be meta." One what?

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer blinks and then raises a brow. "Well that's not very helpful now, is it?" Asking the obvious question just as the voice behind them appears. He turns, eyes shifting over the form at the end of the alley, then look to Sinister and back again. "Evening..."

"I do believe that did just happen. Sort of both out of nowhere and everywhere..." His head tilts in a curious fashion while looking the other figure over.

A chuckle finally comes from him as he takes a step forward. "Nothing that a young thing like yourself should fancy getting involved in. Dangerous games get played out here in the Kitchen. You're best running home and pretending you didn't see anything." Though the mention of being meta has Lucifer curious again. "Like it's already become what we're hoping it not be?"

Arana has posed:
Given that Ana, with her complete lack of knowing what the heck's going on, still hasn't gotten anything that constitutes a straight answer, she honestly has no idea that anything untoward IS happening! Or evil, or you know, even suspect. So, you know. She blinks a few times and shrugs.

"I gotcha," she says, nodding noncommittally. Which is a lot of letters for a word that actually means nothing of note.

Then she frowns, not having gotten them in the slightest, and looks at the cape. Which is kind of awesome. Then she looks back to Sinister, and Lucifer, and visibly pauses.

"This isn't part of the cult thing is it? Because I had a job to do and there's way too much going on around here these days for me to try and handle it all at once. I got enough on my plate already."

Which is a very convenient 'out' if the two want to take it, but really? That easily? Low hanging fruit much?

Sinister has posed:
"You know, I don't think that's going to work..." the red eyes fall on the spider on the T-shirt which could mean nothing at all, but given where they're at? The chances are relatively low on that. "Well." Straight answers. "It might be the cult you're looking at, if people have been disappearing and the grapevine does such things as amplifying everything to be six degrees of separation from the point of origin. We're hunting someone that's become very badly infected with something you -really- don't want to have to deal with on a Tuesday. Particularly if you've got enough on your plate and are stuffed already. But I'll bite." He looks back at the darkened window of the basement for a shrewd moment, then back. The cape twitches irritatedly and several of its 'snakes' point at the shuttered door, up and around, like they're looking at it.

"An alien life-form landed in New York City and it has so far infected six people that I know of. I have five of them in custody. There's one that was supposedly around here and they may be very violent, very dangerous and very deadly. And they might eat people, I've never been quite clear on that, but the process -does- take a lot of energy."

Sinister shrugs at that. "Probably best =not= to test that in the lab, eh? I could get into trouble." This toward Lucifer.

And back to Ana. "Are you in any way, invulnerable? Tough to get teeth to penetrate? Liable to come over all ravenous, violent and alien if bitten?"

Lucifer has posed:
Most of what Sinister is saying and asking is towards their sudden companion and so Lucifer is more paying attention to the cape-snakes. Their interest in the shuttered door now has Lucifer wondering and he moves towards the boards to tug on them a bit. Perhaps see if they're loose, or maybe not even secure at all. Or are as secure as when the place was boarded up.

It's really hard to say.

"I likely know a few people who could be rid of this mortal coil and no one would miss them." Lucifer says this so dead panned that it's very /very/ hard to determine if he's being honest or making a joke.

Most would hope the latter. Sinister - at least - may believe the former.

Arana has posed:
And Ana believes whatever is in her little head. Which is not remotely up to the challenge of matching wits with these two august personalities.

Did I note that Caesar Augustus was a bit of a knob head? The origin of the term. Not saying that either of them is, don't kill me.

"I try not to answer questions which will put me into immediate and deadly peril," Ana says, which answers literally everything that both of them asked, though indirectly. "Not entirely certain that this is where I belong anymore, I'm gonna just..."

She uses both hands to point, toward the exit of the alleyway, and nods once firmly. "I'll send help, if you need it. Proooobably shouldn't have just walked over and intruded into your funtimes to start off."

To be fair, that statement from Lucifer was super creepy, and she isn't sure how to process it aside from calling 911. Which you don't do while the perps are watching, kids. Dial smartly!

Sinister has posed:
The planks. The planks -look- like they're integrous. No really, they do, the illusion of fixture is quite solid until one comes away with such little effort that one can see there's only a couple of nails holding them in and broadly. The rest have been bolt-cutted, so they look like they're there on the outside and not on the inside. The cape-snakes snuffle into the hole, even as Sinister is looking at Ana with his head on one side, studying her slantwise across his nose in a shrewd fashion. The red glow of eyes narrows, as he says something that rings as an imperative to both of them. It's got some mental clout to it, it has:

"<<DUCK>>"

He goes down into a crouch himself, into the rather classic superhero landing as a body catapults through the hole like it was spring loaded, knocking a couple more planks off and lands on the fire-escape opposite. It looked like it was wearing shredded clothes and had one extra arm. Just one. Not two. Just one. And its head was the wrong shape, more... ovoid looking? Anyway, it scrabbles up and onto the nearest roof in record time, as rains of splinters land on...

