Carson Finbar and the Deathly Fellow (IC)

[KnightDisciple]

It was about 9 o'clock at night on a late November day; that meant two things: "Cold" and "Windy". Thankfully, Gabriel's clothing kept him warm, and his unique mode of flight kept the worst of the wind at bay while he was moving about; the buildings tended to break it up a bit when he was down at street level. Unfortunately, he hadn't had much time down on the street. There had been exactly one small armed robbery that night, and the crook, a half-drunk twenty-something, broke down in tears and dropped his knife after less than a minute of Gabriel trying to calm him down. The police had taken him away, but he was a first-time offender. Hopefully, he wouldn't get stuck in the cycle. Suddenly, he noticed a couple of people on the ground waving at him. Frowning, he quickly flew down to where they were standing; it was an older couple, perhaps in their early 60's. The wife spoke first.

"Oh, and it's that Gabriel fellow, dear. Even better."

"Yeah. Listen, Gabriel. We're really sorry to bother you, but..."

"Go ahead. I wasn't in a rush anyways. What's wrong? The two of you look worried."

"Well, I have a friend who works at the graveyard a couple blocks over, right? And he said, something weird is going on over there."

Gabriel stiffened, his eyes narrowing. He nodded, wanting the man to continue.

"Right, so, Charlie, he's closing the gates and such. Nothing going on tonight, thank the Lord. Except, he sees what looks like a guy jump the fence. He turns to yell at the guy, but when he looks, the jumper don't look right. Looks...dead. Dried up. Even worse, Charlie says he felt like there was something watching him for a sec, before the fence shakes a bit. Like something else moved over it. When the grass moved on its own, no breeze, he booked it and called me."

"Thank you. Tell your friend Charlie to take it easy and stay home. You two had better get back home as well. I'll look into this."

"Thank you! Thank you, sir!" the wife exclaimed.

Gabriel merely nodded and took to the skies, quickly arriving at the general area of the graveyard. He narrowed his eyes, pulling out his NVGs to scan the area a bit. Even if his target wasn't normal body temperature, it should stand out somewhat from the background...

[Dr Archeville]

The target's temperature did indeed match that of the surroundings, but it did not shuffle slowly as did most zombies Gabriel had heard of (like the hordes that assailed Freedom City last month). This... undead was running all-out, though he did not see what, if anything, it was chasing.

Saw them organleggers goin' down that street, should be able ta cut 'em off by runnin' through here. Vile buggers, harvestin' bits from cadavers fer transplant, regardless'a the original owner's requests, or their own conditions. Seen too many folks get sick from gettin' bad transplants from jokers like this.

"Mutt, go'n up ahead an' keep an eye on 'em! You ain't gotta worry 'bout runnin' 'round trees like I do!"

[KnightDisciple]

Carson frowned. He couldn't quite hear the creature at his altitude, but it seemed to be moving on its own. This suggested intelligence. But where was it going?

'Only one way to find out...'

With a rush of air, Gabriel was standing about 50 feet in front of Dead Head. His right arm was raised and pointing, palm-first, at the Revoltin' Revenant. Energy rippled almost unseen in the dark night as his NVG-covered eyes stared at Dead Head.

"If you can understand me, stop and explain yourself. Now."

[Dr Archeville]

Who the heck's this guy? Man, I really ain't got time t'stop and chew tha fat.

"I'll 'splain," the creature said, showing no sign of slowing, "but I ain't stoppin'! Chasin' down some organleggers. If you wanna know more, try an' keep up!"

If Gabriel did not stop him, the creature runs by him -- and passes close enough that his appearance and aroma give no doubt that it is some sort of preserved undead -- and hops anther fence, out of the cemetery and into an alleyway, leading to a busy street.

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel blinks.

"Wait, what?"

It takes him a moment to process that, not only did the creature not know him, not only did it speak...but it was trying to stop "organleggers"?

With a sigh, he quickly flew over to Dead Head, easily pacing the creature.

"Who are you? What are you? What are "organleggers"? Why are you stopping them? How do I know this isn't a precursor to more madness like October, and why shouldn't I put you down to keep the people of Southside safe?"

