ic Tyger Tyger, burning bright (IC)

[Nerdzul]

 

“Ladies and Gentleman! The Tiger's Den Welcomes you to this Evening Entertainment.”

 

The voice boomed through the abandoned warehouse, shutting down the hushed conversation and the drunken laughers that, up to then, had filled the room and alerting the patrons that it was time to flood around the makeshift arena.

 

They were a colorful bunch, most of them thugs, gangsters and other shady figures from Southside, cheerfully spending the night out and enjoying the fights to come. However, any observer could easily spot that common criminals were not the only kind of attendees, as among the crowd one could see individuals whose attire would have been more appropriate in a soiree among the mansions of Bayview rather than a violent night in a rusty warehouse. All of them wearing elaborate animal masks concealing their features and appeared no less hungry for the entertainment provided than the rest of the crowd.

 

“Tonight. I will be your Mistress of Mayhem. Queen of the Arena. Voice of god.” It was a tall blond woman talking, clad in the sumptuous attire of a circus ringleader, a golden cat-mask concealing her eyes, but leaving her smile uncovered. A grin that any watcher that focused on it for more than a moment could be left with the uneasy feeling that it sported too many teeth.

 

She was standing on a makeshift stage, overlooking a pit where the fighting was going to take place, the scene was illuminated only by roaring bonfires with the orange glow giving the ambience of the place an almost infernal vibe.

 

The patrons crowded around the pit and began to shout, ready for blood, all under the watchful eyes of the Tiger Den’s goons, tall, sharply dressed, figures with powerfully built, their expressions concealed by gorilla masks and their hands covered in white gloves.

 

“Fresh Blood Awaits! Proud. Young. Ready for Battle.” The woman continued, raising her hands as if to welcome the fighters into the arena. “Or so they think.” She smirked, malevolently as her eyes surveyed the crowd.

 

“The Tiger will welcome the victors among us. Brave Brothers! Baptized in Battle!” She proclaimed

 

“And as for the losers… well...” She visibly shrugged as a cruel laughter echoed in the room.

 

By the side of the makeshift arena, a portion of the crowd has already began to swarm closer to another one of the organizers, a thin, blond man whose clothing matched the Mistress of Mayhem, with the exception only of the mask, that instead of a cat depicted a red fox.

 

“I am sure that my brother would be eager to take all of your bets, but now, please…  It is time! For! Our! Warriors!”

 

---

 

Finding out about the activities of the Tiger’s Den hadn’t been an impossible task, even for a group of young, or in the case of some among them, time displaced heroes. Sure, the underground fighting ring was new in Freedom City and operated outside the boundaries of the law, but their 'show' had quickly earned enough renown, or infamy perhaps, that information about it was not hard to come by, given enough legwork at least.

 

Unfortunately, from what they had discovered, the kind of bouts like the one planned for that night, were just the tip of the iceberg. There were other, more secretive events whose location and timing were much better guarded. It was on that kind of occasions where the Tyger, leader of the organization, showed up, dark deals were discussed and shady plots formed, frequented by the crème de la crème of the criminal underworld.

 

Now of course, one would need an invitation to participate and those were hard to come by, unless,  one could join the Tiger's Den League. And some spots spots were at stake that very night...

[Dr Archeville]

Horrorshow

 

Aleksandr "Sasha" Palahniuk had been a part of Freedom City's Mafiya for many years, though he was still at a low rank, largely due to his lack of ambition and skill.  His older brother, Vyacheslav, a musician living in an apartment in Riverside, was completely ignorant of his illegal activities, though Vyacheslav's wife, an auto mechanic named Kateryna, had some suspicions, yet seemed content to let things lie.  But her mother, Oksana... she acted like she didn't know, but a few cryptic comments she'd made to him over the years -- comments that had occasionally helped him on some job -- made him suspect that she knew more than she was letting on. 

 

But such suspicions were far form his mind at the moment.  For now he stood, in his sunglasses and brown track suit, among other rough-and-tumble types of Southside, cheering at the Tiger's Den.  He had no idea that, several rows behind him, his nephew was keeping a close watch.

