7963/Fox Hunt 2.0

Fox Hunt 2.0
Date of Scene:	19 June 2019
Location:	Westchester, The Bronx
Synopsis:	The newly crowned Nemean goes hunting for prey, revealing a secret to Alopex and Pippi in the process.
Cast of Characters:	Nemean, Alopex, Pippi

---

Nemean has posed:
Winterfall Dojo in the Bronx has probably seen better days. But it's still running, still holding classes for underprivileged youth. And still having a blind master as the teacher.

It's been days since Cody Garrett went missing, and months since the last time he was here, but despite the clouded memories that were forced upon him when that damned fox force fed him the mutagen, he remembers her telling him she was using this place as a hide out.

Several Foot Ninja are on the roof of the warehouse overlooking the dojo, but among them is a new face. The dark furred lion mutant had been given a contingent of Foot soldiers after he had agreed to work with the man who had saved him, and had been kitted up with some of the latest equipment that they had on offer. 'Nothing but the best.'

Once the last of the children had gone home, and the front door was locked, he looked to the others, "Stay here. I have no doubt they are inside, or at least will come running soon enough. Do not engage them unless I give specific orders. Or I'll tear your throat out."

He jumps off the roof and lands on the sidewalk with a hefty thump, before walking across the street to the front of the dojo. He grips the handle of the door, and rips it off of the hinges, "Good evening, old master. I am looking for a resident of yours. I do so hope she's here."

Alopex has posed:
    The kids have all gone off to their homes, the teachers cleaned up, and Master Winter is working on closing up. Just as he's headed for the door, he hears the door ripped clean off its hinges. THat's a problem. He had been warned, even after his 2nd floor tenants moved out, to keep them on speed dial just in case. Considering someone just came in and knew the pair had been there, the only thing he has time to do in the moment before the new mutant comes in, is take the phone off the hook and hit one button.

    Once Nemean can see Master Winter, he'd see an old man, kneeling at a small table, as if waiting for fate to decide what would come next. "I don't recognize your tone, nor your gate. However, if you know of those two, I will tell you now. They are no longer here. You have missed them, and you are welcome to look for them if you wish to waste your time."

    On the other end of that phone line, Alopex hears some key words, grabs The Shard and any other gear she can grab in a moment's time, and speeds for the surface.

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi had seen Alopex take off past where she'd been practicing some katas, but the minute the fox passes by the hound was at her heels.

    She didn't even have to ask, there were only three things that could have made Alopex take off that quick, and two of them weren't good.

    Pippi tails behind, wearing a tee and her cut-offs, and having brought no other instrumnents of destruction looks to be utterly unarmed.

Nemean has posed:
"I'm not going to kill you. Unless you do something stupid." Nemean replies, as he looks at the old man. He's not one to kill a defenseless old blind man, "I'm sure you won't mind me looking around for evidence to make sure that's true."

He turns away from the old man, though keeps an ear open in case, as he looks around the dojo. He sniffs the air a bit, but he's having a hard time parsing the enhanced senses that have come with his mutation, "Hmm."

He does spot the phone with no receiver, and walks over to it, pulling the cable out of it before turning back to Winter, "Well now. What's that saying about old age and treachery? Get out of here. Now. Before I change my mind."

He moves back to the dojo proper and leans against the wall facing the torn off front door, waiting.

Alopex has posed:
    Winter rises, giving a shrug. "You can't expect someone like me to not try and defend myself somehow, can you?" he asks before making his way for the door. "Third mirror from the right. Opens like a door, stairs go to the second floor. You'll find where they were staying, but you'll find it is quite empty now," he offers before going out the door. Quietly he hopes the lion believes him. He'd rather not have his dojo destroyed if he can help it.

    Upstairs? ... well, there may be a surprise up there for Nemean depending on if he dallies long or not. She's crossing rooftops and making leaps in rare form, but does spare an occasional moment to check on Pippi. "Someone's attacking Winterfall," she explains at one point. It's all the motivation she feels Pippi will need.

