Fantasy &nbsp; Humanity Stands RP Thread

BoomersAndMash · Jun 18, 2021

HARPER STEELBITE

Location: Ma's Diner partially damage Time: 3:11PM

The air became more tense as another car pulled up and out popped a young man, who looked out of place compared to the rest of the people. But the scent around him reeked of all the elements and a dash of spices to Harper. A mage and a mage who was an agent of Athena no less. This was becoming crowded with Hunters, three agents and a witch, who seemed to be just sitting in a chair that she pulled out of nowhere? How even did that happen? Never mind The witch doesn't seem interested in what is going on and the agents don't seem to keen on her too. A shame though, it would really be nice to have the attention on her than just on the human and on Val and herself.

Speaking of the human Harper glanced over to were Casey was and it seemed that the spider looking thing was already starting a process that was going to take out whatever he was injected with. A thought popped into her head, what if whatever they're trying to do to save the human actually makes it worse? Wouldn't this Hive faction have a defense against anyone trying to remove whatever they inject into a targets body? And if so wouldn't that usually mean it would be lethal?

Her back straightened up as the attention turned to Val and her, oh if only she was like that of the Hollywood werewolves where they were bipedal how she would use that to her advantage and keep these thugs away from Val. The best she could do though was look like a tough larger than average guard dog and bare her fangs in a warning. If anyone of them were to try and touch Val after this "friendly" conversation Harper wasn't going to make any promises that she wouldn't bite a hand.

It was then that a faint whisper caught her ear that came from behind her, and soon her ears pinned back to catch who was speaking. Val, what on earth was that girl doing? She was mumbling something but the words were faint that even to a werewolf it was hard to pick up on. But then there, a glint in the sunlight as the young man pocketed something. Her eyes narrowed in on the pocket and the older woman's heart sank into her stomach. Did he take a picture of her!? No, nonsense he couldn't have taken a picture of her. There wouldn't be any reason too unless he absolutely knew that she was ex Athena. But whatever Val was mumbling bothered Harper and she was going to ask her about it later.

When she was informed she could change back to her human form, how it was safe and that she was protected from anything under the protocol of an open investigation, Harper snorted at the mage loudly in defiance. How dare this man, no, a child tell her what to do and treat her as though she's some sort of civilian that has absolutely no idea what is going on.
Her golden eyes flashed up for a quick second to the agent as if saying "Go to hell." before she stood up to follow Val to the truck. Lifting her tail up in the process just to add a gesture like middle finger to the three as she trotted to the bed of the truck to jump back in. If all goes well they would just think that she's just some sort of werewolf pet to Val and leave them be. That was the hopeful stance.

Harper had a feeling they could pass the ruse by the mage and the spider agent but the other werewolf, she could spell danger and quite possibly see through this. It all depended if lady luck was dealing the cards on their side and not on the side of Athena.

Interaction:

JesseMarshall
Mention:

Zat ,

Pacificus ,

Yahhah ,

Neo Alice

Pacificus · Jun 19, 2021

"Someone injected you with something?" The spider asked.

"You could say that." Casey's eyes wandered upward to the wound reflexively. Of course, he couldn't see his own forehead. He hadn't even noticed the small flesh wound. "Well, adrenaline'll do that to you." He shrugged.

He accepted the extraction kit with a thankful nod, but didn't apply it immediately. Casey had experienced vampire venom before. It paralyzes its victims and is excruciatingly painful. Casey calmly triaged himself. He touched his fingertips to his thumbs and cracked his knuckles. He rolled his shoulders and made a few other movements that checked for nerve damage or paralysis. Everything checked out. He was completely fine. His fingers were slightly shaky from the adrenaline withdrawals, but that was normal. He barely noticed it anymore. He felt no other negative feelings in his body. All-in-all, it was a relatively light encounter he had with the vampire. So, if it wasn't venom, what was it? The paranoid thoughts began circulating.

He took off his goggles and tossed them into the bed of his truck. He applied the extraction kit to his forehead and began the extraction process before the agent could show him how. Casey, fortunately, was familiar with the tool. His left eye winced at the small sting. While he let the kit work, he recounted his side of the fight to the agent, hoping to get some explanation. He described it all in great detail, as a professional would. Even if Casey wasn't an agent, he wasn't going to allow himself to stay in the dark on this one. He held his cig in-between his index and middle finger in his left hand.

"...And that's when the...'stage' disappeared along with the blood-sucker. If I hadn't been caught in the open, I probably could have pulled the rug out from her illusion." He took a pull from the cig. "But I think, I was her target. She was solely focused on me. I don't know why. Never met'er in my life." He dropped the spent cigarette butt to the ground and put it out with his boot heel. "Do you think they were Coven? Because, I've never seen the Coven operate like that."

(

JesseMarshall )

JesseMarshall · Jun 19, 2021

Requisitions Agent Mai Huynh
Time: 5:11 PM EST
Location: Athena Project Headquarters
Washington DC

Mai Huynh leaned back in her office chair at Athena Project's DC branch. Athena's bundling, used as headquarters, towered above the others around it, and Mai worked on the thirty-third floor—Inquiries and Requisitions. Her face pointed toward the ceiling as her neck stretched over the top of the chair's back.

"That doesn't look comfortable," a grave voice mused.

Mai shifted her eyes to the right without turning her neck and found Markus Dupree standing at the edge of her cubicle. Mai stood about two inches taller than him at five-foot-three. Shaggy hair in sandy-blond framed his face, and his kiwi-green eyes managed to blaze with intensity even behind the thick spectacles he wore. Mai usually didn't find men like Markus attractive, but something about him made her feel weak-kneed.

Her coworker smiled brightly at her, and Mai's heart skittered out of control for a fraction of a second. He held two cups of coffee in each wide hand. Mai sat up in her seat and spun her chair to face him. She didn't say anything—too nervous—but instead reached a hand forward and grabbed the cup of coffee in his left hand. She knew by now which one he carried hers in.

"So," Markus began, stretching out the 'O' sound at the end. "Who you got on your roster today?"

Mai frowned, "Only one, surprisingly."

"You didn't do something wrong, did you," Markus asked, his brows knitting together in concern.

She rolled her dark-brown eyes at the man. "No, it's just a special request from Director Shellenberger."

Markus moved next to Mai's chair, narrowing his eyes at the screen on her desk. He scanned the contents of her page. Mai couldn't help but chuckle under her breath. He wore the thickest lenses she ever saw before, and yet he still squinted to read things. Technically, agents weren't supposed to let other agents in on their work, but she and Markus went through exams and training together. They worked in the same department for the past eight years. If she couldn't trust him, who could she trust?

"Whoa," Markus whispered, turning those wide, emerald eyes on her. "You're watching Gordie Greenwood's incoming requests?!"

"Shh," Mai shushed. She extended her free hand and placed it over his mouth. "Not so loud!"

His lips were warm and soft against her palm as he tried to mumble past it. Her heart did that terrible flitting dance in her chest, and she could feel heat blossom across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She jerked the hand away as if it were on a hot stove-top.

"Sorry," he whispered, pulling one of the goofiest grins Mai ever saw on someone before.

She passed him back a thin-lipped smile, fighting against the tug at her cheeks for a full-blown grin. Her expression made Markus' grin stretch even further. She playfully swatted at the man's shoulder.

"Stop it," Mai hissed, "I'm trying to be angry with you."

A quiet ping went off over the computer speakers, and she swiveled around to open the message. A picture of a werewolf in complete form greeted her. The mouse-pointer dragged the image over to the directory search page, and it went to work scanning the database for a match. Mai could feel the warmth of Markus's shoulder as it brushed against her, and goosebumps traveled down her arms.

Don't be weird, she begged herself.

After a few moments, the search results fluttered across the screen. 'No results found.' the screen declared. Mai frowned at the thing. Technology was useless sometimes. She moved the pointer to hit the 'Try Again' button, but Markus shook his head.

"Probably just an unregistered," he spoke. "There are tons of them. Just send him back a standard error. He can take another photo if it's that important."

Mai nodded, "Yeah, you're right."

Markus's gaze lingered for a second, and something close to admiration sat on the surface. Mai smiled at him, looking away to tuck her lower lip between her teeth. How long would this crush last, anyway? It proved to be incredibly distracting.

"Hey, Mai," Markus murmured.

Her eyes, curved downward at the inner point, flashed back to his, "Yes?"

She wanted to slap herself for sounding so eager, but Markus only smiled, "I was wondering, I mean if you're not busy tonight—I know it's last minute and all, but would you like to..." he trailed off, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck. Mai realized that he felt just as nervous as she did.

"I'd love to," she said. It came out a little too enthusiastically again, but who cares? Markus just asked her on a date; at least, she thought so.

"That's- are you sure? I'm not the best-looking-"

"I'd love to," she repeated, not knowing anything else to say.

He laughed, "Okay. I'll pick you up at eight."

The rest of Mai's day seemed to crawl along at a sloth's pace. She got off work half an hour later, ran to her car, and sped home to get ready. Two hours later, as she stood in front of her Brownstone entryway mirror, a knock at the door caused her to jump. She put on a white bead-embellished dress with accents of jet in the floral pattern. The hem wrapped itself tightly right above the knees, and her dyed, light-brown hair fell into a perfectly cut angled bob.

