Calgary, Alberta - Canada

[cross_grave]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

Przemek winced as he turned, breaking into a sprint as he clutched the woman in his hands. He had no problems lifting her and running at the same time - even at full speed, which he was doing right now. No, the problem was something else - namely, the gas. His resistance to poisons came from the fact that his ability to resist and regenerate damage was enhanced to a truly ridiculous degree - he once had his left arm torn off, and it simply grew back! Sure, it took a while, but he accomplished something that the medical staff considered to be nigh impossible. And while this meant that such a short exposure to the gas didn't knock him out, he still felt pain as his tissue made contact with the toxin. The rational part of him was close to being overwhelmed, but the animalistic side of his nature provided some instincts to rely on.

Cells died and were replaced at a very fast rate as the ghoul completed his rescue manouver and dashed to the exit, his instincts for once hitting "flight" rather than "fight". That blade missed him, but it moved far too close to him, and with all that gas, he probably wouldn't dodge the second strike. Hurting all over, he ran as fast as he could, the pain disappearing after he left the affected area. His mind, at first reeling from the pain, was now getting back into working order, Przemek's mental strenght returning nearly as fast as physical. He quickly realized that he'd have to find a place to dump the woman and face the bug. Sealing or stalling it until help - or big guns - arrived would probably be the best, his human side told him. The ghoul inside him, however, was shrieking in rage. He raged at the bug, the gas, the helpless girl that was being a pain in the ass at the moment. But mostly, he just raged.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

Przemek flew down the tunnels, seeing nothing that would offer shelter for the woman, the bug shrieking behind him as it seemed to gain ground slowly ...


And then suddenly something told him that the bug wasn't pursuing any more. Overhead, he could hear a commotion going on, and it sounded like police had arrived from the earlier incident. A quick glance would confirm what he thought, the bug mysteriously had vanished without a trace. To top that off, the woman began to stir ever so slightly, still clearly way out of it, and unaware she was being carried.



Henry nodded as he gently placed the woman on a table, turning to some medical scanning equipment.

"Cabal huh? Not anything new for them to use friends, even family as hostages to coerce someone to play their games. John, that's the bald guy, he's gone up against them a lot, he knows their tactics better than any of us, save maybe the doc. They won't risk a direct attack here though, after our last run in we upgraded everything. They're not getting in."

He paused at the question, before shrugging.

"Well it's basically that, a sanctuary. A safe haven for 'abnormals' as we call them to reside without fear of humans who are fearful of them attacking them. Sometimes though, it's the opposite. There's a number of them who actually will attack people. Some actually will eat them. There's a special unit for them too, so don't worry about them getting out. The Cabal want to use them as weapons, turn the planet under their rule through basic terrorism. We're in their way, so they want to get rid of us. I can only assume they saw something in you they thought they could use."

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

Mikki doesn't answer until she makes it to the pool itself, looking down at Sally just before jumping in. I think I'll be okay, I'd be more worried about you getting hurt. I'm a lot more pointier than Chris is. she think slowly, then jumps right in. She surfaces to take a deep breath, then goes back under and starts swimming around. She looks like she's doing some odd cross between a breaststroke and a dolphin kick, with the end result looking extremely awkward, but it seems to propel her quite well.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

Altough the bug was nowhere in sight, Przemek didn't slow down. He didn't feel any better either. Altough he recovered from the pain inflicted by the gas, his mood just got worse. The bug was not in sight, which meant he had no idea where it was. It could have escaped to it's hideout, something the ghoul doubted. While the commotion could have scared it away, it was unlikely that such a big and well-armed predator would simply flee from that. Either it went after something - or someone - else, or it took an alternate route to cut Przemek's path off. Growling under his breath, the abnormal ran towards the exit. He had to get the woman to a safe place, preferably before she woke up, and call the Sanctuary before attempting to locate the monster again.

 

[Caulder]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

Dante held his right hand out in the most gentlemanly way he could, ushering the two to lead onward as he smiled. "So. James Watson exists. Hard to believe it. Never was a fan of the novels myself, but I hear Holmes was quite the investigator." he says, his hands starting to drum his hips to some tune as he walked. Helen, and most likely John, would probably get the idea that Dante was quite easily bored.