Pippi has posed:
    "-- /Winter/!" Pippi had gasped out, and picked up the pace. She makes her own graceful leaps, running low and face, bouncing over AC units and HVAC vents like it was her life's work -- she might even outpace Alopex, stronger-than-normal legs slinging her off a roof as she gives a growl.

    Who could it be? Foot? Delta?

    ... one of the Gothamites who had decided she was a threat?

Nemean has posed:
The lion snarls faintly as the man tells him how to get upstairs. May take a while for them to get here, he may as well poke around. He goes to the mirror and opens it, taking the stairs up to the second floor. He'll sniff around, see if they left any clues as to where they might be. After all he may have called the cops or something instead of Alopex. And that would be an unfortunate situation indeed.

Alopex has posed:
    Once Nemean has made his way upstairs, he'd find just what was described to him by Master Winter. An empty room filled with scents of food and two individuals, one fox, one canine. If Ex-Cody can recognize such things in his new state, however, is yet to be decerned by Alopex and Co.

    As for Master Winter, he has wandered across the street, slid into an older looking car, and is calmly waiting for *THUNK* that to happen. "I'm alright, but there's someone inside. I told them how to get upstairs."

    "Stay here, then. Pippi, go in from downstairs, I'll go in from the window upstairs," Alopex instructs before dashing across the street, taking a breath, and then she quietly starts to climb up the fire escape.

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi lands beside the car, and gives a chipper tap to the side of the car to let Winter know she's there as well, a little tail wag at knowing the venerable martial arts teacher is okay.

    She gives a nod up to PEx, and with a look accross the street to make sure no one was coming, she makes her way accross, tip-toeing into the front door.

    Man, whatever ripped this off its hinges?

    ... it's gotta be strong.

Nemean has posed:
The ninjas on the rooftop send a radio alert to Nemean that his prey has arrived. One coming in from the bottom, one coming in up top, "Good." He replies, "Stay put. I will handle this."

He opts to keep his weapons in their respective sheaths and holsters, for the time being, turning his back to the window and waiting, listening for the window to open.

He pretends like he's rooting through stuff, so he looks like he's distracted. It's dark, even with Alopex's night vision he'll blend in with the darkness really well.

Alopex has posed:
    Despite it being an older building, Alopex still can climb the escape without a sound. It was in her muscle memory where to step and how heavy she could to scale the building without a squeak. ... Plus a little WD-40 didn't hurt things either. When she does reach the window, she takes a moment at one side and then she slowly turns the proverbial corner to peek inside. That.. is a form she doesn't recognize. Sure, it's dark and whoever is inside seems to be the same, but there's no telling just what this is. Koya? Bludgeon? ... With the mutagen stolen it could be something new entirely. She'll be paitent, for the moment. In this instance, Pippi's strength may turn out to be the more useful of the two's abilities..

Pippi has posed:
    Nemean can't hide from Pippi's nose, however. She takes it slowly, drawing to the mirror-stairs and up, her head tilting. She takes deep breathes, trying to work out just... just what she was smelling. It wasn't familiar.

    So when she draws up, she pushes the top door open with a foot, letting it swing silently.

    No matter what, she decides, first trick was to get where they couldn't wreck stuff.

    After that?

    No Holds Barred.

Nemean has posed:
The scent was new. This wasn't something they'd faced before. He seemed to be getting bored digging through the stuff, pretending to search for something he knew wasn't there. The one responsible for all this was just outside.

His anger gets the better of him, as he turns around and draws the gun on his right thigh, aiming at the window and putting two shots through it, shattering it.

"STOP HIDING!" He roars out. The leonine form is highlighted briefly with each muzzle flash from the weapon, before vanishing back into the darkness, the upper floor room filling with the acrid smell of cordite. They'll have no choice but to respond to that.