 

The previous night, Davyd's grandmother had pulled him aside after supper and told him that his uncle Sasha had been acting squirrelier than usual, and she wanted her shapeshifitng grandson to keep an eye on him, but not to let him know he was doing so.  Davyd eagerly agreed, always happy to help his babusya, proud to be doing something that might keep a member of his family safe, and curious to see what his uncle could be getting up to.  He had done a fine job tailing his uncle, in the form of a rat, or a pigeon, or passerby.  Once he saw his uncle duck into an incongruously active warehouse, he shifted into a more apt form, a hulking goon in camouflage pants, a faded short-sleeved blue-and-green striped shirt, with a gray flat cap covering short brown hair, and made his way inside.

 

Okay, he thought, he's just attending some illegal street fights, nothing too troubling.  Unless he's making bets he can't pay off.  Which... is very possible, yeah.

 

[Avenger Assembled]

Things had gotten a little out of hand. It was Neko who had overheard the stories of the "Tyger" of Freedom City, and it was she who had suggested to Owain that they investigate without any of their usual friends and allies. If this Tyger was one of the lost children of Mura, the home village that she had left behind in 1944 but that was no longer visible even to her own eyes and ears, perhaps he (or she!) knew a path to find them. Surely American superheroes would just arrest such a criminal rather than ask the questions that Neko needed to have answered. 

 

So it was that they had gone out at night, together, and assumed a proper disguise - Neko wearing a white kimono she'd used for her very first Halloween costume and a hood over her ears, Owain in the skin of a wolf as her companion. Parked in one of the rear benches, Neko closed her eyes and leaned against a wall, letting Owain guard her as she began looking around the place for Tyger. By all appearances they were just an ordinary, if oddly-dressed, Japanese girl and her very large wolf if you didn't look too closely. All across the arena, here and there and everywhere, mysterious cats began searching for the mysterious Tyger. For the coming bloodbath in the arena, Neko cared very little at all. 

For his part, wolf-Owain was on edge. Stealth and sneaking never played to his sense of honor, especially when they were certainly doing false dealings to their hosts. But he was a good guardian nonetheless as Neko used her magic to search the arena and its surroundings, keeping a watchful eye and growling a warning at anyone who came too close to the seemingly-sleeping girl. 

[Spacefurry]

Jennifer was uncomfortable behind the half bear mask covering her face from the nose up as she entered the Tyger's Den. It had taken awhile to get the symbiote to shape it properly enough, of course if one looked closely it still had the rough texture of the techno-organic nature. Her dress was a sleeveless, knee length number of dark maroon that Jamie had helped her pick out last year.

Her best friend, and college roommate, Jamie had mentioned her latest boyfriend had been acting strange the last few weeks. It hadn't taken a lot of effort for the two to track his visit to the den and link them to his odd behavior. They agreed that they couldn't jump to conclusions, so Jennifer had agreed to enter the lion's den..., or rather, the Tyger's Den.

Few spectators stood out as she tried to move casually through the room. A large man in camouflage pants looked to be built like one of the gorilla masked goons, but he wasn't exactly dressed like them. On one of the benches a girl in a white kimono sat with a large dog beside her. She must me someone rich or important Jennifer thought as she took a drink from a tray to hold as a prop in her deception when a woman's voice boomed through the building.

 

Suddenly people moved like a tidal wave, clamoring for a view of the pit below the lasciviously dressed woman in the golden cat mask. She glanced around but couldn't spot Jamie's boyfriend. As started to move around the perimeter of the gathered patrons she just noticed an unusual number of cats wandering around. She chalked the sight up to strays searching for food and ignored them as she continued her search.

Of course, knowing her luck, he chose not to even come this time.

[Nerdzul]

"A man who certainly has  bone to pick..." The voice of the Mistress of Mayhem boomed in the arena as one of the fighters stepped in from behind the makeshift stage. Barrel chested, dressed only in a pair of tattered shorts and military dog-tags around his neck, the wolfman jumped past the roaring bonfires, careless of the flames, he landed in the middle of the arena, bared his claws and howled powerfully toward the sky. 

 

"And I ensure you... the guy is definitely not all bark... Fangs ready and claws bared, say welcome to Ripjaw! Our first fighter!"  She raised waved her arm toward the fighter and grinned widely at chorus of cheers coming up from the crowd. 