He just barely resisted the urge to scratch at his scars; they were itching like mad. At least he hadn't had his chest sliced open.

Yet.

[Dr Archeville]

How does this guy not know me? Seems everyone else I run inta knows me, or if they don't, they either run or start blastin'.

"Dead Head," the alley echoed. "Revenant -- like a zombie, but ornerier. Organleggers is the ghouls what're responsible fer folks wakin' up in a bathtub'a ice with a kidney missin', or for someone gettin' an old cadaver's liver planted in 'em 'stead'a the healthy one from a freshly-dead donor."

Now he was emerging from the alley, onto a street. "Why? Don't that sound like somethin' that should be stopped? Why ain't you stoppin' 'em? As fer October-"

The... revenant (?) was interrupted by an SUV hitting him head-on, which sent him careening into a lamp post. He turned back to look at the man who'd collided with him, and, seeing that the airbag had prevented and serious injury, resumed his run.

Despite half his face flapping free in the breeze, and the fractured bone sticking out of his right arm.

"Danged Yankee drivers...." Gabriel heard him mutter.

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel was...surprised...at the comparatively genial attitude the Revenant had, as well as the noticeable accent. Then, the undead man's name jogged his memory.

"Wait! Dead Head! Sorry, I didn't recognize you in the bad light, and I was on edge from the whole "zombies in Southside" thing. Last-whoah!"

Rather than "tanking" the hit, Gabriel moved upwards until they were well clear of the traffic, then came back down to the same level as DH.

"Anyways. Heyzel told me about you one time. And I've heard other stuff here and there. You're a solid guy. It's just that the last time I ran into undead in Southside, they nearly killed a lot of people, and nearly turned my insides into outsides. Something I'd prefer to avoid.

As for these organleggers, I'd be happy to help you stop them. I've just not heard the term before. I'm "not stopping them" because I haven't heard about them. Haven't encountered them. I'm typically busy keeping 16-year-olds from making lifelong mistakes like first-degree murder, or maybe just good old-fashioned drug addiction. You know, minor stuff."

There's just a touch of sarcasm in his voice. He didn't like the implication he wasn't doing enough around here.

"As for "yankee drivers", you did kind of dash into the road with no warning. Poor guy probably didn't have enough braking room."

[Dr Archeville]

"Oh, hey, don' get me wrong, man," he said as he took off again, pulling his face back up as he went, "folks like you do a lot, I know that. Jes's seems there's only a handful'a folks what deal with my particular niche."

"An', hey, if yer helpin' kids, stoppin' em before they start," he called back as he neared another fence, "then more power to ya!"

Yeah, he's definitely the type what'd hang out with Heyzel. Jes' hope he don't try and do t'me what Heyzel keeps tryin' t'do!

Using the shovel he'd had strapped to his back as an impromptu pole vault, the revoltin' revenant cleared the fence, and continued on through the park on the other side. To their credit, only about half the people in the park let out a scream or shriek when seeing him streak by.

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel smiled a bit at Dead Head's easy-going nature.

"Sorry if I snapped a bit. Bad memories from October. Anyways...let me clear the way a bit of civilians. Just shout out where to go!"

With that, Gabriel sped up a bit, until he was about 30 feet in front of Dead Head; more than close enough to hear him when he called out. Gabriel stuck to regular shouting, since he was concentrating a lot of his power on staying in the air.

"Clear the way, folks! Hero business afoot! Clear the way!"

A man in all white and a zombie in a dead sprint were unlikely to be stealthy anyways, so he wasn't worried about ruining that with his yells.

[Dr Archeville]

And thus the Angel of Death and his Zombie Herald went forth through the park, and-

Wait, no.

Dead Head raced on, pointing before turning or leaping over another fence. Most of his warnings came too late for Gabriel to do any good, though.

Moments later, they were in one of the nicer parts of Southside, across the street from a small day spa, behind which the white van Dead Head had been chasing has just parked.

Dead Head turned back to Gabriel, "looks like this is one'a their safe-houses, or where they funnel the stolen organs. I was just gonna barge in an' rough 'em up, but... " The zombie cocked its head slightly, "I got a feelin' ya'd wanna do things more subtly."