Thank the gods I'm having a good hair day today, she thought.

Markus was dressed in jeans and a button-up flannel shirt. He held a large, oversized, and comfy-looking jacket in his left hand. Mai's heart sank, feeling suddenly overdressed—that feeling vanished at the look on the man's face and his following words.

"Wow," Markus whispered, awe flooding into his voice, "You look amazing."

His tone held so much sincerity that Mai couldn't find a way to respond. Instead, she stared at the jacket in his hand, raising an eyebrow at him when she met his eyes once more.

He chuckled, glancing to the left, "My mother once told me to always bring the biggest and coziest jacket that I owned on a first date. She told me, 'Markus, women never bring a jacket on the first date.'"

Mai laughed. Even though she had yet to put on his coat, she felt warm and fuzzy all over anyway.

They were driving for an hour in nervous quiet before Markus finally spoke, "I hope you don't mind. This is all really last minute, so I didn't get reservations somewhere fancy. I know a spot outside the city, and I thought, well..."

His right arm rested comfortably on the center console, and Mai placed her hand comfortingly across it, "I'm sure it's going to be perfect.

Half an hour later, and they were turning onto a bit of dirt road in Virginia. Giant trees towered up on both sides, forming a tunnel that left just a narrow gap for Mai to see the stars and bright, silver moon above. She looked over at Markus in the driver's seat and saw he wore a worried frown. He drove slowly and carefully down the road, weaving around dips and holes worn deep into its surface.

"You're not dragging me all the way here to murder me, are you," she joked, trying to lighten the mood.

It worked, and Markus's smile rushed back onto his face, "You think I'd drive all the way out here just to murder you?"

She widened her eyes in mock shock, "Hey, I am totally worth prime murdering distance; I'll have you know."

"Well," Markus replied, in his own parody of earnestness, "I would drive to the ends of the earth for the honor of murdering you. Not some little picnic spot from my childhood."

"A picnic?"

"Shit," Markus chuckled, "It was supposed to be a surprise. I'm terrible at surprises. It doesn't matter. We're here."

She saw it before he finished the sentence. An opening at the end of the dirt road spread out in front of an old plantation house overcome with creeping roses. Spanish moss hung from the branches of the trees, and fireflies twinkled here and there around the property. At the center, a white tarp laid on the ground, surrounded by candles and hanging lanterns.

Mai got out of the car once it stopped and took in the entire scene. Two champagne flutes rested on their stems next to a silver bucket brandishing ice and a bottle of sparkling wine. A bowl of strawberries sat close by that looked ripe and sweet in the moonlight pouring down from overhead. A large wicker basket with a checkered cloth hanging over the edge called invitingly from the corner of the tarp to peek inside. It completed the picture.

The whole thing looked like something out of a romance novel or a princess movie from when Mai was still a little girl. No one had ever done anything like this for her before. Her heart soared away to the moon, and terrified of it falling too fast, she begged for it to come back down.

Screw it, she thought, If I'm in love, then I'm in love. Just try not to mention it to him on the first date.

She stepped closer and her heels crinkled on the plastic beneath them.

He could have brought a blanket instead, though, she reflected. No, Mai, you sound like your mother. This is the scene of perfection.

She knelt down, pulling the hem of her dress down and tucking her long legs underneath. Mai's hand reached for the wicker basket, but when she flipped open the top, there was nothing inside. She frowned.

Turning back to Markus with a sly grin, she said, "Looks like someone forgot-"

Mai couldn't finish her sentence due to the nine-millimeter bullet rushing through her brain. It entered from a neat, little hole between the eyes but exited in a splattery mess out the back. Her muscles tensed all at once as if in climax. The effect only lasted a fraction of a second before she slumped to the side, up-ending the bucket of ice and champagne flutes.

Markus lowered the Glock nineteen, sliding it home into the holster hidden at the small of his back. He dialed a number on his cell and pushed it up to his ear. It rang twice before a peppy girl answered.

"Thanks for choosing Antonio's Pizza! Is this for take-out or delivery?"

"Markus Dupree. I want to be connected with the garden department," he replied.

The girl's pep vanished, replaced with a professional tone, "One moment."

The line clicked, rang twice again, and a raspy man answered, "Agent Markus." The man said a drawn-out jibe on the word agent. A short bark of laughter, and then the man asked, "Mission status?"

"Daniel, don't you get tired of doing that every time I call," Markus snapped.

"No," he replied. "What's your mission status?"

"It's done. I need a clean-up crew to the agreed-upon location," Markus said.

"Excellent," Daniel replied. "I'll send the crew over. Sorry about your girlfriend. Bless the Coven."

Markus repeated by instinct, "Bless the Coven."

The line went dead. Markus Dupree, an infiltrator of Athena, wandered mindlessly to where the late Mai Huynh collapsed. He looked down on her and sighed deeply.

He really regretted having to kill her. In truth, he really liked the woman and would've enjoyed an actual date. Her stunning sepia eyes were frozen in shock. Markus could already see them dulling in the post-mortem pull of the recently dead. Mai had been one of those beautiful women that never realized how beautiful they were—inside and out.

"Sorry, Mai," Markus said. "You really were worth the distance."

Zat · Jun 20, 2021

Vivx'Xka - Vic - Outside Ma's Slightly Demolished Diner

Vic listened closely as the hunter professionally laid out what happened for them all. Turns out the man knew what he was doing with the kit, so Vic left him to it and just listened. The initial tension that had been in the air was letting up, to his great relief. The Demon girl had lowered her shotgun and the big werewolf seemed content to just watch them. She was notably not shifting back to human form despite the 'suggestion' from Gordon, but Vic didn't see a reason to make a fuss about it. Clearly, these people had been through a lot.

"I'm inclined to agree," Vic hummed back to the man, "This doesn't seem like normal Coven tactics, but clearly whoever did this has some backing." He kept one of his side-eyes on his new Investigatory companion. The man must know more about the situation than he did. Investigators didn't get sent to small towns in the middle of nowhere for no particular reason. He'd need to get the man to fill him in later, when they were somewhere less public.

"Given that you seem to be the target, might be a good idea if you stuck close. You're a hunter, right? I can write you up a job contract to help out with this mess, if you're willing. Two birds, one stone, and all that." He'd write off the cost as an operational expense. He'd dare central to try and say he wasn't on an operation right now.
"You have a motel you're staying at? We'll rent rooms near you," he finished up, trying his best to sound friendly.
He hoped the man would agree. Vic needed to get settled in and extract whatever information he could from Investigator Greenwood, Agent Giroux, and his less-than-useless handler Kevin back at central.

interactions:

Pacificus
Mentions:

JesseMarshall ,

BoomersAndMash ,

Silver- · Jun 20, 2021

Farron Giroux
Tags:

Yahhah | Mentions:

BoomersAndMash

Farron thought that perhaps there could’ve been at least a slim chance in soothing the defensively stanced Hunters, noting how their eyes carried suspicion and confusion reeked off them in terms of what had happened in town only moments ago, but with Agent Greenwood’s cut-and-dry Athenian assessment, tension became tangible. Anger crackled from the wolf whose chest exploded in threatening growls towards the newest agent, a sigh leaving Farron as she was caught between reacting to the wolf’s aggression and Agent Greenwood’s words about her having missed her check-in. The SAIC had pushed for her to at least do that in order to make sure she’d had a safe travel to the town along with reports that the other areas she’d scouted on their behalf had been properly accounted for in terms of Athenian representatives. She was no secret agent but they both knew she preferred to stay low on everyone’s radar, no matter whether she worked for them or not. Collins would have to wait for his check-in.

“Keeping these Hunters here any longer than necessary is a violation of our protocol considering they had not been present at the time of the attack from The Hive, Agent Greenwood.” Farron chose her words carefully, gesturing to the older werewolf and demon whilst keeping her tone with an icy calm. “I don’t think detaining them for questioning will be necessary and should we require anything about The Hive, we can ask our own superiors. We should focus on who was targeted by them.” She couldn’t stop the Special Agent from sending images of the werewolf to the administrative divisions that could pull up shelved data on individuals but she could at least deter him from trying to stoke at flames that none of them should be dealing with now, especially not when the threat from The Hive had been so fresh.

The werewolf flashed the spider-folk a grateful look when he took the initiative and instead coaxed details out of Casey in regard to what he’d been hit with, noting that him having an extraction kit on him was a godsend considering everything. She honestly had nothing on her as Athena had only tasked her with scouting lately and she normally packed very lightly. His appearance had definitely been startling at first but the way he concentrated on moving with human mannerisms and the fluidity in which he spoke to Casey as well as Agent Greenwood, it was something she appreciated more than he’d know right now.

For a brief moment, she could’ve sworn the demon’s eyes had been trained on something on the ground somewhere. A glint caught her eyes in the general direction she’d followed just as the demon explained they’d only just gotten there moments ago. Had it been that long already? Pushing the thought aside, she headed towards where she’d seen sunlight hitting something flickering on the ground, soon coming to spot shards of glass with a bit of red liquid preserved between a few pieces.