 

[Bartnum]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

"Cabal? Yeah, that was what they called themselves."

"I see. So, what exactly are 'abnormals'?"

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

"You have no clue? Oh wow man, uh OK um ..."

He trailed off as he set up one of the machines to do a scan on the young woman, and then Henry turned back to Alec.

"OK, basically abnormals are anything not exactly human, with some kind of special ability. Like me for example, I'm a form of lycan, or the guy that brought you in, he can teleport at will basically. And oh man, you haven't even met our mermaid yet. Anyway, sometimes we see some others that aren't even remotely human looking. Like last month we brought in this one creature that literally looks like a Pteranodon."



John half chuckled.

"Oh yes, he exists. In fact James is really the basis for the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. He IS Sherlock Holmes actually."



Przemek reached the exit point without any further incident, however as he did he noted that above him there seemed to be a growing commotion, as if perhaps Police or something were preparing to come down into the area he was in. To further complicate things, the woman in his arms began to stir slightly, letting loose a moan as she started waking up.


If your sure ...

As Mikki entered the water, she realized just how warm of a climate Sally tended to stick to. The water was like diving into a lightly heated swimming pool, save of course it was salt water. As she swam up to Mikki, she had an idea.

I should show you the second entry point to this. It comes in handy especially for anyone that has to actually breathe.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

Przemek let out a litany of curses under his breath. Just what he needed - more idiots barging in here and making the situation worse, getting themselves killed and generally being a useless nuisance. Almost regretfully, he changed the course of his thoughts before he got an irresistible urge to go and kick all of the humans out of the area. Unfortunately, he couldn't do that - not by himself, at least. He decided on a course of action - leave and move away from the entrance, dump the woman in a random, secluded spot, call the Sanctuary (again, he grumbled), get back to the tunnels and hopefully stop anyone else who tried to get in from doing something very stupid. His therapist would have a blast with him during the next visit, if the ghoul's mood failed to change.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

Mikki grinned and nodded her head vigorously underwater, and made a gesture that Sally should lead the way. The water was almost tropical, much warmer than the spring-fed mountain lakes she used to play in when she still lived with the rest of her clan. It was like swimming around in a really big bathtub, Mikki loved it.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

Swimming for just a few moments, Sally led her to what literally seemed to be an entry like one would find on a pool. Stairs led down for a few feet into the water, then ended, and there were a few railings on either side to allow someone to grab on to.


"And this is where most everyone usually comes in."



As the activity above him got more loud, Przemek found a side tunnel leading away from both the commotion, and the last know position of the bug creature. He hadn't gotten far though when suddenly the woman woke up. Noticing she was being carried off, she reacted the way anyone probably would. She lashed out at his face, forcing him to drop her, then, rather than turning her back, she dropped into a defensive posture before shouting at him.

"Who the fuck are you and where the hell do you think your trying to take me?"



It wasn't much longer before Helen excused herself to answer the Sanctuary door, and then returned with a youngish looking man who walked with what seemed to be a slight limp.

"Good to see you again James, I'm sure you remember John, and this is our newest guest, Dante."


James nodded at John, though Dante might catch that it was more cold of an acknowledgement than he might expect, before James addressed him.

"Pleasure to meet you then Dante, and welcome to the Sanctuary Network."


He looked him over for a moment, then smiled.

"I see you inspected the handles on the door to see if they were truly bronze before you came in. You still have some of the residue under your fingernails."

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

Mikki followed behind easily, swimming up to take a breather at this other entrance. Okay, I think I've seen this one before... she thinks slowly, and then again. How big is this pool? You don't get bored in here, do you?

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

Przemek was not pleased. The last thing he wanted to do was to deal with an awake and obviously pissed off woman. At a better time, perhaps he'd have been pleased to learn that the woman had steel and a good instinct, but now he was just irritated by another obstacle. His therapirt would have a field day with him, it seemed. If things kept going like this for the rest of his day, the bug would pick this moment to attack again and later, the ghoul would have to fend off a suprise Cabal attack. After reassuring himself that his life does indeed suck, he moved on to solving the matter at hand. Given his mood, he intended to make the conversation short.

