Behold the Hunters(IC)

[Aoiroo]

"Grue, really?"

Catalyst turned too look towards the spot on the roof where he stood,

"That's a bit, yeah, that's definitely out of my deph for certain. Umm, can you bring them over? I don't think we should leave them here if they're grue. You said they're mutated right, well I can take a look, but we should probably contact the Lab to get a specialist to look at this, I'm sure at least someone there knows something about extraterrastrial biology."

She clicked the bluetooth off and set it to call mode,

"The Lab."

[Ari]

GM

The front desk quickly answered "Good evening, ma'am. This is the Lab, how can we help you? Oh, three Grue? Mutated, potentially by unknown chemical agents? Well, this is on too short a notice to write you in for our more advanced facilities, but we can certainly help! Take the second service entrance, give your..name at the booth, they'll let you through."

It took only a few minutes to lower the three aliens down, secure them in Catalyst's van and race off for the elongated egg-shaped skyscraper that housed the most prominent super-scientists in Freedom City while keeping within the posted speed limits. The late-night traffic hummed past the duo in the van, the red and yellow lights playing across the interior in rapid flashes.

The weary-looking man at the booth nodded when Catalyst gave her moniker, opening the unassuming yellow gates for them into the loading dock, where a small team of coated and gloved assistants were waiting. The three Grue were quickly taken to one of the smaller medical examination rooms, hooked up and sedated to prolong their state of unconsciousness. Preliminary studies of their blood and the tissue around the mutated areas revealed that it held an astonishing amount of copper, and that the vials held copper dissolved in aqua regia. "So..." one of the Lab technicians explained to the waiting heroes "as far as we can tell, this is what happens to Grue when large amounts of copper-based metals are injected into their bodies. Do you have any idea why they would do this?" she asked, glancing back at one of the aliens on the medical slab, raising an eyebrow "Because this doesn't seem to actually help their biological processes at all."

[Aoiroo]

"It doesn't,"

She looked at the grues more closely,

"Especially copper, copper inhibits they're ability to change form. Huh, don't Grue have a what is it called, a psionic hive mentality. So they're connected and receive orders from one of their higher ups,"

She knew a decent bit about Grue, when the invasion hit the science community was frantic to learn as much as possible after to prevent and identify early signs.

"But it's usually infiltration, that's why they're so adapt at shapeshifting, but this stops that, I can't see this as something they'd have done volunteerly, they must be in agony. So, my theory, working one at the moment, is something else is controling them, I mean, they lose they're purpose as grue like this, and if they're in constant pain, maybe they're more substeptible to being highjacked by something other then their own hive."

It was only a theory, but she didn't have any better ones for the moment.

[Ari]

The King of Suits had politely stayed a slight distance from the chemist and the examining team, listening with great attentiveness as those more knowledgeable about Grue physiology discussed what had gone wrong with them. He gave a low whistle when Catalyst revealed that copper outright thwarted Grue shape-shifting, and the fact that they had been infiltrating a chemical lab started spinning the wheels of his mind. "They might have been poisoned and enslaved by one of the local villains, who has them stealing supplies in exchange for a cure." he offered suddenly from the sidelines, edging closer to the unconscious alien with interest "Of course, that would hardly narrow their motives. Anyone from Mr. Mist to those gangsters concocting Max and other designer drugs might have them under their thumb. Possibly even that old Zodiac Cartel from the 1980s and 1990s might still have some arms left." he had been walking slowly around the examining table with long steps before he stopped and with a sudden movement turned to face the medical examiner with an eager look "If I may be allowed to, I would be deeply grateful for a chance to question these Grue about what they were doing and who they work for. They might prove honest if we can manage to help them." he added.

[Ari]

GM

The Lab employee("Amelia Glen" offered her name tag) looked at him blankly for a long second, slowly answering, clearly uncertain about him "I..suppose you could. You would need to talk with the head of the medical operations, though, not to mention the security force. If you could avoid roughing them up that would be nice too." she added drily, turning back to Catalyst with a look of surprise "Really? We hadn't found anything like that before, even the ones riddled with bullets back in the 1950s and later could still transform. Admittedly not for very long. Their lifespans cut out pretty fast" she checked the readouts on her tablet for a few moments as she considered what Jasmine had said, nodding slowly as she got to and lingered over the pages that detailed the changes to their brain chemistry, looking back up abruptly "Yeah, their hive-mind connection to what they call the 'Meta-Mind' would at least guide them somewhere where they can hide out until they've purged themselves. Haste isn't a noted Grue trait, but obedience sure is. What's your basis for thinking they'd be more susceptible to a different kind of control?" she asked the chemist curiously, stepping slightly away from the tabled aliens, still sleeping off their tranquilizers.