“If you require an alibi from them, I’ll be their witness,” she murmured without looking in their direction, patting herself down carefully to avoid touching any bloodied areas to find a small roll of plastic bags that she luckily had kept stuffed away in her front pant pocket. Normally, she’d put her soiled fighting gloves in them considering she went through so many but now it was for collecting evidence. “They both smell of humans that I recognize from the sheriff’s office and if anything, we can call them to make sure they’re telling the truth.” Farron didn’t mentioned that the older wolf also smelt of another werewolf along with blood. If they had fought someone or something, it obviously had been on their own terms and she hadn’t bore witness to it so she couldn’t exactly confirm.

She drew the bag inside out after swiftly disposing of her fighting gloves, meticulously grabbing the shards and trying her best to keep the red liquid preserved. The demon and older wolf were already making their way away from the scene without even waiting for Agent Greenwood’s words, sparking a bit of amusement in Farron as she scoffed quietly at their stubbornness. It wasn’t their fault. Neither them nor the witch were even involved, they were within their rights to leave if they so desired.

“This must’ve been what was administered to the.. human.” Farron looked to Casey now, forgetting if she’d actually caught his name or not. At least the Hunter was taking the arrival of so many agents in stride as much as the witch was. The both of them weren’t so much as reactive as she thought they would be but it would be easier in the end anyway. She made sure to mentally note both the other werewolf and the demon’s scents’ for if they needed to be tracked down again for whatever reason.
“Sorry, what are both of your names?” Farron looked to Casey and Hemlock now, sealing the plastic bag up so that it could be assessed either by Greenwood or someone in the nearest Athenian city. Phoenix was the next one, she thought and the trek would be long if she went by wolf. Either way, she needed some definite shut eye and a shower of anything was to be done, Hive or not, they had left the vicinity and they couldn’t do much but attempt to predict where and when their next attack would be and keeping the Hunter close seemed important.

Pacificus · Jun 20, 2021

Casey removed the extraction kit after a sufficient amount of time had passed, listening to the spider as he did so. He examined the vial, only to find it... empty. He quickly checked the setup to see if he, or the spider had done something wrong, but it was an extremely simple tool with nothing to really do wrong in its setup.
Either it just wasn't working or "-whatever I've been injected with doesn't want to come out.", that was an ominous thought.
He gripped the kit with his whole hand, careful not to let anyone see inside. Casey wasn't interested in being taken in for testing or being denied the contract based on medical circumstances. He saw that the female agent was gathering the shattered glass off the ground. "Hopefully, that'll be enough for her." he thought, and in one swift motion tucked the extraction vial into his back pocket without anyone noticing. He hoped they wouldn't ask about it.

"I'll take you up on that. I wanna catch this vamp." He extended his right hand to seal-the-deal with with agent. "And, uh, no. I actually just drove in before this all went down. Personally, I recommend skipping town. I've been a target before. Never a good a idea to stay at the scene." Casey also wanted to thank him for the extraction kit, but didn't. He didn't want to draw any attention to the empty vial, that indicated that whatever he was hit with was still swirling inside him.

Then, the female agent asked him and Hemlocks name. He had honestly forgotten about the witch. He had become rather distracted, to say the least, the moment a flying stage descended from the sky and a psychic vampire started dancing around inside his head. "I apologize. Where are my manners?" He said to the agent in a sincere southern tone. "I'm Casey Nilos. I'm registered through y'alls Colorado department, but my hunters license is good for nationwide." He still didn't think much of Athena, but these agents seemed to be good people. He wasn't about to give them a hard time.

(

Yahhah )

BoomersAndMash · Jun 20, 2021

HAPER STEELBITE

Location: Truck bed Time: 3:14PM

No one was following them back to the truck, a good sign that they could leave. Jumping in the back of the truck Harper could feel her body growing tired from the fight that had happened before and just the pure adrenalin leaving her body from the stress of all the agents around. Trusting Val to take them far away from the diner and away from the town Harper laid down on the truck bed and rested her head between the tops of her paws. She wanted to find a cheap motel and just have a shower a cold beer and something to eat. Maybe even a cigar to calm the nerves before going back out into the hunt again. That pig farm was just gonna have to wait, too much has happened in one day and she was in no mood to take on camel spiders now.

We need to be more careful, you and I. Those agents could have stopped us and taken us in. You know how Athena handles ex agents who are deserters. And you know how the director is. She is not one who takes kindly to.....betrayers. Harper spoke to her beast. The act from earlier of her baring her fangs and growling could have caused concern if it wasn't for who ever these Hive people were that attacked. It was a stern warning to her beast not to lose control and go feral, like the werewolf they had fought before.

It had been a long and grueling day and Harper for one was ready for it to be over with and to leave this small town to rot in the sun. Tomorrow early in the morning they would do the bounty, get the money and take off to whoever knows where and get the hell out of Phoenix before any more factions decide to attack.

God, whisky sounds good about now.

Interaction:

JesseMarshall · Jun 21, 2021

Special Investigator Gordon Greenwood
Time: 3:14 PM MST
Location: Ma's Diner
Hartfield, Arizona

A ping went off on Carter’s phone. He unlocked the screen with a thumb-print, and opened the notification in the requisition’s app. The message inside came penned by Mai Huynh. Gordon worked with her several times in the past, and recently she became his exclusive go-to in-office agent. Truth be told, he liked Mai, and the last time he visited DC, they had dinner together.

Sorry Gordie,

There is nothing in the registration that matches to that lycanthrope. Could be an issue with the image itself, but it looks like it came in clearly enough. If you want to take another one, you can, but they’re probably just not registered. Let me know if you need me to scan outside of Athena’s databanks. I honestly don’t know if that would help, but I’m always willing to try. You still owe me dinner.

-Mai Huynh

Gordon frowned. Unregistered preters weren’t uncommon by any stretch of the imagination, but why would he so adamantly feel a sense of recognition? Even now, watching the wolf amble into the back of the truck, he felt an acute sense of having seen them somewhere before. Gordon couldn’t do much about it now, though. They were leaving the scene, and Athena didn’t hold people against their will.

He vaguely listened to Special Agent Giroux ramble on about the two not being nearby while the incident occurred, that they could go on about their business, and that she would personally vouch for them. Gordon nodded as she spoke. All the while he notice things that contradicted her description of the events. Gordie found them a little hard to believe.

For starters, the demoness clutched a shotgun in her grasp. It rested in her arms like a newborn against the crook of her elbow. Her hair, the color of freshly fallen snow, tangled wildly around her face—disheveled and unruly from exertion. Her chest rose and fell deeply, sucking down air against whatever physically taxing demand she encountered earlier. Then there was the werewolf. It looked like a four rounds with Mike Tyson in a closed ring kind of night for her. Gordon suspected her aches and pains didn't come from a regular nightly walk.

Finally, the error. Unregistered?! His mind wailed at him in the way it did while trying to remember the words to a tune stuck in his head.

Unregistered, my ass, Gordon's thoughts screamed.

No, perhaps they weren’t at the scene when the diner took a dive into ruin-hood, but they weren’t just innocent bystanders either. It didn’t take a Special Investigator like Gordon to piece that together. He slid his phone back into the pocket of his jeans and approached the demoness with his arms raised and palms turned forward—a gesture of I’m unarmed. The motion eclipsed universal recognition as a sign of good faith, even though Gordon never really could be considered ‘unarmed’.

He spoke with tranquility.

“Excuse me,” he said. “I know that you’re probably eager to get out of here, but I do need both of your official statements on the events that transpired. If you could supply me with the location of your current accommodations I’ll be happy to let you move on tonight without another word. I’ll just need to visit you in the morning or afternoon tomorrow for those aforementioned writings. Maybe over breakfast here at the diner?”

It seemed an insurmountable task to convince them that he landed on their side. The werewolf especially felt suspicious of him and the other agents. Her bright eyes darted between the three of them, as if waiting for one of them to suddenly lunge at her. That sense of distrust lingered on her all the way until she dipped below the edge of the truck's bed. Gordon guessed that laying down in that truck, surrounded by the steel walls on four sides, probably made her feel secure for the first time all day.

Gordon side-eyed the witch still sitting in her fold-out chair reading her book. Besides himself, she looked to be the only practitioner of the arcane arts around here. Every agent of the Athena Program took an oath to protect the people of their designated patrol zones—not just their lives, but their livelihood. Before he left, he’d have to set the diner to rights again, and it would be far easier with the help of another caster.

He glanced back toward the two in the truck and rose his voice to the wolf inside the bed. He knew he didn't have to do that. She could probably hear a bird chirping from a mile away, but he wanted to make sure that he heard the inflection in his voice.

Gordie said, “I know it’s difficult to trust people like us sometimes, but use your sense of smell, wolf, while I tell you this—I’m here to help in anyway that I can. You’re not in trouble. Use that auspicious nose of yours and tell me if I’m lying.”

Truthfully it helped that Gordon wasn't lying. He never did. A waste of time to lie when the truth always caught up with you eventually...

Neo Alice · Jun 21, 2021

Ophelia, Galadriel & Verónica

Location: The Hive's HQ

Mentions:

Zat

Her ethereal form would move through the air, levitating and fluctuating as she made her presence known. The people in the room would gasp and bow their heads, one should always show respect to the Psyqueen even if she already knows that you respect her. "My children, your hard work has rained fruition at last. Today Project Assimilation begins and with it, the first step into reaching utopia." She raised both hands making an illusion on top of her palms of the faces of Silver and Casey. "These two shall be the first of many, with them our great design will be carried out to completion!" An uproar of cheers and applause broke the silence in the place, countless people in gray robes with their faces covered in hoods celebrated their queen.