"You're asking the wrong question here. My identity is none of your business and frankly, I don't care about your location as long as you're far awat from here. What you should be worried about is WHY I've been carrying you while you were unconscious. If you can recall the reason why you were out cold, I suggest you do the smart thing, get out of here and never speak of this. If you can't remember, get out of here, never speak of this and keep in mind that you're better off not knowing. And yes, I do realize I'm vague as Hell and not at all reassuring, but I've had a very bad day and we're both in deep shit right now, especially you."

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

The woman stared at him for a bit, seeming to try to gauge him, then slowly nodded.

"Ugh ... right, the bug. Guessing you won't tell me what it was either, and honestly not sure I want to know. I'm gonna guess that going back the way I came in isn't exactly going to work, and your needing a way out too?"


She paused, seeming hesitant for a long moment, lightly chewing her lip. Finally she spoke again.


"Alright, at the risk of losing my damn job here ... your obviously wanting to remain away from other people otherwise you'd have already taken me to the surface where I'm sure people are congregating now. Stop me if I'm wrong there. Anyway ... We both need to get out of here, hopefully without another visit from that ... thing. I don't know where your going, but if you tell me uptown or downtown ... I think I can get you out of here without anyone else seeing you, if your willing. But for the love of all that's holy, I'm going with you til we're topside. Don't want to run into that thing alone again if you know what I mean?"


If he stopped to think of where he was, Przemek would realize that he would need to head downtown to get anywhere near the Sanctuary again. It also seemed that for now, he was going to be stuck with a passenger.

 

[Caulder]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

Dante raised his hands and shrugged, smiling as he looked over James. "You can tell that just by looking at me? Impressive. Though I'd not recommend telling me what my lunch was." he states with a slight chuckle, his hands meeting behind his head as he leans back slightly. "So. Is this everyone? Are we ready to go?"

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

Przemek paused to consider. The woman was a farily reasonable sort, it seemed, which was a very good thing. She seemed to know the tunnels, too. With a lurking, deadly enemy hiding out there somewhere, her knowledge could be useful. The ghoul nodded. He was pretty sure that what he was about to do would count as a kind of security breach, but he didn't care. Secrecy pretty much went down the drain the moment she saw the bug. "Alright. It'll be better if we go downtown, so... Lead the way, I guess." He scratched his head. Perhaps he ought to lay down a few extra rules.

"Altough... In case we run into that thing, you'd better not protest if I grab you and bolt. Or I attack that thing and tell you to run. I'm a bit more physically capable than you think. Just stay out of it's reach. I should be able to notice it before it gets too close." The ghoul really didn't want to reveal his nature. She'd probably suspect something after this speech, but it's best if she was at least a little informed. He pulled out his cellphone, hoping that he'd have at least minimal reception here. Perhaps he really shouldn't call the Sanctuary while in company of a civilian - that had to be some kind of security protocol breach - but he really didn't care. Things were f***ed up anyway. He punched in the number and waited for a response.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

"No, no, it's plenty large enough. Besides, it's better here than out there in the ocean. Safer, and warmer too."


James chuckled as he smiled at Dante.

"I have no intention of trying to decipher that. Alas though, Helen where is Clara?"

"At the moment she's in New York City, helping Ashely with another fine mess the Cabal left there. They should be returning to the Sanctuary there soon, so John can pick her up after we arrive where we're going. We'll be heading to Tibet, that's where my father hid what we'll need. However we won't be acquiring it until we're certain it isn't a ploy by Nikola."

John in the meantime had stood during their talk and gone over to one of the viewers in the room, which had started transmitting visual and text from Chris. After seeing it for only a few moments, he turned and spoke.

"Helen, James ... I think you'd best have a look at what Chris is sending. It isn't pretty."


Turning, Dante would hear Helen let loose a small gasp of surprise before she spoke.

"Dear god. Sally was right, they're all dead. It's a bloody massacre. He's requesting permission to bring one of the bodies on board to study, try to find out what happened to them. I think I should go speak to Sally now. She ... deserves to know. James, activate the interface there and tell him to stand by."

She then ran out of the room, leaving Dante with the other men. If he turned to see the screen, he'd soon understand why.