 

--- 

 

While unfortunately Neko's cats could not locate the Tyger on the scene, several details did not escape her senses. A powerful unnatural scent of the jungle weirdly saturated the arena, one that she could recognize as a sign of spellwork at hand.  Owain, himself, with his own awareness of the supernatural, could see vines of dark emerald power crowding the abandoned warehouse. The manifestations were stronger around the masked individuals, who strangely enough maybe, Owain realized all lacked any distinctive scent. All, but one, a woman that had just recently joined the crowd and was wearing an bear mask to conceal her features, it almost felt like the unnatural effect was ignoring her. 

 

--- 

 

"I promise you're all going to be shocked!" The voice echoed again as a woman waltzed in the arena, clad in a biker's attire, her eyes concealed by a pair of oversized black googles, she stepped very deliberately on the grounds while swirling a metallic chain over her head, electrical sparks danced around its links and a thunder soon echoed in the arena, strong enough to fully drown the chaos of the crowd.

 

Playfully, she teased the wolf-man with her chain. "Hey doggie doggie doggie..."

 

"Can you all feel the tension in the air the way I do? Please say hello to Chain Lightning!" She grinned mischievously again as the crowd cheered.

 

---

 

As the two fighters showed off in front of the crowd, many of the patrons swarmed toward the bookie and his assistants, a couple of the gorilla masked goons and began to shout their bets. Among t them, there was Davyd's uncle. Although, one could infer that he wasn't paying much attention to the two contestants, but his mind had been drifting somewhere else during the introductions. When he got to the man with the fox masks, the time for betting was pretty much over and much money had traded hands traded with paper slips with the details of individual bets, Sasha's eyes kept shifting from place to place when the bookkeeper saluted him with a grin. They shook hands and apparently the bookie took his bet, but perhaps there was something more going on than what met the eye.

 

--- 

 

While Jennifer walked through the room, she could feel the confusion beginning to ramp up. The crowd growing more restless about the fight to come. She could swear however that from time to time, one of the masked individuals have given her a sideway look, like they could somehow feel that there was something out place. None of them though, seemed to bother or pay too much attention to her, for now.

Edited November 26, 2021 by Nerdzul

[Dr Archeville]

Horrorshow

 

Goon!Davyd moved a few steps to keep an eye on Sasha, and his shoulders sank a bit when he saw the considerable amount of cash he handed to one of the fox-masked bookies.  Oh, Uncle, where did you even get that much?  Mom would be so- waitasec...  He noticed that what the bookie was handing Sasha wasn't a betting slip, but something much bigger.  He took a few steps forward, and saw what he thought was a thick envelope.  What is that?  Receipts?  Contracts for new fighters?  Wait, do they even do contracts in a place like-

 

His train of thought was interrupted by one of the gorilla-masked apes brushing past him, making a beeline for a woman in dark maroon dress and a half bear mask.  Then he noticed the three other apes slowly but steadily making their way towards her.   Four on one seems so unfair, he looked back to his uncle, then to the woman in maroon, but this might be some internal thing that I'd best stay out of.  He looked again to his uncle, then back to the woman and the quickly-approaching apes, eh, I can track Uncle Sasha by his cologne later, he thought as he began stalking behind the ape that had bumped into him.

[Avenger Assembled]

Neko came back to herself and made a disconsolate noise. "Nothing," she murmured in English, and then in Japanese added "<Did you see anything?>" 

 

"<Nay,>" Owain growled, "<Some here are hidden by spells so powerful that they leave behind no scent.>" His Japanese had always been better than her English, perhaps a reflection of the mystic realm from which he came. 

"<At least there is the show,>" said Neko, shrugging. "Maybe we see him later." While the sheer size of the crowd had her on edge, she had no particular fear of bloodsport - and she doubted very, very much that the soft people of the future had anything to show her that she hadn't already seen when it came to carnage. 

 

Owain butted her leg with his massive wolf's head, then turned his head significantly towards the press happening around the woman in the bear-mask. "<There are other problems.>" 

 

Neko studied the scene, glancing over from where she sat, not sure what was happening, and not sure she was supposed to do about it. It wasn't as if she and Owain had actually paid for their tickets either! After a moment's consideration, she decided to rise from her seat and head for Chimera as if she owned the place. Projecting a confidence she didn't feel, she walked right up to the bear-face woman and asked, "Excuse me! Can you show me the water closet?!...the bathroom! For ladies?" 