She vanished from sight, of course she was never there in a corporeal way to begin with. She didn’t appear to just a few workers but to the entire building in different rooms and places, everyone got their own projection of their queen speaking directly to them. Meanwhile Verónica saw this alongside Galadriel through the main lab where the footage from the city was also on display. "That’s… overwhelming, why is she going through all that trouble?" She asked to the angel, they were less invasive ways to communicate with the workers that were simpler as well.

"Fear is Reverence and Reverence is Power." Said Galadriel, watching the image of Ophelia move and speak as a true queen. "Any half decent god knows that."

At the mention of the word ‘god’ Verónica smirked. "A goddess, her? I mean, I know she’s powerful but godlike?" A shiver ran down her spine, it was a disturbing thought.

"Of course not, silly. Doesn’t mean she isn’t aiming for it…" She analyzes the footage now, since new people have arrive to the town. "You would be surprised, not many gods have her type of goals in mind." She said that with a bit of spite, as her own creator was nothing more than a raging deity that loved to cause pain and bring destruction to wherever they went. "Trust me, it could be worse than utopia." In a sense, she felt like Ophelia was her new creator that brought her back from the ashes of despair.

Verónica was going to process all that, she really was, but suddenly the footage showed the face of a gorgeous guy. "Sure, sure, utopia. Hey, who’s that?" She touched the monitor showing his face, tapping it with her index finger. This prompts a small summary of his identity as well as his status, of course that’s not what Verónica is interested in. "Gordon Greenwood, damn… he’s fine." She bites he lower lip, while Galadriel just rolls her eyes.

"AND he’s a Special Investigator." She cuts rapidly, moving her finger to the next words to his name. "Looks like he’s here on a different assignment, as anticipated, good." The footage focused on Casey, Farron and the spider now with a few taps in the air from her. "Oh, how cute. If only it were so easy…" She shook her head, after all the serum was made by her and designed to attach itself to the subject’s spinal fluid to ensure full assimilation, how else would it awaken their psychic potential?

"So is it time to release the dragons?" Verónica moves to the desk behind Galadriel, where three pearly orbs glowing cyan, pink and gold laid on an incubator. "Pretty please? People wait for seasons before getting to see dragons, I can’t handle that!"

The angel just shooks her head while crossing her arms. "I’m sorry, V. My babies aren’t ready yet." She gives a second look to the monitors and smirks. "Or rather… they aren’t ready for them." She softly runs her fingers across the orbs, which start glowing a bit harder. "We must wait until the targets evolve before unleashing them." The three orbs were once actually dragons that came through the portal at some point, however, the organization that kidnapped her and the others slayed them and crystallized their souls to use them as batteries. "Fools, they could never figure out their deeper applications, their imagination was limited by mortality."

PixelSymphony · Jun 22, 2021

~(Sr.) Val'sharra Nightshroud~
~ Closing Remarks ~

Status
Condition: Nominal
Wearing: Semi-formal outfit
Holding: Harper's Shotgun
Carrying: 2x pistol, 2x dagger
Location: Outside Ma's Partially Destroyed Diner, Hartfield, AZ
Time: 3:11 PM

---

All right Val, we're almost out of here, just keep moving, the demoness spoke to herself as she pulled open the driver's side door to the pickup. She settled the shotgun back into its retention device and hopped in, reaching into her pocket absentmindedly before remembering the circumstances of their trip over. Thankfully she didn't need to hot-start the truck again as she'd left the engine running, a fact she was quite glad of as the Special Investigator sauntered up to her side of the truck and put an arm on the driver's window in equal measures congeniality and control. Damnit. "Yes, Special Investigator? Did you have any further questions?" she bit out with the thinnest veneer of politeness. As the agent began into his spiel about making official statements, she furtively attempted to hide any of the more egregious wires from view with her legs.

After he'd finished, Val took a moment to think, during which Gordie stood back and made his remark to her passenger in the bed. That's your cue, girl. "Well unfortunately Mr. Greenwood, as much as I'd love to tell you, we haven't even checked in anywhere. Best guess? Some rundown motel within twenty miles of this one-stoplight town. But if we chance to see you at this diner, I'm sure we'd happy to tell you. Now then, if you'll excuse us, we need to be up early tomorrow." Before the federal agent could ask any additional inconvenient questions, she shoved the truck into gear and wheeled off, taking a right onto the main road and chugging down and out of sight at a rapidly increasing clip.

Man I wish I'd brought my flask right about now...

---

Interactions:

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BoomersAndMash · Jun 22, 2021

HARPER STEELBITE

Location Truck bed Time: 3:15PM

The man was talking still, telling her to use her nose and know that he wasn't lying. Of course she could tell he wasn't lying, but Harper was tired, hot, aching and wanted to just get going. So being told by a young mage that she should use her nose to figure out if he was telling the truth was an insult in away. The beast turned her body to have her back turned to the agent as the truck popped into gear. Thank goodness Val seemed to have a sixth sense about her in knowing when it was time to go.

When they pulled away from the diner it was the first time she allowed her body to relax from being tense all day. Feeling the truck move, taking a turn then going straight, Harper soon had her body shift back into her human form. It was a slow process than normal but she wanted to talk to Val and get her take on what had gone on. They needed to form a plan and also if they were going to be a team they needed to both know each other better.

As the last bit of fur disappeared there was a duffle bag in the bed with her that held a spare change of clothes, granted yes being naked in the back of the truck wasn't ideal but Harper wasn't also sitting up straight and waving her hand out to the world while screaming out "Look at me, I'm naked!" Changing into her spare clothing, she looked just how she did in the diner, expect her shirt was now a blue flannel and her boots looked like a pair of rugged cowboy that needed a good cleaning.

She brought up her hand tapping on the back window to get Val attention. "Kid, go to the first motel. I don't care if it looks seedy. I'm starving, tired, sore and need a good shower. Then we need to talk." Her hand ran across her neck where the other werewolf had bit her. The would was healed but there was a large bruise with teeth imprints around it. Who was that werewolf? And what was that thing that she was shot with? It was a puzzle to Harper and she didn't like puzzles that seemed to have more questions than answers. But first take care of body needs than figure out what the hell is going on.

Interaction:

PixelSymphony
Mention:

Zat · Jun 23, 2021

Vivx'Xka - Vic - Outside Ma's Slightly Demolished Diner

Vic took Casey's hand and gave it a shake to seal the deal. He'd still need to pull down a contract and fill out the paperwork and whatnot, but that was a problem for later.

"Glad to hear it. It'd be an awkward sell without you registered," Vic hummed with a jovial tone.

"So Casey..." he launched into a quick explanation about his plans, and asked if the hunter would be okay with sticking around for a night, to which he thankfully agreed.
The demon and the werewolf took off at some point during his explanation, despite Gordon's wishes, which was... a bold move, to be sure, but he couldn't fault their moxie.

Vic pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and popped out the stylus. The cursed thing didn't work with his gloves or his chitin, so the stylus was the only way for him to use it. A constant frustration if he had to use someone else's phone and it didn't have one.
He pulled up the closest motel and recommend that they stay there to Casey and the other Athenians. He'd have liked to check his, uh... compatibility with the rooms first, but this wasn't exactly the time for browsing. He'd make whatever he ended up with work.

Sliding back into his van, he took off towards the motel. He'd get himself filled in and go to sleep for the night. Hopefully, this would all be a little more manageable in the morning.

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Silver- · Jun 24, 2021

Farron Giroux
Tags:

Zat | Mentions:

PixelSymphony

The moment Agent Greenwood nodded, another low sigh left Farron’s lips after she’d uttered her string of words, knowing that they were probably falling on deaf ears. More or less, she was warning the Special Agent about how exactly to be talking around the likes of them—the wolf in particular. Human underneath or not, she was sure that animals could scent whom was to be trusted and whom was not and with the fact that the older werewolf had probably been injured in some recent battle, Farron was sure Greenwood’s pressing words were doing nothing but rubbing salt into more than one type of wound.

Turning her attention to Casey, she finally caught his name and nodded in acknowledgement, grinning a bit at his accent. “Casey, I’d shake your hand but I’d rather not paint it red.” She murmured honestly, somewhat dipping her head a semi-formal greeting. “I’m Farron Giroux. An Athenian agent as you already know, but honestly I haven’t been for very long.” Colorado seemed like a place she’d been to before, she noted, but couldn’t quite remember for her memories were still somewhat in disarray from how long she’d been a wolf not too long before she’d joined Athena.

The moment she heard Agent Greenwood insinuate that the older werewolf—whom she could smell was becoming increasingly frustrated at his presence—use her nose to figure out whether or not he smelt trustworthy, had Farron making a face as if she’d heard a child wailing at it’s mother to buy them something. “Sorry, I have to step away for a moment, it was nice meeting you though, I look forward to your cooperation in all this. Vic, you’re a godsend.” Farron quickly excused herself, nodding to them both and adding that she’d join them later.