Luckily, the security chief(and a small complement of guards) were just outside the examining room, impassively observing the red protean monsters within, ready to launch a defense if they made the least hostile action.

[Aoiroo]

"It's not a real basis, it's a theory. Most queens in any hive community control their colonies via pheremones, so if one mimics the pheremones, one can theoritically control the hive. I am not entirely certain mental linkes work the same way, not my field, but if one is used to getting orders a certain way, say, a new queen, it might be slightly different but you'd still take the orders. I assume with the grues if this works at all similiarly it's far more complicated, but in general to maintain a hive with creatures like that, having a low mental threshold to resist such orders even if it's outside the hive can also be a contributing factor to this theory,"

Catalyst went over to the double sided glass to watch. She had seen cop shows where they had this, and heard stories, but never actually went in a room like this before. It smelled, sweaty.

[Ari]

GM

"That does seem reasonable" agreed Amelia, nodding slowly as she read over the heart(or rather what organ served roughly the same function) comparison chart "and going by that theory, it would help us a lot to find whoever did this." she snapped it shut, looking fully at the science heroine "Well, much obliged to you for this Catalyst. You've at least solved the problem of who is behind those thefts. Hopefully you and your..ally can discover the why." she said carefully, glancing at the King of Suits for a sparse instant "I look forward to any more info you can get us about what happened to these aliens, we could use every edge we can get in case they attack us again" she shook Jasmine's hand heartily, gave them both a quick smile and walked off for her office.

The medical staff inside the room were checking the readouts on the machines keeping the grue asleep, and slowly healing them of their infection. The dull metallic scent of copper along with a fleshy undertone hung in the air unpleasantly.

[Ari]

"Our thanks to you, madame!" the King of Suits called after her with all cheer. To Catalyst he commented brightly "A grand lady! Now, for Mr. Security Chief" he murmured, walking rapidly over to the man and his small squad of guards. With a beaming smile he proclaimed "Good evening, sir. I am the King of Suits, her comrade" he said gesturing to the heroic chemist "I require an audience with our captured crew of Grue, hopefully to discover from whence they come and from whom they received their poisonings. Can that be arranged?" he asked eagerly, his eyes gleaming in the bright hallway lights.

[Ari]

GM

The security chief stared tiredly at the enthusiastic masked crimefighter, flicking his eyes up and down the man before answering politely "Evenin', yeah I can get you and one of those Grue in an interrogation room together. We'll have to have a few medical employees there with you two to make sure you don't go and mistreat them, and one or two of my guys to keep an eye on you. If you want to help out with the questioning, ma'am," he added to Catalyst with a respectful tilt of his helmet "you're more than welcome. I'll forward your request to the medical lead, and if she says yes, we'll set things up." he said shortly, nodding to the pair and quickly walking down the bright hall and out of sight.

Ten minutes later...

The interrogation room was small and gently-lit, with the defiant-looking Grue sitting in their dull green chair opposite their questioners, a small bank of equipment beside the alien that was working to purge the harsher elements from its poisoned body. It had awakened much earlier than the others and been quite compliant for the most part, but it obviously was deeply suspicious of the humans and their intentions. It remained silent, staring coldly at the two medical staff standing behind the heroes, the security guards standing behind the Grue, the one-way mirror windows hiding the small team of Lab employees keeping a close eye on both the Grue's vitals and the goings-on within the booth.

[Ari]

Sitting at ease in his own superbly-constructed plastic chair, the King of Suits smiled winningly at the alien for a few minutes, then dropped his eyes to his feet, apparently more interested in the dull shine of his beaten and battered boots than in the Grue he had been so eager to question. Waiting for the green-eyed alien to drop their guard ever so slightly, he suddenly leaped forward, placed a hand on either of the captive's red shoulders, shuddering slightly at the sensation of touching its clammy and leatheren hide, and said very loudly and firmly "Who did this to you, and why? Tell me instantly! If not, they'll poison others, steal more, and terrorize the innocent unchecked!" he released his pincer-like grip, glaring down at the protean creature.

[Ari]

GM

The effect was immediate, the Grue apparently having been lulled into letting its guard down entirely, blinking in momentary terror before a mouth opened up on its face and it spoke desperately, its voice breathy and wheezing, the voice of an invalid.