[Spacefurry]

Jennifer picked her way through the crowd, looking for Jamie’s boyfriend. She hadn’t spotted him yet, but there were a lot of people in masks. Judging from their richer attire though, she was sure he wasn’t amongst them. As she glanced around at them she got the impression they were eyeing her in return. She was worried she might be called out if she looked too long, so she needed to quicken her pace. Sooner she found him and figured out what he was doing, the sooner she could get out.

Jennifer turned to continue her search and nearly ran into the younger girl in the white kimono.

 

On 11/27/2021 at 11:57 PM, Avenger Assembled said:

Projecting a confidence she didn't feel, she walked right up to the bear-face woman and asked, "Excuse me! Can you show me the water closet?!...the bathroom! For ladies?" 

 

“Oh? I’m sorry.” 

She apologized as she looked down at Neko.

“I… ah.”

Jennifer looked around a little surprised. Looking back to Neko she wasn’t sure what to do for a moment. She didn’t want to make a scene so she smiled politely at the girl.

“Honestly, I’m not sure myself. But I’ll help you look for one.”

Jennifer wasn’t thinking about the fact she was probably being more polite then some here would probably be. But she offered the girl a friendly smile. She wanted to ask what someone of her apparent age was doing in a place like this, but decided not to ask. 

Jennifer was unaware of any danger she was possibly in, but it was about then she noticed the large, wolf-like dog.

‘Oh, yeah. Forgot about that thing.’

She thought as she tried not to sound nervous.

“That’s quite the puppy you have there. Are they friendly?”

[Nerdzul]

A chorus of electrical crackles, mixed with howls and screams soon filled the scene and stole the attention of the majority of the patrons. The ebbs and flows of the fight in the makeshift arena favoring some time Chain Lighting , others Ripjaw, with a clear winner having yet to emerge. The Mistress of Mayhem playfully commenting on the competition.

 

Davyd's uncle quickly left the bookie and rejoined the crowd, carefully placing the envelope in a pocket of his jacket, one could not tell if the grin on his lips was one of satisfaction, or if it was tainted by more than a hint of anxiety. Meanwhile, the gorilla-masked good that he had been following clearly had his eyes toward Chimera, he and his colleagues were trying to be discreet, which at least, slowed them down enough that they hadn't yet reached their quarry. Now, Davyd's could not be certain, of course, but it didn't look like they harbored good intentions. 

 

--- 

 

Neko and Owain could also see one of goons approaching from behind Chimera's back, picking up the pace a little, but still keeping his walk deliberate enough.

 

As the crowd began to heat up while following the fighting going on in the arena, cheering, shouting and teasing the two combatants, both of time displaced young heroes could realize that the supernatural field was somewhat reacting to their behavior, going with the flow of emotion in some way. When the electrified chain wrapped around Ripjaw's neck sending the wolf-man scrambling for air the patrons began to call for his opponent to finish him and as they did, the unnatural energy of the place seemed to surge more powerfully than before. 

 

--- 

 

While Chimera still was not aware of the guards closing in on her, by then she could by now notice that at least two goons were beelining toward her from the crowd. One wearing a gorilla mask, the other a strongly built fellow in camouflage pants and a blue-and-green striped shirt, who seemed like he was tailing the Tiger's Den guard just a few step behind.

Edited December 2, 2021 by Nerdzul

[Dr Archeville]

Horrorshow

 

I'm getting the feeling they see her as an intruder, Davyd thought, which would make for a good distraction I could use, if I were up to something.  But I'm just here to keep an eye on Uncle Sasha.  And they look like they're not the sort to be gentle with intruders, so maybe...

 

With the crowd's focus on the fight (or on their own business), it was not too difficult* to shift forms in a way that went unnoticed.  Now Davyd looked like one of the gorilla goons, and he reached out to lay a hand on the shoulder of the one in front of him.  "Hey," he grunted, "Boss wants us backstage.   One'a the fighter's is tweakin'."