By the time she’d gotten to Greenwood, the truck had already clunked into first gear and drove off but the irritation that stunk the air was prevalent. “You really ought to keep talking like that, if you want to get that pretty face of yours bitten off.” Farron said bitterly to the Special Agent, “I was trying to give you a hint earlier, I’m sorry for rambling. You can’t talk to wolves like that, you know, it’s a really disrespectful thing to do.” She leaned more so towards how he’d told Harper to use her nose to figure out the concept of good or bad and she couldn’t help but step in. “If you want them to help us, you can’t make it sound as if they’re stupid because they’re not. They’re people too and you ought to give them some space. Couldn’t you tell how exhausted they looked?” Farron knew it wasn’t entirely her place to be scolding someone like Greenwood but it grinded her gears too much to stand by and listen to his chatter, her hand soon coming to grab his wrist and place the evidence bag in his palm. “Analyze that, warlock and see what you can sniff out from it. I’m going to where Vic and Casey are headed.” And he should probably do that same.

Farron walked off in the direction Vic’s vehicle had gone in without waiting for Agent Greenwood’s response, seeking out the motel they’d all probably be housed at.

PixelSymphony · Jun 24, 2021

~(Sr.) Val'sharra Nightshroud~
~ Home Away From Home ~

Status
Condition: Nominal
Wearing: Semi-formal outfit
Location: Main Road, Hartfield, AZ
Time: 3:11 PM

---

Val kept her eyes on the road as the tapping from the rear window caught her attention. Reaching up with one hand, she fiddled with the latch momentarily until it finally popped open, the wind now whistling through as her mentor spoke. "Ay ay, cap," she tossed off with a mock salute before reaching for her phone. Signal strengths out in the desert were never great but nonetheless her phone latched onto whatever it could find, directing the duo another few miles down the stretch of road they were on before she cranked the wheel to the right to pull off into a dusty parking lot. "Desert View Inn," she muttered, reading the faded wooden sign, its letters pockmarked from the natural sandblasting any substantial wind brought with it. As opposed to what?

The demoness stepped out of the cab, her eyes meeting with Harper's as she herself clambered out of the truck bed. "Well, here we are: Paradise at half price. I don't exactly have much luggage, and I'm guessing you weren't exactly packed for a three week getaway either, so I guess let's just head in." The small motel office smelled of cheap cigarettes and stale beer, and the clerk behind the counter didn't even bother to make eye contact as he listed the rates. Val fished out her half of the rental fee and dropped it on the counter, receiving the room key in return and setting out once Harper plunked down her share. "Second floor, so at least we'll have some height in case anybody comes knocking."

The room, as the two would quickly find out, was nothing to write home about. As the cheaply-veneered door swung in, its hinges creaking in protest, two small beds were revealed, a shared nightstand the only thing separating them. Along the wall ran a low set of dressers which doubled as a shelf, and presumably behind the wall in back was a bathroom. Val'sharra tossed the key onto the nightstand and flopped back on the bed closest to the door, her boots kicking up once from the momentum before settling to the bed top with muffled thud. "All right boss, you wanna debrief before, after, or during an hour-long soak in the tub?"

---

Interaction:

BoomersAndMash · Jun 24, 2021

HARPER STEELBITE

Location: Desert View Inn Time: 3:25 PM

The Inn wasn't anything to write home to, but she had been in seedier places and at least the door was on the hinges and had a lock to it. There was a time she remembered she was in a motel where there was no lock, door knob was broken and anyone could walk in. The smell made Harper wrinkle her nose and caused her beast to become edgy again. Smells of stale cigarettes were one of her pet peeves, that and having a young gun agent think that they could talk down to her and treat her like a child.

Walking in the room she didn't even wait for Val to ask when to debrief when she started to unbutton her flannel and make her way to the bathroom to the shower. For the love of anything that is listening the shower better have good water pressure or else this room was going to see what an angry werewolf looks like.

Keeping the door open the older Hunter threw her clothing out towards the bed, not caring if she hits Val or not. It was one of those days where Harper needed a shot of whisky, pizza and a cheap movie. But this hell forsaken place probably didn't have a pizza joint and the only movie they might have on TV would be called "Informercial from hell". Then Val started to talk about debriefing Shit, they needed to debrief on what had happened.

Turning on the water it was some miracle that the pressure was good to Harper stander. The room lives to see another day. Stepping in she closed her eyes and her body screamed in bliss while her beast enjoyed the water. The aches were melting away to where she finally felt like a "human" again. Now it was time to debrief about the day.

"Now, we debrief now. First off........Thank you for having my back against that feral." She opened her eyes thinking about the fight that happened. Her hand reached for her neck, tracing the mark around her. Whoever they were they were strong but reckless. But they got the jump on her and that scared Harper. But now was not the time to think about what could have happened. There was still more to talk about, like what did Val do when that agent took her picture?

Grabbing the shampoo she glanced out from the shower to see what the demon was doing. Her voice then broke the silence, "Val.....What did you do when that agent pulled out their phone? I heard you whispering something. If we're going to be partners we need to trust each other. And you can ask me anything after this question." It was a fair trade off. Ask a question that could be personal and then have one be asked. She had a feeling that tonight was not only going to be a debrief night but a get to know each other night. And there were some demons that Harper wasn't sure she was ready to let loose just yet.

Interaction:

PixelSymphony
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Yahhah · Jun 24, 2021

Hemlock Werwit
Outside of Ma's Diner

As Hemlock scrolled through the book she read she eventually was clued into the fact that one of the Agents from Athena seemed to be waiting on an introduction from her, they seemed to have asked the same from Casey after they sorted out something that went into his system. "Oh yeah. The name is Hemlock, I dabble a bit in bounty hunting" Hemlock introduced herself cheerily with a bit of extra information. She waited for a few moments for more people to speak before she realized that the people that the Agents had been speaking to decided to hit the road. The meeting seemed to be disbanding a bit, maybe she hadn't needed to stick around. Hemlock hopped up to her feet and stretched after sitting.

She shrunk down her seat with another rubber band and tossed the toy sized furniture into her bag. The witch took a moment to straighten her hat, make sure her spellbook was still safely in its carrier on her hip. With everything in order she looked back towards the Athenians who seemed to be having a bit of an argument. "Excuse me, but is there anything you three need from me or...?" Hemlock asked while simultaneously digging in her bag for something distractedly.

JesseMarshall · Jun 24, 2021

Special Investigator Gordon Greenwood
Time: 3:19 PM MST
Location: Ma's Diner
Hartfield, Arizona

Gordon stepped back just in time to save his right foot from being run over. The truck sputtered off, and as the rusty thing turned a corner, Gordon heard the unmistakable clicking of lousy wheel bearings—a costly fix, but left untreated, could lead to a myriad of other problems. The most important, the wheel stopping while in motion.

He scrunched up his face in concentration and snapped his fingers just as they were turning another corner. The knocking noise abruptly stopped. He smirked at the retreating vehicle, knowing that they'd get to their destination safely, well, if that demoness knew how to drive, he supposed.

The click of dress shoes on cement alerted Gordon to Special Agent Giroux’s approach. The special investigator dropped his smirk before she could catch it and instead raised an eyebrow at her expression.

Irritation lingered on Giroux's features, filling the bridge of her nose and the space between her brows with wrinkles. Gordon followed standard procedure, took a nine-hour course split between two days on werewolf social and pack communication, and let the suspects leave without supplying an address. What did she have to be upset about?

Gordon stopped listening after her first childish and indignant remark. He didn't possess the time to cater to a grown adult's hurt feelings. Instead, he turned back to the crumbling diner, formulating a course of action to piece the thing back together. It seemed that he would be doing the work alone.

Giroux’s tantrum buzzed in the background of his mind like an annoying gnat circling around his head. When she grabbed Gordon by the wrist, though, his attention snapped back to her with a frown.

Gordon’s frown deepened into a scowl as she went on. Giroux forced a sealed plastic bag in his hand with an evidence label stuck to the front, called him a slur, and threw out one last biting admonishment before turning to leave. The special investigator’s expression morphed into one of sadistic humor.

“Special Agent Giroux,” he said, his tone becoming honeyed. The young woman didn’t turn back, but Gordie knew she could hear him. The special agent investigator could stand three blocks away from her in New York City, barely raise his voice above its average decibel, and she would still be able to hear him. Werewolves and many other preters enjoyed the benefits and despised the curses of heightened senses.

Gordon went on, “Withholding the truth from a federal investigator is seen as lying and punishable with court-martial. Don’t do it again.” He paused and added to her retreating form, “And my concern isn’t with them ‘helping’; it’s with them sticking around, and the best way to keep a werewolf in town is by pissing them off. I’ll check in with your SAIC for you.”

He watched the werewolf go, shoulders straight and a gait commonplace with agents right out of training. When she disappeared around a corner, Gordon went to his car and opened the passenger side door. His fingers pressed the chrome button to open the glove box and removed a short piece of white chalk. Once he stood firmly in the middle of the lot again, he held the chalk out in front of him and whispered an incantation over it.

Satisfied with the spell work, Gordie let the thing go midair. The piece of chalk hovered there, suspended by the invisible force that most mages equated to will. Gordon squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating on the pattern he wanted on the ground. After a moment, the chalk zipped to the asphalt and began drawing of its own accord.