On the viewscreen was a shot of the ocean, filled with what seemed to be mermaids. However a moment later his mind would register what was wrong. Every last one of them that he could see was dead, ripped apart into shreds with limbs and heads floating in bloodied waters. He could even see on one the lifeless eyes on what clearly had been a female, frozen in what seemed to be absolute terror now permanently frozen on her cold, dead features.


James for his part had slowly sat in the chair near the small interface panel, shaking his head.

"Dear lord. What on this earth could have done this or wanted to even do it?"

No answer seemed to be forthcoming.



Przemek had to wait several rings before he got an answer from Helen, who sounded a bit out of breath.

"Magnus here, go ahead Przemek. What's wrong? Sorry, need this to be quick I'm afraid, we ... have a major situation at hand."

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

Przemek was a little suprised. So doctor Magnus was already back? Well, hopefully she would be able to spare some help. Judging by her voice and the message, shit hit the fan on the other end of the phone line as well. "Listen doc, long story short - big bug in city, very hostile and hungry, underground tunnels, breathes tear gas, heavily armed, possibly armored. Scratch that, it's a bug - it's definitely armored. Need heavy hitters ASAP." He conveniently failed to mention the woman next to him, sparing her a quick glance. He briefly wondered whether he should apply for some kind of melee weapon or at least light firearm. Since he wasn't a full-time employee, trained soldier or even a human, people were... Less than eager to arm him with anything. This sometimes tended to bite the ghoul in the ass, particularly when he needed to take down something big.

 

[Caulder]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

Dante turned his head and noticed the massacre, holding back his desire to spit on the ground in disgust. "Looks like something big. Big and nasty." he says calmly, his hands shooting down into his pockets, as his upper body leans back, his feet slowly picking up and moving him forward towards the screen. "Before learning about the existence of Abnormals, I'd have said it was a demon from hell." he states, his usual cocky attitude still showing through even though his face showed slight hints of shock and caring. A slight pinching of his right lip corner, his eyebrows had sagged slightly, all something James might notice if he looked carefully. To the others, he was putting on a very good facade of not giving a damn.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

Helen's reply was a moment coming, and she sighed before replying, which wasn't a good sign.

"I'll send what I can asap. Henry is busy tending to a woman who was hurt by Cabal soldiers in an attempt to persuade another young man to join them, her status is unknown. John and James are both here, we were preparing to head to Tibet for a potential emergency recovery of an item my father hid. I'd send Chris but at the moment he's a bit tied up in Bermuda. Sally's people there were attacked. Przemek ... they're all dead. Every last one of them appear to have been slaughtered by an unknown entity. I was on my way to ask Sally if she objects to us conducting an autopsy on one of the remains, though I have to say it may be impossible to actually get a full body. They were literally sliced into pieces. Do you think that stunner weapons would be effective on the creature or was it's carapace too thick?"

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Calgary, Alberta - Canada

Przemek tried to keep his face straight. Inside, he was reaching the point where his remnant of humanity stopped stopped worrying about rapidly rising blood pressure and started to count the sanity points he was rapidly losing. Freaking lovely. Mermaids, massacred just like that. The ghoul knew Sally, of course, and even liked her, though at first he had to learn to stop drooling and curb his "fish sticks" fantasies. That being said, he genuinely tried to get along with her, not without success. Hearing about such a massacre was... A bit of a blow for him. The girl was a telepath... Perhaps she already knew. The cellphone creaked in his hand as Przemek's grip tightened, and he had to exercise great caution not to break it. He really wanted to kill someone - or something.

"Doc..." He wondered how to describe the threat more accurately. "I have no idea how thick it is. I suspect it might be tough. Even if the thing relies on gas to knock it's prey out, it's still quite capable in melee combat, so I suspect it'd make sense if it was protected as well. I'm more worried about those scythes on it's limbs. I can't say how quickly it recovers, too, and while ranged combat is our best bet, the tunnels leave little place for manouvering. I know you don't like this, but we need something that one-shot it with 100% certainty, and I don't know whether stunners will do the trick. Also, there's been an explosion down here earlier, and people might come to investigate. We have to keep them out."