 

 

* if I need to spend an HP to temporarily get the Hide in Plain Sight feat to pull this off, I'll do so.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Oh he good boy," said Neko distractedly, her accent thickening from the stress as she looked around for the ladies water closet. She had very little experience with big venues like this and was obviously thoroughly lost by the time they had made their way out of the stands and down one of the corridors of the facility. "This not good place," she told Chimera distractedly, getting a hard tug from Owain's leash in acknowledgement of that as they finally started making their way towards a bathroom. "You should not be here. Not safe," she added firmly, her eyes flicking back to the goons moving not-so-subtly in pursuit of them. 

[Spacefurry]

Jennifer caught sight of the two rather large men that seemed to be coming towards them.

‘That can’t be good’

She thought to herself as she took Neko’s free hand and walked with her in direction of the restrooms.
 

11 hours ago, Avenger Assembled said:

"This not good place," she told Chimera distractedly…

 

"You should not be here. Not safe," she added firmly, her eyes flicking back to the goons moving not-so-subtly in pursuit of them. 

Jennifer glanced down at the girl. She followed the Neko’s nervous looks and noticed the men still following.

“Shoot.”

She muttered.

”What do they want?”

Jennifer tried to not look nervous as she smiled at Neko.

”Don’t worry. I won’t let them hurt you.”

She tried to sound confident as the two walked. Was it her they were after or the young girl with her? Jennifer couldn’t be sure.

[Avenger Assembled]

"...Kid Gawain!" said Neko suddenly. "I need you!" 

 

And with that, Neko's wolf stood up on two legs and became a boy; or rather a young man of perhaps 16, tall and lanky, with the promise of a build that would be solid muscle once he had a few more years to grow into it. "Ho! Your pardon, my good lady," he said with a nod to Chimera, "but the disguise was necessary that I might join my companion without being discovered." 

 

The two had a quick exchange in Japanese before Owain said, "The arena below seems to be a great...sink, drawing upon the souls of every poor unfortunate in the audience." Never mind that he and Neko had been among the audience members not long earlier. "It is a fell place; no doubt powered by the worst of magic. And its guardians know something of you," he said. "What brings you here?" 

For her part, Neko walked slowly up to the closed restroom door and concentrated, laying her hands on the cool metal surface. Outside, an OUT OF ORDER sign appeared, hanging off the metal surface, as if it had always been there. 

[Nerdzul]

The gorilla goon gave Davyd a puzzled look, but ultimately he seemed to be convinced by his disguise, for now at least. "Who's making problems? I bet it's the new guy." His grin, not unlike the one belonging to the Mistress of Mayhem, felt somehow like it had too many teeth.  "The kid with the strange shadows... It's always like that with the fresh blood isn't it?" The goon chuckled. "Boss told me to check on the girl with the fake mask first, you sure of this?"

 

--- 

 

"Looks like the match is tied out people." The voice of the ringleader boomed again, surpassing even the howling and electrical crackling coming from the arena, where Chain Lightning had apparently managed to trap Ripjaw in a tight grip.

 

--- 

 

The restrooms were not as dingy and filthy as one could expect in an abandoned warehouse, in fact it looked like someone had restored them to good order, even if the building hadn't been in use for some time. The stalls were fortunately empty at the time, with the attention of the public entirely focused on the fighting and betting going on in the arena. The room had a small window close to the top of the roof, too small for a person to fit. 

 

Both Neko and Owain could sense that some of the residual magic extended to this place as well, although the effect was far weaker than the area surrounding the main event, Neko accustomed as she was in performing tricks of illusion, could recognize its particular touch on the area.

 

As the group left the main area of the warehouse, they could see some of the goons picking up pace, but still trying to avoid making too much of a fuss, much likely in order not to alert the crowd that something was amiss.  The hesitation allowed our heroes a few seconds to plan freely before they could hear a clear a firm knock at the door.  

 

"We know you are inside miss. Our boss would like to talk have a talk with you." Another knock followed. "I am sure that I don't need to explain you why... nor that she would be quite displeased in case of a delay." 