"Grah! I-It was the Hunter! Our renegade sibling! H-hraaach" he coughed and hacked, nearly toppling off of the chair it was sitting on as it was wracked with the spasms of its poisoning. At length it recovered slowly, going on to say "I and the other two..he caught us in Russia, said he would destroy an enemy he has in this city through our labor. He cures us, bit by bit as we bring him materials to make his weapon!" its blank malachite eyes peering up at the King of Suits imploringly "We did not want to help him, but he would surely kill us if he learns that we betrayed him..." it gripped its head in both hands helplessly "...and he will know we have not returned this time."

The staff outside the interrogation booth glanced at each other, many an eyebrow raised at this unusually emotional confession from one of the famously impassive Grue. The security chief tapped a button on his radio, muttering just loud enough that Catalyst heard it "Hey, Stacy? I want twenty more folks on the lower floors. We have a potential intruder problem."

[Ari]

GM

As if on cue, the alarms began, a low thrum throughout the lower levels, not the higher alert warnings. The sound had been carefully chosen to present the mood of suspicion more than frantic activity, or escaping to the fortified areas to ride out a supervillainous attack. The security chief listened to a brief message on his radio, sighed, gestured to the two heroes and said loudly "Come on, people! Disturbance down at the front doors, let's hustle! Medics, see that our guest gets back to the medical wing. Trevor, Mary, go with them, rest of you are with me, keep your channels and eyes open!"

Leading the way down the stairs, the chief explained between gasps of breath "Just got an alert, some kind of attack right on the front door. Hasn't damaged anything but we might learn a little about the attacker from it." With that he settled into the motions of running at perilously high speeds down the steps, swiping his card through the scanner placed next to the doors that had appeared at the first alarm, leaning a little so the scanner could read his retinas, and charging through the doors as they opened.

At last, the small band arrived with a clatter in the main lobby, for the anticlimactic sight of one guard kneeling next to another, who looked unhurt but was lying still on the floor, breathing shallowly. "Guy got in here, knocked out Freddy, then bolted chief," the man said quickly without turning around "I fired a warning shot to make sure he ran a bit longer, then activated the alarm."

Catalyst could see easily enough that even in profile, the man lying unconscious and the one kneeling next to him looked uncannily alike...

[Aoiroo]

Catalyst looked at the alarm for a second, it was the lab, this likely happened on occasion. Then she looked through the glass at the grue. He certainly spilled a lot but it wasn't that helpful. She sighed and unholstered her pistols and took the strap for the long range weapon off and put them on the ground. Moving around, she moved into the door quickly to keep the alarm out, no need to get the victum grue antsy over what could be nothing,

"It sounds like you need help,"

She said it in a low calming voice,

"You know who we are, or faintly do. You know what we do, and you sound like your in trouble, and we can help. I won't garuentee you won't be heavily monitored, contact will be limited and if you try to change shape and escape, it might not go so well. But you'll be safe. You should know what the people of this city are capable of, what our scientists are capable of, we can cure you, and we can protect you. But we can't do that if you don't tell us everything, the less information we have, the more likely something goes wrong."

[Ari]

GM

The alien was sitting very quietly as the alarm rang, and looked as hopeless as its largely expressionless face possibly could. As the medics followed Catalyst in and began carefully reattaching it to the machines cleaning its system, it lifted its head up, solid green eyes peering at her dully. The mouth reappeared on the brick-red face, though few words left it, its voice grinding through her mind ~"Yes, you are helping me now."~ the morose look all but vanished, and it snapped vocally "But how long until I am no use to you, and you send me to the Lor for..study. I have been informed about the things you do to us! I..." it had been slowly getting to its feet, voice raising until it fell at the last syllable, the protean alien sinking back into the chair like a ragdoll. After a moment it went on, its mental voice much quieter ~"I understand. I will not try to escape, nor will I act against you or try to gather information for the Meta-Mind while I am in your care."~ its eyes closed ~"As for more information...There is not much that is helpful I can give. I and those other two you captured, we are all that remains of a collective sent to infiltrate your Soviet Union tens of orbits ago. Our efforts were betrayed by the one who has now enslaved us. He calls himself Olezhka Ohoitnik, or the Hunter. He was..changed by the psychic monster you call the Cosmic Mind, and believes that he is a male human, using only such forms and chemically forcing his body to default to such a state. He is as lost to us as the Pseudo."~

~"He caught us by sending a message after the last attempt to take your world. He claimed that he had found a way to strike at you from within, by cloning. We caught people who worked at that chemical laboratory, and twinned them. Then he needed police officers, and only too late did we realize what he was doing. He poisoned us then. He wants to destroy...you would call it 'the Mob', or Mafia, here in the city. He detests it. Will try and kill them with a poisonous bomb."~

After such a speech its voice was very weak, and it gratefully allowed itself to be lifted onto a rolling gurney. ~"He has many clones now. He has fortified himself beneath a syscraper nearby the laboratory. It has...many gargoyles on it..."~

[Ari]

Meanwhile on the roof, The King of Suits kept his distance from the presumed guard. His manner was quite at odds with his story, sounding almost nonchalant that someone had just barged in, knocked out one of his comrades and then left when confronted. He knew that the security force of a place like the Lab would have to possess stronger nerves than others, but that was still suspicious.