Alopex has posed:
    With the fox barely looking around and into the window, when the sudden movement starts, she pulls back. The shots fired causes her to wince, ears going back as she listens. That isn't Koya or Bludgeon. She remembered them both from the Museum. Damnit. Shredder made another with the mutagen he stole. "How could I possibly be hiding if you know I'm here?" Alopex calls out. "You can either come after me, or you can keep looking for things that aren't in there. Didn't Winter tell you we left?" She doesn't mention Pippi. No point in him knowing he's outnumbered. He might find out in a moment..

Pippi has posed:
    Oh. He's gonna find out real quick.

    Pippi winces physically at the guns, her eyes going wide with each rapport. She narrows her eyes, the smell of cordite filling her nose and blocking out the familiar scent of what was, however briefly, 'home'.

    She narrows her eyes, and as Alopex calls out, she pauses, keeping low. Her eyes narrow, her lips draw back into a snarl as her ears draw up and back, her tail stiffening, and as she errupts from the doorway, her hands togehter in a volley-ball serve, she swings upwards at the bottom of Nemean's hand and calls out:

    "'Pex, I don't think this one heard of the 'no kill' rule either!"

Nemean has posed:
"I knew you'd come, Alopex." The figure in the dark calls out, "You had to come finish what you started, huh?" He hears the movement of Pippi for a moment before she strikes, and starts to turn, but not fast enough.

She strikes home, but Pippi will find that this mutant is one of the hardest things she's ever hit. Despite his appearance, his skin is rather durable. She does manage to knock the gun away though, as it clatters to the ground nearby.

The lion growls at her, "Ah of course the sidekick. Can't have one without the other, can we? And here I was hoping I'd get some one on one time with the fox. Hash a few things out. Oh well."

He takes a moment to consider his options. There's a lot of distance to cover between himself and Alopex, and if he makes a move, Pippi will be right on his heels. No, he has to take care of two canines with one stone, so to speak. So he moves to grab Pippi by one of the arms she just hit him with, and hurl her at the wall he knows Alopex is hiding behind.

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi is not used to being on the offensive. The gun skitters, which makes it more on even footing, but compared to the tap-bag and the boards, this leonine advesary is far, far more solid than she had anticipated. She dropes into a clumsy, low stance, like she's been shown, and was unable to land another blow after the growl.

    Pippi's picked up by one arm, giving a surprised bark as she tries to take a swipe at him (though she's comically too small to make it!), and then she's hurled, thrown at the wall and manages to hit a stud, landing solidly instead of going through it. She gives a sharp cry of surprise and pain before she slides to the ground, wincing and grabbing at the back of her head.

Alopex has posed:
    First Cody, now Pippi? It's probably no wonder that Alopex just -explodes- through the window, Shard first, in a rage rarely seen by anyone that has had the chance to meet her. Everyone except Oroku Saki. "I don't care how you know my name, or how you knew where we lived, all I want is you to leave my FAMILY alone!" Does she slash at Nemean? Oh yes, yes she does. She may put a nice slice in the floor with that overhead cleave in fact..

Nemean has posed:
There we go. That's what he wants. As she rushes in with her blade, he draws his own. A katana mounted on his back, the edge of which has a slight blue glow to it in the right light. He brings his blade up to catch her strike in mid swing.

"You told me where you lived, before you betrayed me!" He responds, gripping his blade with both hands because she is a lot stronger than she looks. He keeps his stance wide, holding against her until she breaks contact.

"You got me to trust you, you and those damn turtles, just so you could stab me in the back and make me one of you!" He growls, pushing close to her and glaring at her with those red eyes, a look of anger and hatred that could only exist if he truly believed what he was saying.

Alopex has posed:
    "I've never even met you! How on earth would I have done any of those-" Stop. Pause. Record Scratch. Mental break. As she breaks from their mutual sword clash, hopping back to put herself between Pippi and the lion, she starts to put it all together. The mutagen, Cody's disapearence, a new mutant, clearly on Shredder's side, fully indoctrinated,

        "......Cody?"

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi winces as she leans forward, bringing her hands up as the two start clashing with weapons. Alopex being angry and smashing Cody's side-table was one thing.