[Dr Archeville]

Horrorshow

 

The fifth gorilla-goon snorted derisively.  "What, it takes four of ya to take care of that little thing?," he jerked his head towards the woman in the bear mask, then towards the back of the warehouse.  "Yeah, new guy must've gotten a bad batch of Max or somethin'.  Someone saw 'im snort somethin', then BOOM," he slapped the goon's chest with the back of his hand, "shadowy tentacles everywhere.  Boss said get two of ya, so c'mon."  He turned and began heading towards where he thought the fighters would be stabled while waiting for their match, unaware that he was being watched.

 

Stay focused, he reminded himself, you're not here to fight.  Just get some of these gorillas away from that lady, improve her odds.  You can lose them once you get them far enough away, then go back to tracking Uncle Sasha, make sure he's not getting into too much trouble.

 

[Spacefurry]

Jennifer was actual impressed with the restroom. She glanced around, noting the small, unusable window with a frown. This plan was falling apart faster then she hoped.

The young girl’s sudden outburst caused her to look back at her just in time to witness the dog’s transformation. She inhaled sharply in surprise, but recovered quickly.

“Well, that was unexpected.”

She managed and glanced at Neko.

 

4 hours ago, Nerdzul said:

 "We know you are inside miss. Our boss would like to talk have a talk with you." Another knock followed. "I am sure that I don't need to explain you why... nor that she would be quite displeased in case of a delay." 

 

“I don’t suppose they’re talking about you?”

She asked half-heartedly then sighed at Neko’s response.

 

She listened as Owain described the arena’s ‘sink’ effect.

“Wait, wait, wait. You mean actual real magic?”

Jennifer’s studies included well documented heroes and villains, so the idea of magic wasn’t out of her realm of belief. But the idea of her actually getting involved with magic was a little… weird to her.

“Well this just keeps getting more complicated.”

She rubbed her temples and started to pace.

“Okay, okay. So finding Jacob is going to have to wait. Sorry, Jamie.”

She muttered to herself.

“I need to think of a way out of here.”

[Avenger Assembled]

Owain considered what to do, then snapped his finger. "Methinks I have a plan," he whispered urgently. He strode to the room's garbage can, a rusted old metal basket that had seen better days, and with a disgusted expression picked it up and flung it at the window with great force. There was the sound of breaking glass as the small-frosted-over planes broke, and then he turned and ran quickly to the two women. Taking their hands, he spoke a quick word "anweledig" and the air around them seemed to grow fuzzy and indistinct. "They should not be able to see or hear us," he murmured as the door came open. "If they can, we must be ready to fight..." 

 

Just as the door came open, Neko stared balefully at the broken window, where outside 'Chimera' was now standing, her clothes covered in bits of glass and metal as if she'd just crawled her way out of the window somehow. In a good simulation of Jennifer's own voice, it called "You will never catch me, Yankee fools! 

[Nerdzul]

The goon nodded, buying every word that came out of Davyd mouth. "Freaking newbies..." He shrugged, waving at one of the other guards to join them, neither looked particularly worried by the idea of getting into a scrap with one of the fighters, even superpowered ones. 

 

The two led Davyd behind the back of the stage, to some makeshift structure made by two rows of old containers facing each other and forming sort of a natural corridor blocked by a tent acting as a door. There were two other gorillas by the 'entrance' and with them a tall, thin man dressed in an  expensive looking suit, but with his shirt untucked and his tie hanging loose around the neck, his eyes were closed behind his jackal mask and his jaw loose revealing a state of bliss, he was resting with his back against one of the containers.

 

"Wake up Tak." One of the guards addressed the man, who opened his eyes and gave him a venomous glare.  

 

"Pay your respect you-"

 

"To whom? The Master of Scraps?" The goons all laughed. "You can't even notice that one of the fighters is trippin' off..."

 

----

 

The two gorillas waited for a few moments before bursting in. "As you wish miss..." Two of them burst through the door and gave a disappointed and puzzled look at the small window and the woman that was now running away. "How..."

 

"Go and get her." One of the goons darted out to chase the false Jennifer, while the other remained in the restroom, unable to see the three supers concealed by illusion.

 

"We have a problem boss. The intruder is on the run and the Japanese woman and the big dog are gone..." It looked like the remaining gorilla was talking into an earpiece concealed under his mask.  He hesitated for a few moments, much likely waiting for a response. 

 

"Ok sir. I'll wait for Mr. Tak..."

 

"I mean, Master of course."