"That is a shame." he said thoughtfully, inspecting the man with care "Can you tell us what the attacker looked like? Don't worry, I am a superhero, the King of Suits!" he added with a slight bow "I will happily help track down whoever it was who did this. So. What did you see?"

[Ari]

GM

"Well then, 'superhero', I'll tell you what I can remember." gently lifting the other guard, the man made his way over to a nearby couch, depositing the body there and still carefully not showing their face. Checking over the security guard's weapons he explained "The man was dressed in a green coat, blue hat and green pants. He had this purple scarf around his face and-" he removed the other man's helmet to reveal a small patch of darkened brown hair with red stains from the leaking wound and checked the pulse of blood through his jugular veins for a long moment, continuing "-and a sort of black briefcase in his left hand. He walked in, asked him" he nodded to the receptionist behind the safety barrier that had slammed into place the moment the alarm started "for some directions to the medical ward, and when asked for his name freaked right out." he shrugged "And that's all I know besides what I just told you. Any other questions?"

He still hadn't turned around.

[Aoiroo]

"By twinned what do you mean, did he make more of them, or assume their form? As for the mafia, when does he intend to do this."

Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a map of the city and put it down. It was a very recently made one set to include newer additions like the Lab. She circled various locations on them.

"We are currently here, the chemical lab you infiltrated is here, where would the building be then?"

She handed him the pen and looked over her shoulder, thinking this over.

How likely would it be that he's here now then, if he wanted to silence these grue and only assumes male forms,

She looked at the medical help in the room, pointing at the male one,

"Would you be so kind as to check on what is happening on the lower floors?"

[Ari]

GM

~"Made more of them, cloned their bodies over slow days and then would release the copies after a partial brain-pattern duplication. He even took some off the streets to confuse people by spreading conflicting stories. Tonight he claimed to be on the threshold of destroying the 'Mafia'. He said it would only take "a few more days and a phone call." This might tip his hand though."~ the Grue explained in weary telepathy.

The young orderly, a very Italian-looking man probably still in his early twenties, looked baffled at the request and began to protest it "Ma'am, I appreciate the confidence, but this alien-!" "Percy, just do as she says." snapped the older of the two women, whose brisk and efficient manner argued that she was in charge. With an apologetic look to Catalyst she added "We'll be fine, the security detail won't exactly fall down from a strong breeze and Mr. Martian here needs his beauty sleep. Go on down." Percy pursed his lips and looked almost mutinous, but ran off out the door and down the stairs at a fair speed regardless, arriving at the lobby winded and weak-kneed. The graying-haired woman raised her eyebrows "Huh. Never known Percy to need to be told twice." she shrugged "Probably a bit nervous tonight."

While that was going on the Grue continued with his increasingly bleary story ~"Where we were? It was...a tall gray building right across the street from the lab. Made it easier to see...who worked there. I remember that."~

[Ari]

"Just one, friend" the King of Suits replied mildly, edging slowly closer to the guard, the strange sense of unease about the man's story growing greater. "I fail to see why being asked your name would lead to such a reaction. Did-ah, hello" he added with a bright smile to the young nurse who came panting into the lobby "I trust nothing has happened upstairs? Sit down here" he said kindly, leading him to a nearby chair before turning his attention back to the guards.

"Did anything else happen that might have caused such distress? And may I know your name sir?"

[Ari]

GM

The young nurse looked blankly at the King of Suits, though he was still short of breath enough that he didn't make anything of the greeting, and sat down gratefully on the cushioned seat.

At the question, the guard turned smartly around to reveal that he looked precisely like the man on the sofa behind him. "I am named Jonathan Bradley." Whipping up the small rifle slung at his side he lunged over to the nurse, quickly putting the young man in a half-Nelson and the barrel of the small arm against his neck. "Please do not try and stop me." he said loudly "I wish to proceed to the medical floor. There is a certain trio of aliens in your keeping, I believe" he said tersely to the captain and his squad of guards, all of whom had already readied(though not fully raised) their weapons, watching the imposter with cold eyes.

One of them who had dallied just a moment behind the others to take care of the alarm quickly tapped the radio on her chest, muttering into it "Hostage situation in the main lobby. Catalyst, if you can, get down here and help out!"