    But Pippi's head hurt. She gives a low growl in her throat, and as Pex breaks, Pippi steps in.

    Literally and liberally going after the figure that's been yelling, that was trying to hurt Pex, had physically hurt her.

    So the red and white mutant comes in low, brings back her fist and with her own stance squared unleashes a full three-tons-of-strength blow to Nemean, looking to put him out the window!

Nemean has posed:
After she breaks the clash, he steps back and lowers the weapon to his side, "It's Nemean now. Master Shredder thought it was appropriate." He narrows his eyes, "I'm surprised it took you so long to recognize me, since you were standing over me as you poured that mutagen down my throat. I can still taste it, still feel the pa-"

He never gets to finish the sentence as Pippi hits him. It feels like getting hit by a truck. She launches him out of the window, over the fire escape, and past several buildings before he smashes into the roof of one, plummeting down into the open space of the warehouse where he landed in, dazed.

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi raises a fist "AND STAY OU---" she paaauses, then blinks and turns to Alopex with a really quite disconcerted look "wait, did you say that was Agent Cody?!"

Alopex has posed:
    One moment Nemean is there. The next moment, Nemean is not there. In her stupor of realization, it takes her another moment to also realize that he was forcefully ejected from Winterfall Dojo by Pippi's strike. He had confirmed who he was just before. As a result, "We're leaving," Alopex states calm, cold, but also distant. "He knows we don't live here anymore, now. He can't ambush us again. Master Winter always joked that he'd 'take a vacation' if something like this happened so... I suppose he will, now." She -attempts- some levity but it's rather likely it will fall flat. "Lets go, before he comes charging back," she suggests before moving for the opening Pip just made.

Pippi has posed:
    "But -- but Pex! We could go get him! I mean, he siad you poured the green stuff, and you wouldn't, so is his head just messed up? What happened to him? How ocme he thinks you did this to him?!" Pippi asks, though she notes the coolness from Alopex -- and she moves to go after him, her ears pricked forward.

    "We gotta help him, Alopex!"

Nemean has posed:
There is still debris falling down around him when he manages to shake the cobwebs out of his head. He holds his jaw. Even with the extra defense, that hurt like hell. He pushes himself up to his feet, looking around the warehouse, "Team. Fall back to base for now." He says into his comms, the ninjas scattering into the dark.

He's going to go back and get his gun, he expects that they'll both be gone by the time he gets back.

Alopex has posed:
    "We will, Pippi, but we can't right now. Shredder's done something to him, filled his mind with lies. Remember how you felt right after you changed? .. I do.. I .. I would have believed anything after it. We will convince him, we will bring him back, but it isn't something we can do right now. We need help with this.." she explains as she hits the streets, and eventually a pretty well concealed manhole cover. It's under a dumpster. Cause she put it there. There's something in her voice though. It isn't guilt, or calm, or even rage. No, this is sorrow, and it's something she needs to come to grips with before she can face Cody - .. Nemean again.

Pippi has posed:
R    She hangs back a moment, looking at the gun where it skittered away on the floor, and the shorter mutant gives a slight sound of disapproval before turning andh opping out the hole in the wall.

     Pippi follows behind ALopex, listening, but unsure. She keeps looking over her shoulder, pausing to sniff the air before she moves the dumpster out of the way and lifts the manhole cover for Pex. Least she can do after punching their friend half a block.

    "... Master Splinter might have an idea?" she ventures quietly, giving room for the fox to go through first.

Nemean has posed:
By the time he gets back to the dojo, the two are long gone. He still hasn't quite figured out tracking via scent yet...So for the time being he lets them go. He grabs his revolver off of the floor and holsters it. He'll head back to base and figuratively..And literally..Lick his wounds.

Alopex's response was surprising. How could she not know what she did?

Alopex has posed:
    "That, Pippi, was my plan. We let ... everyone know what happened to Cody, deal with the blow back of it, and then figure out how to move forward. We -will- get him back, one way or another. I hope Splinter has an idea.. cause I'm out of them.."