 

---

 

Meanwhile at the fighter pens, Davyd could see the jackal masked man straightening his back and muttering an annoyed. "Ok... I'm on it."

Edited December 10, 2021 by Nerdzul

[Dr Archeville]

Horrorshow

 

They're okay with sending two back for a known fighter, Davyd thought, but sent four after that unknown woman?  Maybe they're just being overly cautious?  

 

As the one gorilla-goon addressed the man in the jackal mask, he took a moment to look at the guards.  Okay, I know these places tend to hire a 'type,' but these two are almost identical.  Siblings?  He glanced back at the women's restroom, then back to Tak and his associates, quadruplets?  Sextuplets?  I can focus on that later, right now I need to... to find...

 

Under the 'mask' he wore, Davyd's nose shifted, growing wider and flatter, and as keen as a bloodhound's.  He sniffed for his uncle's cologne, but something else drew his attention.  Or, rather, a lack of something: none of the gorilla-masked goons, nor Mr. Tak, had any discernible scent.  Ooookay, this is getting really weird.  Do the masks cover their scent as well as their face?  As a way to further conceal their identity?  A good idea, yeah, but how would they even-

 

Tak's annoyed muttering drew Davyd's focus back, "uh, yeah, that new guy, the shadowy one," he grunted, "he was tweakin' bad, after he snorted somethin'.  An' if he shared it with any of the others, there might be more of 'em on bad trips back there."   He hoped that would get more of the goons to go back there with Tak, while a growing thought gnawed at his mind.  Okay, but what if there really are some fighters back there that are tweaking on drugs?  Or who are here against their will?  Fighting like this when you want to is one thing, but being forced to do so...  Ha glanced back at the arena, then continued following the others into the back, I've got to find out.

 

 

[Spacefurry]

Jennifer watched in astonishment as she watched herself flee. She had jumped a little as the men had burst into the restroom. The symbiote spreading down her arms and legs reflexively. She started to say something as the guards rushed out, obviously unable to see the trio standing mere feet away. She stopped herself though as the last goon seemed to be in communication with someone.

She didn’t know who it was, but she was sure she didn’t want to find out. Mentally she cursed, how had they picked her out so quickly? Was it the mask? She hadn’t had a chance to buy one, she thought she’d done a good job getting the symbiote to create one. She hoped it wasn’t the dress. She hated to admit it was the nicest one she owned.

Jennifer glanced down at the two younger people standing beside her. Just who were these two? How did she keep running into super-powered teens? She had seen plenty of mentions of young heroes in police reports she had studied. But where did they keep coming from? Was there a school for them in town or something? For now she held her tongue and tried to focus on the remaining man.

[Avenger Assembled]

"We are safe," whispered Owain reverently, "as were the knights who stood with the enchanter Menw when they battled the giant Ysbadden. We should depart. This is not a safe place," he told the other two, especially seeming to speak to Neko. 

 

"We must find Tyger," whispered Neko in return. Her tail dangling low and between her legs, she led the way past the last goon to the closed door. With a moment of concentration, the door itself seemed to stay firmly shut as the three of them made their silent, invisible departure out into the hallway. "Came to find him," she told Jennifer. "Why you here?" 

[Spacefurry]

Jennifer shook her head at Owain’s reference, but still followed the two out of the restroom. She eyed the last goon cautiously as they quietly passed him.

 

10 hours ago, Avenger Assembled said:

"Came to find him," she told Jennifer. "Why you here?" 

“Hmm? Oh…”

Jennifer was a little surprised by the question, though she supposed she shouldn’t be. It was a valid query. She thought for a moment but didn’t see the harm of giving them the basics.

”I’m looking for someone as well. My friend’s current boyfriend has been coming here secretly. We wanted to find out why.”

Jennifer finally noticed the techno-organic tendrils along her arm and gave them a stern look. Silently they retreated from her arms and legs, melding back into her skin and disappearing without a trace.

Satisfied, she turned her attention back to the two. She wouldn’t be surprised if her little display didn’t even faze them, given their own displays. She gave them a smile.

”Thanks for the help back there, I owe you one. I don’t know if I can help you, if I can I will.”