The cell in Gordie’s front pocket went off, “Special Agent Investigator Greenwood. The line is green.”

“Agent Greenwood,” the warm, rough voice of SAIC Collins spilled over him from the receiver. “I’m calling for a status report if you have one.”

Gordon nodded to himself, “I do. Strangely enough, I was just about to call you.”

“Great minds and all that,” Chace Collins chuckled. “What do you have?”

“I found your agent alive and well,” Gordon replied. “She’s here in Hartfield.”

SAIC Collins sighed with relief, “Thank the powers that be for that. She’s one of my best, and I couldn’t imagine losing her. So how is she living up to head-quarter expectations?”

“She’s been a huge help,” Gordon said. “Very resourceful and calm under pressure. Give her a raise before I offer her a job under the director.”

The SAIC barked with laughter, “I’ll take that into consideration. And Special Agent Vic?”

“He’s the same,” Gordon nodded again. “Grateful to have them both on board.”

“Excellent, I'll let you get back to it, then.”

Gordon hung up the phone right as his chalk finished its task. A large circle in white with ancient-looking designs scrawled on the inside now took up half the parking lot. He sighed, bending down and picking up the now lifeless chalk. He really didn’t want to do this alone, but he could see no other way.

No, there happened to be another way. He could take things slow and rebuild the place without dumping all of his magic out at once. Then again, he traveled halfway across the country over two days, just drove three hours to get to this dustbowl, and somehow didn’t get a single written statement from anyone. Gordie’s muscles ached with excruciating pain, and he wanted to stand under a steaming hot shower for an hour or so...

Let’s get this over with, then, he thought.

Gordon walked into the middle of the design, took a deep breath, shut his eyes, and clapped his hands together. The sound reverberated like a crack of thunder, rattling what windows were still in their frames. Dark clouds rolled in from the east, blocking out the hot desert sun.

Gordon turned his face to the sky as the first heavy raindrops fell from above. His full lips were parted—slack-jawed against the onslaught of magic coursing through his body. Grabbing a fistful of live electric wire would seem tame. His eyes opened in an unnatural jerk as if wrenched open by some force unseen. The usually steel-gray eyes glowed a rich sapphire, seeming to have captured the lightning now flashing overhead.

Thin lines of pure electricity arched between the tips of Gordon's fingers. He lifted his hands, palms up, directly in front of him. Wind whistled around the parking lot, on its way to becoming a piercing howl, and the old Crown Vic wobbled on its tires as the relentless gusts battered the sides of it. Gordie didn’t notice—he didn’t notice anything except for the giant eye of a massive storm lingering directly above the diner.

The parted lips began to move with no conscious directive from Gordon, and the voice that poured out of his throat didn’t belong to him. More ancient than the deepest depths of the sea and more carnal than mother nature herself, the voice ripped its way out from the special investigator’s throat. Each syllable of the ancient language groaned with an overwhelming sound. The passenger side windows of the Crown Vic shattered inward, and street lamps overhead blew out their bulb.

The sky opened, and torrential rain poured from the heavens. Gordie became soaked to the bone within seconds, and the drenching waters washed away the blood trickling from his ears. His eardrums were ruptured from the ageless language rising from an immemorial past.

“Λάβετε το πνεύμα μου. Εξαφανίστε αυτή τη φορά, Φέρτε πίσω το παρελθόν. Υποκύψει σε μένα! Είμαι ο θεός του χρόνου—Είμαι ο Χρόνος.”

The rain began to slow, not in volume, but in the speed at which it came down. Lightning crawled between the clouds above, its sluggish pace drawing out the terrible roll of thunder. Then, the rain came to a laggard halt. It floated in the air around the mage, shimmering but still. On a path to strike a tree, a fork of lightning hung frozen like a brightly luminescent shard of ice.

Something in the mage’s brain popped and sent searing pain through his skull. Warmth flooded out of his nose and eyes, spilling between Gordon’s parted lips. A sharp coppery taste of blood coated his tongue, and a world of darkness blossomed before his eyes. There came a sensation akin to being pulled through a tight space, and suddenly, Gordon found himself in a black and inky void.

“You ask for too much, little mage,” a raspy voice whispered in the emptiness behind him.

Gordon spun, coming face to face with an aged man. The elder’s hair stood in stark contrast to his bronzed-gold skin and fell thick and snowy-white atop his head. Bright blue eyes blazed from a wizened but healthy-looking face. The man wore nothing but a white cloth wrapped around his form, draped over one shoulder. A toga, clasped at the seam with a golden broach of two intertwined olive branches.

The man’s naked left side exposed a muscular torso and more of that smooth, bronzed skin.

The unnamed presence placed a hand on Gordon’s shoulder, smiling kindly at him, “All this for an insignificant structure?”

Gordon shook his head, “No, I want to go back further. I want to be there and see what happened with my own eyes. I’ll push back time just enough to-”

“You will perish,” the other interrupted.

“I can do it,” Gordon argued. “I’ve done it before.”

The ancient being shook his head with a heavy sigh, “You’ve shoved the boundary inside of a dewdrop, yes, but you would need girdle Gaia herself to bend time to your will.”

“If I can’t do that,” Gordon began, “Then show me what happened. I don’t have to be there. I just need to know.”

“And what are you prepared to witness in exchange? When you stand at the back of time and glance ahead, the future opens before you,” the man chided. “Are you willing to see to the end of time and your hour of death?”

“They’re not one and the same,” Gordie snapped, causing his companion to laugh.

“You of mortal birth,” he chuckled. “You carry the weight of such short lives, and yet you think you’ve known all there is to know. How would you even fathom the idea of time’s end, let alone be able to mark the hour?”

Gordie said, “The world can’t end just because I die. Plenty of people have died before me, and plenty will after I am long gone.”

The man withdrew his hand but still smiled warmly at him, “I never said that your death would end my existence. I simply implied that they would share the same moment. The end to all existence. I have been waiting for so long to see such a thing, and now that it’s approaching, I fear it deeply.”

“What’s approaching,” Gordon asked. “What is it? Who are you?”

Only a three-word response ushered the special agent to enlightenment.

I am time...

Gordon found himself back at the small restaurant, standing in the immobile rain. He pulled his spelled circle inward and felt the tension running off of him as he did. He brought it to the edge of the diner to begin again. Such a waste of energy and ethos.

The rain started to move once more—almost imperceptibly. Stranger still, it climbed toward the sky instead of falling from it. Strands and droplets of water riveted upward into the gray abyss above, moving faster and faster. An ocean of water once covered the lot, but it too dried in the wake of Gordon’s craft. Then, once the gray and terrifying weather moved away, the building began to piece itself together. Glass reformed like water droplets drifting into one another on a flat surface, and the door slanted up and reattached itself to the frame. Everything else went back into its place in time.

Over and done with, Gordie collapsed onto his hands and knees. His energy evaporated, and he could barely do a thing besides gulp down giant lung-fulls of oxygen. Once the world stopped its mad spinning, Gordie crawled to the Crown Vic, dragged himself onto the backseat, and slammed the door shut behind him. Nothing in this world existed that could keep the mage’s eyes from sinking low.

Darkness overcame his senses, and he slipped into a deep and dreamless sleep. He would awake sometime later, feeling like the roadkill of an eighteen-wheeler, but until then, he slept.

Unbeknownst to Gordie, hidden away in a parallel plane of existence, the Olympians watched every group member below, offering quiet blessings to their chosen heroes.

Neo Alice · Jun 24, 2021

Ophelia, Galadriel & Verónica

Location: The Hive's HQ

Mentions:

As the Special Investigator made an incredible display of magical prowess both Galadriel and Verónica chew soundly the popcorns moments ago delivered by Ophelia, she was also indulging herself in the banal pleasure of eating junk food while watching top tier entertainment but at a more silent pace.

"Well, that’s something." She said a bit disappointed at his current state, for all his display had ultimately burned him out. "Was that Greek? I would have expected the basic Latin, that tends to be the stereotype in this world."

"Oh but his nothing like average." Said Verónica while licking the salt from her tip of her fingers. "Trust me, I have a sixth sense for these things."

Galadriel raised her voice with a tired tone while rolling her eyes once more. "About that, his incantation directly translates to: ‘Receive my spirit. Disappear this time, Bring back the past. Bow down to me! I am the god of time — I am Time.’ So we might have a bigger issue. He didn’t ‘fix’ the diner, he undid its destruction."

Both Verónica and the Queen looked at each other, then to the angel. Only the Psyqueen spoke, as Verónica was distracted watching her crush sleep in the car like a baby. "You speak Greek?" She tilted her head to the left, a language native to this world as old as greek as an impressive feat to have mastered.

Cypher raised her left eyebrow, smirking at the question. "Of course not, how would i? I google translated it, duh." She had to hold her laughter at the blank expression in the Psyqueen’s face.

"That’s… that’s cheating!" She points her accusatory finger to Cypher, a bit ashamed to not know greek herself.

"Oh look at him, he’s so tired, yes he is." Says Verónica while petting the screen where the young Special Investigator is shown resting.

"We are watching the whole town through my hacking powers, I think the bar was set high long ago." The angel raised both of her hands, signaling the entire room.