A red forceshield that appears to have manifested over the top of them, with a flare of Sinister's eyes. "Well, I think that answers that question doesn't it? We have a contaminated escapee."

Lucifer has posed:
The shield was likely slower than the creature destroying the wood of the door. Splinters have imbedded themselves, in various sizes, into the form of Lucifer. Still, the Devil doesn't blink. Instead he looks over at Sinister and the other one before looking back in the direction the creature fled. "Right. And it's already reached phases of mutation." He sighs.

"Very well then. I'll be right back."

Before protests could be had, wings of glorious white emerge from Lucifer's back and in a couple of flaps he takes to the skies following the mutated creature. He can likely keep up with the creature and it won't take but a thought to try and ensnare it somehow - another thing he'll try to do. Capture first. Questions later.

Arana has posed:
Ana? Ana tries valiantly to duck fast enough, her reflexes oh-so-...

Uh.

What's the word for when you're pretty good but not really anything to write home about, in a world where there are super-beings? Oh right, thats it. Lame.

She does manage a valiant backflip which almost has her hit her face on the red forceshield that appeared to protect her, but is only stopped from doing so by her back and shoulders taking the brunt of it instead. She lands ...on her feet, which is weird, but overall that's a clear 2.3 out of ten.

The mexican judge abstains out of preference.

"F*cking ow!" she says, rubbing her face, which makes even less sense, and then she looks for the attacker. She drew no weapons, which means very likely that she HAS no weapons, but hey. You get what ya pay for.

If only you both weren't distracted! There's so much oh I'll just tell you. She has enhanced balance. No fun at all like that though.

Sinister has posed:
"Of course, I'll be right there..." Sinister calls as the white-winged one flies up. And fast. It's to be noted that mutants can gain fast speed with their wings, it's been viewed many a time. When you're actually dealing with a real angel, those things can flip you from heaven to hell in a matter of a few cosmological twists and turns. And he's had them a long time. Quick? You betcha. "I am going to suppose you can't fly..." The forcefield does not vanish, but it does bubble up. Around them both even and as it does so, great balance will be important because where one can levitate himself in the middle of his own bubble, kinetic force and the wonders of gravity might make that a little harder for Ana not to be pushed against the side /again/.

He probably ought to measure how fast he can go, but he never has yet. Suffice to say, it's quite quick the ascent, enough to make the ears pop and they're rapidly above the roof, just high enough that the bubble bursts and deposits the mexicali lady ... on her feet? Probably. "Apologies," the becaped one notes, casting eyes about for the white-winged one.

And he'd be over there, on the opposite side of the roof to the person. Quick eyeballing says that she was a young woman and probably still is one, but she looks a lot like one of Ridley Scott's Aliens got into the Fly's teleporter and got unfortunately spliced. SHe is hissing, clawing with the extra arm and snapping at the air with sharp teeth at being accosted by Lucifer.

"Word of caution, they're incredibly tough, they've got an exoskeleton -and- an endoskeleton. You might have to bang her into something repeatedly to make her pass out..." is called. And under his breath "...the archangel seems to have a handle on it, shall we say....stay out of his way? Capital plan."

Lucifer has posed:
Exoskeletons means he won't do much harm to the actual person within the symbiote if he uses hellfire chains. Perfect. Those whip into existence from practically nowhere and lashes out to wrap around the one he's chasing.

**WHAM-BOOM** Into the ground doth the angel fling the bound creature while flying in to make sure he's in closer proximity. Pulling back on the chains, he bangs 'her' into the ground once more, and a third time for good measure before whipping her into the side of the closest building. The building will be fine, right? She might not be.

"C'mon you pestulant pain in my ass. Konk out for a little while. It'll be alright...I promise..." A fourth, and perhaps final, whack-a-girl-into-brick happens before he slams her back onto the ground and moves to place a foot on her chest. "You done? Yeah?" She doesn't seem to respond. Not even a twitch. Good.

'I think I got her...' Goes to the mind of the snake-caped one.

Arana has posed:
Wait did he say 'archangel'?

Also. 'Bang her into something'? Really? I'm looking at you, Sin. Oh wait, the name means something! Of course. Now I feel dumb.

With one foot propped (yes, standing safely) Ana watches the goings-on quietly. Mostly because this is so far over her head you likely don't even know, but the rest is because she's thinking, hard.

"Doesn't look like he really needs help, I gotta admit," she says gently. "Maybe yours. Force fields?" She's probing, but only on the stuff she's aware of. Which is probably fair.