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel looks to Dead Head with an arched eyebrow. He then looks down at himself. The guy wearing almost all bright white.

"Not exactly a master of stealth here. I'm all for busting in and taking them down before they can react. Anything I should know beforehand about what they can do? Anything they're immune to, for instance? Anything they're vulnerable to? You want us both to go in the same entrance, try flanking them, or something else?"

Though he keeps a couple feet between them, Gabriel's clearly no longer hostile to Dead Head. He seems genuinely friendly and willing to listen. His distance seems more unconscious. Like being too close makes him physically uncomfortable...

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head cocked his head at Gabriel's raised eyebrow, "heh."

"Far as I can tell, it's jes' normal folks," he replied. "Scummy, vile folks, but normal ones all the same. Unless, he turned slightly and looked to a spot slightly to the left of Gabriel, "ya found somethin' different."

"Nope," a voice growled from the spot.

"Heh, c'mon out, boy, an' show yerself to the nice feller."

A large dog, part mastiff and part... something, faded into view. Its droopy jowls lifted in a warm smile, and its eyes glowed a cheery red.

"So, still jes' them three fellers we seen in the van?"

"Yes, and also a lady at a desk, and two ladies in chairs, and a lady and a man hugging on a table in the back."

Dead Head smirked again, "... heh." He turned back to Gabriel, "looks like there might be some bystanders inside, potential clients, or jes' here fer a pedicure an'... 'massage'. Think it might be best if you go in tha front, I sneak 'round back."

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel blinked for a second, before realization dawned on his face, followed by...well, not disgust, but more like him trying to shake a bad mental picture.

"Right. Yeah, that sounds fine. I could probably get a couple of them out of the fight in really short order, too. How long do you want me to wait before going in the front? I'd hate to throw off your timing."

He was trying to get the best idea possible of how he could approach the front, and enter it with the greatest speed and least risk. Shouldn't be too difficult, if he kept his head and thought on his feat. All in a day's work for a teacher/actor/mentor/superhero.

[Dr Archeville]

It was not difficult at all. Between Gabriel's near-divine levels of disarming persuasiveness with the people up front, and Dead Head and Mutt bringing unholy terror to the few in the back who tried running, the two heroes had the organ leggers neatly tied up (or patiently sitting in the lobby) when the police arrived. (Fortunately for the couple in the back, it was Gabriel who interrupted them, not Dead Head.) The Revoltin' Revenant let Gabriel do the talking with the officers.

"Thanks a heap!," he said as he emerged from a small discarded crate in the back. "Havin' ya here t'explain thing's goes tons quicker'n me leavin' a note fer the cops!"

Gabe felt, but did not see, a dog licking his hand.

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel jerked his hand a bit and took a step in the opposite direction, looking a bit uncertain. His other hand rubbed his chest, a slightly pained frown coming over his face.

"Yeah, no problem. It's kind of what I do, really. Though..."

He paused, clearly trying to determine how to say this.

"In the future, if you're going to be running around this area a lot, do you mind giving me a call? I'm not super-territorial or anything, but the people around here get really nervous about...well, about the undead. After that incident near the end of October..."

[Dr Archeville]

"Ah, yeah, sorry 'bout that," the Revenant said apologetically. "Guess this is kinda yer turf, should'a asked the locals fer help. 'S'what I get fer workin' solo fer so many years." He pulled out his pockets, "ain't got no phone, rarely have tha coin on me ta make a call at a public phone... an' those is gettin' rare an' rare nowadays... but if'n I'm in the area again, or need ya fer anythin' else, I'll find some way ta contact ya." He pushed his pockets back in, then extended a hand to Carson.

A great mastiff appeared between Dead Head and Gabriel, facing the angelic hero. He was smiling and wagging his tail, and looked like a normal mastiff, save for the cheery, cherry-red eyes.

He glanced down at the dog, then back to Gabriel. "Hey, seems Mutt likes ya!"

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel blinked at the suddenly-visible dog.

"Um..thank you?"

He seems slightly nervous, but not truly panicky. He turns back to Dead Head himself, shaking the offered hand.

"I appreciate it. More just a head's up people around here can be jittery. Thanks for cluing me in on these organleggers. I'll have to keep my eyes open for them from now on."