"Whatever, we must gather more intel on this guy." She crosses her arms and looks away, just in time to Verónica to raise her hands. "No, you aren't going to do it Diasomnia. I want intel on his powers, not the contents of his pants."

"Damn... so close."

PixelSymphony · Jun 24, 2021

~(Sr.) Val'sharra Nightshroud~
~ Questions and Answers ~

Status
Condition: Nominal
Wearing: Semi-formal outfit
Location: Desert View Inn, Room 202 Hartfield, AZ
Time: 3:25 PM

---

"Hey, not a problem!" Val responded, grinning and giving a thumbs up from her position flat on the bed. "I'd expect any fellow hunter to do the same for me, at least I'd hope!" Then Harper's tone turned serious, and Val's grin quickly disappeared, replaced with a small look of surprise. "Ah, I suppose I should have known you'd have heard that," she admitted, sitting up and scooting to sit on the edge of the bed. "It was... well, I suppose the easiest way to describe it would be to call it an illusion charm. Something to momentarily bend the rays of light reflecting off of you and into the imager chip in the inspector's phone, and yes, before you say anything I know how much shit I would have been in if he noticed. I just... got the feeling you didn't exactly want your identity to be known, wolf form or not."

"All right, my turn; actually it's pretty much just continuing on the same thought; why is it that you're as hesitant to reveal your identity to Athena as you are? You're a licensed hunter, and despite our hit-and-run attitude earlier today, we didn't actually break any laws. But you didn't turn back when Freckles asked you to, and you sure as hell looked less than excited to be dealing with any of the agents." She repeated her question, staring off towards the direction of the bathroom. "Why?"

---

Interaction:

BoomersAndMash · Jun 24, 2021

HAPER STEELBITE

Location: Desert View Inn, Room 202 Time: 3:30PM

The million dollar question was asked. Straight for the kill and she should have known it was going to happen sooner or later, but not this soon. Harper stayed quiet for a few moments reflecting on what she was going to say to Val. Tell the truth? Lie? Push it aside? It just seemed like the easiest thing to do was to just tell the demon "Not now, another time." but that wouldn't be fair since she did say that any question could be asked. And if they were to trust each other the air needed to be clear of any misunderstandings.

A loud squeak came from the shower, the water ceased to only drips on the floor. Wrapping herself up in the towels that were left out for guest the old wolf took a deep breath putting her thoughts together. How even though the past had happened so long ago it still was not easy to talk about.

"Why? You ask a hard question kid.....a question that under any normal reason I would tell you that it was none of your business and to keep walking. But I did open the can of worms by stating you could ask me anything and I should have figured this would be your go to question, so it's only fair I answer it."

She walked out of the bathroom and grabbed her shirt and pants. Sitting on the empty bed without even having a care in the world, Harper began to change back into her clothing. Showing decency in this line of work went out the window along with chivalry. Having the towel around her neck to keep her shoulders dry Harper turned her attention back to Val and licked her lips. This was going to be a hell of a story.

"Years ago, probably before you were even a hatchling. Sorry, not sure how you demons are born. I just assume from an egg or something. But anyways years ago before I became a Hunter I was actually apart of Athena. I was apart of a special task force that primarily used only werewolves as either search and rescue or search and destroy. We did the latter a lot." Her tongue clicked the side of her check remembering some of the missions that had happened. Go in fast, hard and leave no survivors of Coven. Never question what to do just do it and get it do.

Her chest tightened as the story was starting to get closer to the why. Her eyes never wavered from Val. "My team was the best. We were a strike force that would go in where there were tips of pockets of Coven. We would go in, find the pocket, destroy the pocket and leave nothing behind. We were the team you never heard about on the news or in the papers. It wasn't PR friendly and would spook other supernatural into thinking we would target them randomly. So we were kept quiet." The tightness in her chest grew. Would this spook Val? Would she see Harper as an enemy now? As a threat? Only one way to find out, continue the story.

Harpers voice softened, her shoulders slacked down while the weight of guilt pressed down. "I never questioned them. Never batted an eyelash when I was told to take out a pocket. They told me to jump and I would ask how high? But that all came to a halt because of one mission. One mission they lied about to me and my team." Her hands gripped at the blanket, eyes narrowing in anger as they flashed a golden amber color. The beast was stirring inside as it was feeling the anger from the betrayal all those years ago.

"We were sent to a small town back in October. The month doesn't matter but for some reason I still remember it. Intel had told us that the town was a ploy and was infested with Coven. The town was to be cleaned of all inhabitants, no questions asked. But when we arrived at the drop point I could tell something was already off. The town was inhabited by humans and supernatural. It reeked of it. I ordered my team not to attack and not to shift, they agreed seeing that they were confused with the smell also." She closed her eyes and for a moment could see the town in front of her, could see the people outside decorating for Halloween and having a conversation with each other. She could also hear the radio chatter in her ear.

This is Steelbite to HQ.

Go ahead Steelbite.

We've arrived at our target location but we're picking up humans in the mix. Are you sure this intel is correct?

Intel is correct. Proceed with the plan.

But there are humans here. We don't attack humans. That's for the law to deal with.

Proceed with the plan, Steelbite.

Negative. I'm not sending my people in there to take out humans if these are not Coven. Coven doesn't take humans.

Are you disobeying a direct order?

I'm not disobeying a direct order. I'm reporting that your intel is incorrect and requesting to pull out and report to the director immediately.

Negative, Steelbite. You have no authority over what to say or do. Your mission is to destroy that pocket of Coven and leave nothing behind. Now be a good dog and do what you've done before and do your job.

HQ?

Yes, Steelbite?

Go to hell! -Kzrt Transmission lost

Harper opened her eyes slowly, letting her body fall back into the motel room. Feeling the bed back under her, the stale cigarette smoke fill her nose, the damp towel around her neck catching any bits of water that was trying to fall from her hair. She wasn't sure how long she was lost in her thoughts but the story wasn't over. Clearing her throat to gain Val attention Harper sat herself up a little bit straighter and said
"HQ wanted that town taken out in a semi political move. Make it look like Coven You know how they say Athena is there for you? Well sometimes they need to make things "happen" in order for certain things to be moved, passed or allowed. I wasn't going to be a pawn in that game. I wasn't going to let my hands be covered in blood of the innocents." The weight of the guilt continued to build around Harper shoulders but a sense of relief was starting to wash over too. Finally someone was learning the truth of Athena. That they weren't all just goody good for Supernatural. That they had an agenda and saw some folks as pawns in a chess board.

"So when I destroyed the coms I told my team what was happening. Gave them the option to go back to base and face punishment for disobeying a direct order, or leave with some dignity like me. I warned them if any of them tries to finish the mission I will kill them. Luckily for me werewolves tend to listen to the alpha and I was the alpha so we all agreed and deserted our mission. We knew this would piss off Athena and have them on our tail but we didn't care. From then on I changed my ways, used my skills to be a Hunter. Never stay in one place and when Athena get's close to me is when I move out of town. That's why I'm on edge seeing those three agents. If anyone one of them recognizes me I can be in more trouble than what we were just in now."

It was a lot to take in and Harper knew Val would have to swallow all this information down. She wasn't going to ask another question, instead she asked "You got another question for me? Figured I'd ask since I know I just told you a lot and I'm sure you got a lot on your mind. I'll answer them as best as I can."

Interaction:

Silver- · Jun 25, 2021

Silver Blackwood
Mentions:

JesseMarshall | Location: The edge of town > The Diner

Your target is a much older werewolf, she has notable history with The Coven and Athena as being the leader of a pack of murderers. A man shrouded by a hood with glaringly bright yellow eyes advised Silver of her newest task at hand. Your job is to execute her in return for the countless members of The Coven her and her pack had slain under the guise of Athena. A brief description of Harper had been given to Silver along with her full name and the fact that she was a werewolf just like her. The Coven was notorious for having members kill their own kind as a means of showing their loyalty to the mysterious group, along with any tasks that involved taking the lives of humans that dare to uprise against their reign. Silver had to bite back the temptation of hesitation in her task. Sure she’d done countless jobs since she’d been dropped off in their hands by the likes of her father including that of providing assistance for their experimentation departments or cutting down Athenians, Supernaturals and Humans alike, but for some reason a part of her wanted to bring no harm to this wolf. It unsettled her, fed at her doubts as to how The Coven functioned as a whole and whether or not she wanted to continue the bloody tasks they dished out to her. A wolf born in blood of innocents and enemies pulling out all the stops for a single individual of her own kind? The man could tell she wasn’t entirely appeased with the idea and reminded her easily what would happen if she avoided her tasks or attempted to hand them off to someone else. They’ll dispose of an asset like you without a second thought, your status within our ranks means nothing. Or so he said. Demanding figures were something Silver had learned to brush off, death coming as nothing but an inconvenience depending on the way it occurred more than a fear in itself.