Sinister has posed:
"I think you got her. She's not moving, check for a pulse, that should be in the normal place..." a hand outstretched to the side though, gains that same red glow as the bubble he'd made; a just in case things get lairy again. "You know, that was quite a sight to behold. Never gets old..." He looks pleased, fond even. Smiling! And then sobriety kicks in and he clears his throat. "She should revert at ..." -- and there it goes, the monster becomes a young woman, maybe in her early twenties, wearing the tattered remains of a metallica t-shirt, jeans and DM's. None of it looks new though, likely a runaway. She's out cold and bleeding slightly from her nose.

"I think you can let your foot up now," called with a cupped hand. And to Ana he looks again. "Well, we did say. Alien infection. You seem... vexed."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer lets his foot up and looks down at the now-human version of who he was chasing. The blood coming from her nose has him worried a bit, and he does kneel to make sure she still has a pulse. Once that's all done, he moves to lift her up threshold style and flies up and over to where Sinister and Ana are standing. "I would say all in a nights work but this is a little outside my pay grade. You want me to get her to the..." He stops himself and glances over at Ana. "If you need me to take her I will. Or we can stand on top of the roof like a couple of vagrants and wait for the not-cops to show up. Someone's bound to call in the sight of a winged creature lashing at a monster looking thing."

He smirks.

"Also, what are we gonna do about Witness A over here?" Motioning to Ana then.

Arana has posed:
Ana Corazon lets her foot up. She does not seem vexed, but she does seem confused. So she waits for the two to talk, and kind of hilts her thumbs into the loops of her jeans. Nothing really much to see, she doesn't seem either panicky nor upset.

"Is she gonna be alright?"

A fair question. And one that should be much more terrified given the situation. Which she seems to realize, adding, "Oh, don't worry about me. I used to be possessed by a spider-god. This is not the weirdest thing I've seen lately."

Sinister has posed:
"We'll have to get her over there soon, yes, but I think she'll be out for a while. That was four knocks --" Sinister considers, looking over the young woman in the archangel's arms with an attention that suggests he's a doctor. "She has some internal injuries, but they'll heal, quite quickly." Under his care. A check of her abdomen and a note of a few bruises in a particular pattern and he nods to himself, looking from the girl almost as a second thought, with a glance to Ana. "I'm sorry? Possessed by a spider god? I heard that right, didn't I?" The confirmational regard is to Lucifer. "You sense any residual?"

With another look to Ana, casual as she is. There's a press of lips. "No, she will not be alright. The best I can currently do for her, is to stop her getting worse. There's no easy cure and it's highly contagious, if there's a chance that she's a ..." don't say it "...princess. You know that's not a good term. Junior Queen? I don't much like that any better.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer pauses. Switching gears is easy enough, and he looks Ana over, up and down, before his brows raise. "Yes. Risidual. Small amounts...but...it seems like it met a very violent end with you...the way it lingers. Don't worry, only mystic types could tell and most would have a hard time figuring it out." He offers all this and then grins. "And while you're free from the possession, you still have powers of some sort, don't you?" Asking this, but only because he's curious. He'll save other things he knows for a rainy day.

"To put it plainly. There's no way she'll survive because she's hosting a rather nasty alien parasite. Unfortunately, there's no cure for it, no way to reverse it, but we can stop it from getting worse and...let nature take it's course." Then he looks to Sinister. "I'm going to take her...just in case she wakes up faster than we anticipate."

Arana has posed:
"I call them baby-makers," Ana says about princesses with visible distaste. "Princesses were not well treated by history, Disney notwithstanding. Your job was literally to not die long enough to easy-bake an heir, and then you were expendable. Gotta love history." Which is fair, if a bit dark.

But then, the conversation turns and Ana looks, in turn, surprised, defensive, and then horrified. In that order. "I'm not...not anymore.." she says. Then, when lucifer continues, she shakes her head. "Just some...I mean, I can stand on one foot..." Which is...underwhelming.

Then, the girl. Wow, that's a lot to respond to in one story beat.

"I mean...hey. I know, that..I mean..." There's not much to SAY, so she says it anyway. Then she sighs, and asks one thing.

"Maybe I can talk to her a bit, before she dies?"

It's not enough.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister listens keenly to Lucifer's observations, looking shrewdly again, to Ana. Very shrewdly. "You survived..." he muses on that. "You actually may be able to help her. If you are willing to submit to a battery of testing... and that will give you the opportunity to say goodbye, if I am unable to be the man for the task." His lips firm up, looking altogether austere for a moment, then with a mild cuss beneath his breath, he takes out a card from SOMEWHERE in his cloak and proffers it over. It has a single phone number on it and a ... well ain't that a thing... a singularly recognizable logo, too. A red diamond with EC. The symbol of Essex corp, an international giant in R&D, weapons, medical research, real estate (mostly clinics and hospitals) and easily the rival of Lexcorp and Wayne Enterprises.

"Decide overnight. If you want to give me an answer, you can reach me there."

And with that, the man turns and flies up into the sky, chasing the white of wing.