Edited December 14, 2021 by Spacefurry

[Nerdzul]

"Looks like we have our first winner!" The ringleader's voice boomed again in the arena. "Give me three cheers for Chain Lightning!" The crackling of the woman's electric chain echoed in the air, to emphasize her triumph. 

 

Meanwhile, the wolfman had shifted back into a young man, bruised and battered, gasping for air, he was taken into the arms of two of the goons and dragged away from the scene. When Jennifer's eyes briefly passed on him, she quickly recognized his features. Jacob. 

 

After a short exchange of cheers, the crowd began to gather again toward the fox-faced bookie and money trade hands again while expectation for the next bout began to build up.

 

--- 

 

Mr. Tak shrugged as he absent-mindedly listened to Davyd. There was a flash of doubt in his eyes as he studied the shapeshifter's disguise, but fortunately he seemed to too distracted to figure out what exactly had attracted his attention. 

 

"You two deal with him. Will you? There is somethin' I need to take care..." He stretched his arms and left his perch against the container wall and quickly headed for the main area.

 

The gorilla who had a come with Davyd, shook his head disapprovingly and then headed inside. "Let's see how bad it is..." His muscles tensed as he waved ad Davyd to follow.

 

--- 

 

The goons stepped inside. It was a narrow passage, formed between the rows of containers, apparently everyone of them dedicated to one of the fighters. Most of the doors were closed. There was another guard within, standing against a wall on the opposite side of the corridor. His eyes focused on a small screen hanging against the wall, displaying the wider arena. He gave Davyd and the other a surprised look, but his attention quickly shifted back to the image on the screen. 

 

He was not alone, though, as the space was now shared by a tall, woman, that pretty much towered over the goons, with a glowing red skin, dressed in casual gym clothes and with a massive, metallic blade holstered on her back, she was playfully conversing with a fellow who was instead sharply dressed, his features concealed by a white mask.  The two tossed the newcomers a glance, but then returned to their conversation. 

 

Davyd could hear some violent metallic thuds against the walls of the leftmost container soft growl coming from another by his right. There were ten of them in total on either side, but much likely, not all were filled at the moment.  

 

The gorilla walked confidently toward one of the containers, much likely the one holding the shadow-boy fighter....

 

---

 

As Neko, Owain and Jennifer walked away from the restrooms, they saw the jackal masked man speeding in on the scene, together with two more goons that had much likely gathered on the way there. 

 

He seemed to hesitate for a moment when he got near to their 'hiding place', like he was somewhat aware that there was something wrong, but then moved past the group and toward the restrooms.

 

"You stupid gorillas, it was a freakin' veil." They could hear the man addressing the goon, shortly thereafter.

 

"Damn. Let me..."  Both Neko and Owain could now feel a surge of supernatural power, much likely, Mr Tak was now somehow looking for them. 

[Spacefurry]

Chimera

 

Jennifer’s attention was drawn to the ringleader announcing the winner of the match. She was about to dismiss it when she caught sight of the battered Jacob, whom had been a giant wild man only minutes ago.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me.”

She groaned under her breath. She wasn’t sure how Jamie would take this revelation.

 

Her attention though was quickly drawn away from the pit as a jackal masked man ran towards them only to stop and address the guards harshly.

From what he said it was obvious he was on to them and Jennifer was sure they were going to get caught. She could feel the itch of the symbiote wanting to come one again but she pushed back on it. They may still be able to slip past them.

[Dr Archeville]

Horrorshow

 

Davyd nodded at jackal-masked Tak as he left, okay, one set of eyes off me.  I probably should've thought this through better.

 

He gave another nod to the goon at the monitor, and the other two individuals.  Okay, Big Sword Lady's deal seems straightforward, but Thin White Duke's a bit trickier.  With the way they're conversing, I'm guessing he's a partner, so probably equally dangerous in a fight.  His focus shifted to the containers, whoever - whatever - is slamming against that container doesn't want to be in it.  So they should definitely be let out.  But if these are built to hold super-brawlers, even I might not be strong enough to just tear it open.

 

Davyd cocked his head slightly as he followed the guard's approach to what was presumably the shadow-man's container.  "Sounds like he's quieted down," he grunted, "Or his heart's exploded."  Yeah, that level of callousness seems about right.  He kept a close eye on how the guard opened the container, hoping that doing so would help him in opening the others.