The wolves that existed within The Coven’s ranks were far and few between with the majority of them being recruited or lone wolves that had been exiled from their packs for being a bit too familiar with the taste of blood in their mouths. No matter the type. Silver was intertwined with The Coven out of a situational purpose, not that of her own and questioning her own abilities and just far she could go were creeping up on her the longer she listened to the vengeful terms of a biased group of supernaturals that sent her and many others to do their dirty work. Is this really what I should be doing? The image of herself standing with the cloaked man blurred, instead being replaced by her sitting in a dark, empty room that contained no walls. A pile of bones stretched before her, miles high and wide, their colors ranging from bleached white to stark, glossy black. Silver looked to them forlornly, the scent of decay and effluvium choking her lungs as she could only stare as hot, sticky blood pooled around her in a blink of an eye, shackling her to her spot as the room rapidly filled with enough crimson liquid to the point that it raised up, filling the area swiftly and submerging her, dragging her down until it entered her lungs.

Amber-gold eyes blazed open to the rich scent of petrichor and magic. Someone was using some awfully powerful arcane arts to brew thunderous clouds nearby. Lightning arced inside dark gray clouds that swarmed in an angry circle above what appeared to be where the diner she’d been at earlier, a deep rumbling reverberating almost through her bones as someone reciting an unknown language hummed in her ears. Silver stretched each of her limbs, paws splaying and grabbing at soft earth and dried grass fronds before she shook out her pelt, easing some of the remnants of her dreams that clung to her like a fog. Her body felt stiff as if she’d laid on a hunk of ice to the point that her muscles had seized up in her sleep and her chest ached with bruises, but she had to move along. If she went too slowly, the Coven would be sure to send someone else to do more than one job.

By the time she’d stepped back into the small town, the thunderclouds had dissipated and instead of sunlight, shadows began to reign over the small buildings. A few lights cast artificial comfort to those they reached but otherwise, this town was drenched in darkness. Huffing softly, Silver caught multiple scents overlapping each other and identified them each, carefully stepping around their physical remainders that marked the now peaty earth where she stood. The diner looked.. immaculate. Too immaculate. It seemed as if it had almost been restored to a greater time of glory. Gazing skyward to the purplish-blue expanse that had swallowed up the sun, Silver could make out hundreds of white dots with the lack of city lighting to pollute it’s view. My purpose… I want to find the answer. She could barely recognize her own voice in her head now. The ordeal from earlier must’ve shaken her internally. Blinking slowly, the white wolf drew her gaze towards the single SUV that was now sitting haphazardly in the diner’s parking lot. The magic scent was practically radiating from in there, humming with the life forces of mana that pulsated from more than one being pent up within an individual. How interesting.

PixelSymphony · Jun 25, 2021

~(Sr.) Val'sharra Nightshroud~
~ Partnership ~

Status
Condition: Nominal
Wearing: Semi-formal outfit
Location: Desert View Inn, Room 202 Hartfield, AZ
Time: 3:30 PM

---

Val remained silent and attentive through Harper's harrowing recount of Athena's duplicity, her only remarks being a solemn nod at her remark of not allowing herself to spill the blood of innocents, and a smirk at her description of destroying her comm equipment as a final gesture of independence. "Well... that'd certainly put a damper on my interactions with the G-men if I had to deal with them. Welp," she suddenly announced, bringing her hands up in a shrug and let them fall to the bed with a whump, "if you're looking for my take on what all you've just said, let's just say for reasons best left unsaid, I'm pretty sure I can sympathize with you." A devilish smile followed her statement, offering as much sincerity for the latter clause as mystery for the former. "So I guess the only other question I feel like asking then is 'Well, what next then?' A lot of things happened today, but I get the bad feeling they're all related..."

---

Interaction:

BoomersAndMash · Jun 25, 2021

HARPER STEELBITE

Location: Desert View Inn, Room 202 Time: 3:43PM

Val feeling wasn't far off. Whatever had happened today, the diner, the feral werewolf, the HIVE and now the agents it all seems somehow either connected or a really strange coincidence. What they do now though is get food, get rest and get regrouped. This wasn't like some superhero show where the main character can just go back out and say "I'm back to fight again!" They don't show you in comics or cartoons that behind the scenes when there wasn't any fighting going on the hero was back in their hideout mending their wounds and doing boring things like eating, sleeping or just taking care of their daily needs.

With that though a dull ache pulsed around Harpers neck. She could still feel the fangs of the other werewolf ripping into her skin, tearing into her with pure intent to kill. And by getting away from the attack Harper was sure the werewolf would likely come back to try and finish the job. Her hand ran through her semi damp hair as a growl loudly came from her stomach in a not so subtle tone. "Food. We get food. I'm starving right now I need to eat."

Harper rose from the bed, it gave a low creak protesting to the sudden shift in weight change. She grabbed the room keys from the table but soon quickly turned on her heels and faced Val with a look like the demon just insulted her mother with a "Jo Mama" joke." Her finger quickly pointed up and was just a few inches away from Val face as she spoke very clear and very agitated tone "Don't think I forgot you tore off the wheel panel in my truck. That's coming out of your first hunt's pay, kid. Do that shit again and let's see how you like having a horn of yours snapped off." The last part was a bit of a dark joke, but it also wasn't a joke. Thankfully there was a spare key for the truck in the visor in case she ever loses one.

With the air cleared about the panel of the truck the hangry werewolf was ready to find the first place that looked like it sold something that came off a grill.

Interaction:

Zat · Jun 26, 2021

Vic - Vivx'Xka - The Desert View Inn

Vic pulled up to the motel, or Inn, he supposed. The Desert View Inn to be exact. It looked... okay. Probably the best he could expect from a town this size. Hartfield wasn't exactly a prime tourist destination.

He shuffled his way out the side-door of his van again, and grabbed his bags, laying them on the back of his abdomen before heading in. He gave a friendly wave to a brown-haired, aviator-clad woman that was on her way out, but she just glared at him as she walked past. He gave a small shake of his head and kept walking. He was kind of used to treatment like that at this point, but it still didn't feel great.

The attendant, for his part, didn't seem to react at all. He just droned out the rates, took Vic's card to check him in, and gave him the room key. All with the man's eyes never leaving the ancient-seeming computer screen behind the desk. Vic wondered if the man had even noticed.

Vic headed to his room, looking down at the tag on his key, the number 107 written on it. Good. He wouldn't have to deal with the undoubtedly skinny stairways he was sure a place like this had.
After a moment's walking, he found his room. After opening the door and snagging his bags off his back again, he passed through the unfortunately narrow one-wide door frame with a much-practiced twist of his body.

He pushed the door shut with a rear leg and threw his bags in a corner, aside from his laptop which he tossed on the bed. He took a quick peek in the bathroom, and relaxed a bit at the sight. It was small, and with the size of the tub he'd definitely be having to take sponge baths, but he should be able to work the loo. No late-night bathroom hunts for him.

He laid himself over the bed, taking the opportunity to stretch his legs, and took out his laptop. The first thing he did was log on to Athena's VPN and enter the Agency's internal website, bringing up the "active assignments" page. After another round of checks to verify himself, up popped the list of Athenians in the same operational area. He started making a sound like two glass plates being rubbed together when he found that both Special Agent Farron Giroux and Special Investigator Agent Gordon Greenwood were listed.

"I am going to kill that man," Vic half screeched to himself. Sure, he could check such things himself, but he shouldn't have to. He whipped out his phone and dialed up Kevin. It picked up after a moment.

"Heya, Vic. Make it in alright?" Kevin said, sounding just as casual as always. They were good friends, but sometimes...sometimes he wondered how the man still had a job at Athena.

"I'm very angry with you Kevin," Vic said, trying to keep the screech out of his voice.

"Uhhh... gonna have to fill me in on that one, boss."

"Did you even check my operational area," Vic ground out.

"...Um... I mean... It's a small town in the middle of nowhere, there wasn't really—"

"Check my area, Kevin!" Vic yelled, cutting him off.

"...Oh... I see... you've got two other agents there with you," Kevin said nervously.

"Yes. Yes I do, Kevin. You do realize it is literally your job to brief me on things like this, right? And there's clearly some sort of op going on too and I have no idea what it is! This is how agents die to friendly fire, Kevin! This is literally my life and the lives of others at stake! I caught the tail end of some sort of fight, apparently involving some organization called 'The Hive' and I had no idea what was going on, because the only thing you told me was that Hartfield was a little backwater town with nothing going on, and I should look at this like a damn vacation!" Vic finished. One of the nice things about having a voicebox that was completely divorced from his respiratory system is that he could just keep on yelling without ever needing to take a breath.

"...Sorry, Vic. I'll have you a brief by morning," the man said quietly.

"Just... damnit Kevin. You can't make mistakes like this. I know we're pals, but... this is seriously bad. Like reporting you to the director bad. Someone could die."

"I know, I just... It won't happen again. I promise, Vic."

"Sure. let me give you a debrief," Vic said, before launching into what had happened at the diner. He wrapped it up a couple of minutes later.

"...and... get me that report. I'm gonna talk to the other agents now. Tell Clara I said you're an idiot," Vic added in a slightly more jovial tone.

"Heh... yeah. Will do. I really am sorry, Vic."

"I know," Vic finished, and hung up the phone, running a hand over his head.

He took a deep breath, his abdomen expanding before clapping his hands together with a slightly metallic click, even though the gloves.

"Right. Best wait in the lobby for my new friends. Hopefully, they'll know what the hell is going on here," he said to himself, before heading back to the room in question.

Interactions:

BoomersAndMash
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