[Aoiroo]

Catalyst got the slight buzz ear with the radio she tapped it whispering,

"Yes, and there is an interogation up here. The infiltrating alien is a shapeshifter, if he gets away for a second he could make it to this floor and kill the grue in a heartbeat. I cannot leave.

Walking over she headed to the door and got a hand for the files, she set them down on the desk,

"Here, these are the people currently missing. I want you to look through this, tell me how many if there are any clones, how many survivors of the cloning are still alive, and most importantly because this will reflect best on your treatment, to the best of your knowledge, where can they be found. I want to know where they all are, clones included, even if they weren't born human, they are sentient beings, they will be seen too and treated with respect as will you with your cooperation."

[Ari]

In the lobby, the King of Suit's hands instantly went to shoulder-height when he saw the gun, and a cold sweat burst out on his skin, staring for a horrible moment at the barrel of the gun in front of him before he could drag his eyes up to those of the clone. In a gentle voice he said, making as little movements as he could "Wait. We can talk this out. We can't let you see those Grue with a gun in your hand, but you don't need to hold that carbine to a man's head to see them. Your boss is trying to do something utterly horrible, and we want to stop him, yes, but those aliens can't do any harm to him. Calm down."

[Ari]

GM

The clone guard halted, though the gun didn't waver from the wide-eyed nurse's throat and he didn't budge from behind the hostage. Examining the lean man in front of him, he said quietly "What do you mean? Talk fast. Those aliens could ruin my creator's plans, why should I believe you?"

Looking blearily at the pictures, the Grue lifted a brick-red hand and tapped the photos showing three of the chemists, most of the security staff, and one of the janitors ~"Just...these. The others will need more time, their clones have not begun growing yet."~ it lifted its hard eyes to Catalyst's ~"The Hunter does not want to kill anyone but your Mafia. All his captives are alive. He wishes to...serve humanity, I do not think any of his agents...would even be programmed to attack your...species."~ closing its eyes for a moment it added ~"They were kept in the same...building across the street. It was the base of...his operations. In the basement."~

"You done miss?" asked the older of the two nurses "This Grue's in a bad way."

[Ari]

The King of Suits stopped for a moment, quickly swallowing his surprise that he was even being listened to 'What? "Why should I believe you"? That's where he wishes to go-very well, let's see what we have.' he spoke slowly and clearly, his faint French accent a little stronger in that moment of fairly deadly stress as he strove to talk down the man holding a gun to another man's neck.

"The reasons you should believe me are these: first" he held up one of his gloved hands, clenching his left fist and raising his thumb "the Grue we recovered are badly injured, barely able to remain conscious for more than a few minutes at a time. They will tell us what they can but in their state of mind it won't be be more than the basics, things that your master has doubtless already prepared for. Second" he raised his index finger, stepping a little forward "by now we will have asked them for whatever information they have, and they will not be capable of derailing your plot any further, so seeing them is pointless. Third" he raised his middle finger, blue eyes shining with a barely-concealed anxiety "if you proceed past here the security systems will easily deal with you, whether or not you have a hostage." he dropped his hand to his side, looking closely at the clone.

"The choice is yours. I have told you what I can. What do you wish to do now?"

[Ari]

GM

The clone stared at the King of Suits for a few moments after the Frenchman's speech, the gun slowly lowering from the staring and terrified nurse's neck to dangle at his side before clattering to the floor. "So all might as well be lost." he said calmly facing the squad, one of whom darted forwards and began handcuffing him behind his back "But do not worry, the Hunter will rid this city of the criminal scum that plague it, all-grah!" he cried out sharply as he was struck in the gut by another of the guards who had walked briskly up to him while he spoke. The would-be assassin slumped partially to the ground before he was caught under the arms and borne away by the two guards, one of whom paused and clapped the young adventurer on the shoulder, telling him "Thanks for that, kid. I don't think we could have snagged this guy if you hadn't softened him up first. Good work!" she added cheekily as the two guards bore their gasping prisoner quickly out of sight.

The guard captain breathed a sigh of relief, leading the nurse back to his seat and giving him a handily-forgotten glass of water with an apologetic "Here, drink this up. Sorry that happened, it looks like our new guests have more going on than we thought." he added with a raised eyebrow at the King of Suits. After making sure that the quivering man was steadied for the moment, he led the hero over to a corner of the room, looking grim "We can't hold those aliens where they are now if that" he thumbed at the nurse "is what we can expect. And as for you two..." the captain removed his helmet and wiped away sweat from his glistening forehead before replacing the headgear "...if you two could go and do what you can to stop this..whatever-it-is crazy plan. This night has been long enough." he added with a world-weary look.