The Creeping Killer(s)

[Dr Archeville]

Time: May 20th, 2008 (a Tuesday). Late afternoon.

Place: Variable.

Tell me where you all are & what you are doing when you hear this news broadcast.

[spectrevk]

On a dirty sidestreet in the Fens, just down the street from the train station, there is a poorly lit, grimy diner. The cooks don't speak english, the waitstaff are few and hard to get a hold of, yet they have no lack of business, because its well known around this area that they serve some of the best damn burgers in Freedom City...assuming you're not that concerned about your arteries. Or the possibility of being stabbed on your way home after dinner.

Catherine Kato smiled broadly. A weathered looking waittress had just brought out a hot, heavy plate with a mountain of fragrant chili topped with sharp cheddar. Somewhere under that gooey mess was a 1/2 pound burger, and she couldn't wait to start looking for it. She was just about to put her fork and knife to work when her ears picked up something peculiar from the dull drone of the delapidated TV on the wall.

"...third mutilated body was found along the trails of the Promenade..."

Catherine's stomach rumbled, eager to refocus her attention on the majesty of beef and chili before her.

"...the victims were severely burned by some type of acid..."

Catherine frowned and shook her head. Nothing she could do for those poor people now, and it wouldn't do to let her food get cold. Probably some kook, maybe some sort of "honor killing" thing...she'd heard about acid attacks in rural India, so perhaps...

"...not yet enough evidence to suspect true superhuman activity..."

Catherine chewed slowly and swallowed...the chili was indeed well-crafted, and the cheese added just the right flavor. This place was definitely going onto her blog. And yet, there was something hampering her enjoyment. Something tugging at the back of her mind.

"Aw crap." she sighed, waving for the waittress, who was busy refilling the coffee carafes. "Hey, can you get a box for me? I need to get this to go." she hollered, slowly sliding out of the booth and reaching for her jacket.

[Nightshyft]

Sometimes being the head of a successful company means losing touch with the everyday applications of said company. Not so for Travis Knight. Every now and then, Travis like to "get his hands dirty", so to speak, and go to a job site and at least observe it's implication. However, running a business that provided "personal " protection...that meant tagging along on one of the many short-time protection gigs.

Now for anyone else, this could have been embarassing for both the employee and employer. Being able to "blend" in with the shadows...well that made things much easier for the young entrepeneur. Following at a discrete distance, Travis watched as his "employee" escorted his charge. And in short turn, he was happy with the man's performance. Karen White, his "own" protection specialist, had suggested him for this job. And as ususal, she was correct...the man was the perfect mix of muscled presence and discrete guardian, allowing the customer the sercurity he needed without the embearassment of needing such.

Just as he was about to backoff and head home to a hot shower and some lite reading, Travis AKA Nightshyft, the Nocturnal Nemesis passes by an electronic storefront. TV's playing in the front window were running the lateset news...another "acid" burned body was found in the Promenade. Reading the closed caption, Travis sighed heavily...this was number three. No longer were these ordinary killings( as if killings could be labeled as such)....these had now took on the markings of a "serial" killer. While, in practicality, it made the call for his particular business quite attractive...it was still murder. And Travis, as Nightshyft, considered Freedom City his employee...his target to protect.

With a grim nod, Nightshyft faded back into the dark and made his way to the Promenade as only he could. The Police had their chance...now it was his. Tonight, the killer officially became the prey for the Nocturnal Nemesis. May God have mercy upon his soul...for Nightshyft wouldn't.

[Nyrath]

New in town, nothing she had to do; Alex felt like a tourist. Granted, she'd behaved somewhat like one as well thus far, though not all that many tourists are capable of flying under their own power. She's spent hours soaring above the city and its surroundings, greeting the dawn while seated atop the great Sentinel by the rivers. In the end it was hunger more than anything else that had driven her once more to the ground.

Once down there, and with her wings melded away for the moment, though she had no problem occupying herself; a whole new world meant a lot to see and do. Granted, much of it was new slants on things she already knew of, or simply things she recognized from other times she'd been out somewhere. Cell phones for example were something she recognized easily in concept; small and portable long-range communication is desirable just about anywhere, and audio only tends to be easiest. What was mainly new for her this time around were both the technological basis, as opposed to mystical or psionic she'd seen before, and the sheer number of them.

As she was chilling out a bit in a bar somewhere in, well, frankly she'd lost track of where she is; going around the city on foot was certainly different than flying over it, the Channel 3 news could be heard in the background. The silver haired lass however was paying more attention to the small beer she'd finally gotten her hands on after spending several minutes arguing with the barkeep; he'd only relented after procured to sets of identification and drilled into him that she hadn't grown an inch in the last ten years. Listening with only half an ear she was halfway down her longed for drink when she picked up "...third mutilated body..." from the news.

The subsequent mention of her name, or rather some who shared it, gets her to pay more attention to the rest. By the end of it she'd finished her drink and more importantly figured out what she'd be doing next. After all, she'd need to give this Super Hero stuff a try sometime; it was what she was here for after all.

[CollateralKid]

Preston sits in the student center at Claremont High, working on a paper for his Superheroes of World War 2 class. He had his laptop out trying to find a paper that was allready written online....he hated actually having to study and can only do it for so long before the books put him to sleep.

While looking online he meandered a bit looking up Youtube videos and checking his Myspace account. While doing so he came across a local news story telling of random people being killed by some kind of acid here in Freedom City. " Wow, that's pretty close to home.." he thought, followed by him racking his brain of anyone he knew or heard of that could have or WOULD have dont something like that. No Dice. Making a mental note to check up on this situation later, he resumes cheating on his paper.

[Dr Archeville]

(( Something it seems I wasn't 100% clear on, the news report is from the evening/6:00pm news. Sunset is in about two hours. Doesn't seem like this'd be a problem for anything anyone's posted, so we'll go with it. ))

All

After a few moments spent briefly covering the other top news items, the anchorman returns to the topic of the recent murder. "The body was discovered approximately an hour ago, by Rich Lee, the victim's fiance." The top right corner of the screen is filed with a still photo of Alex and Rich, Alex seen as a fairly attractive green-eyed, red-haired, fair-skinned lass, and Rich seems to hail from Eastern European stock. "The two had been jogging together along one of the trails in the Promenade when Rich stopped to go back to their jeep for his iPod; when he returned to where he'd left her, she was gone. He called her cell phone to find where she was, but heard it ringing some yards away from the main trail, where he soon found her body."

Nightshyft

Nightshyft was able to get to the Promenade unseen without much trouble; the shadows were long at this time of day, in some places seeming almost to stretch out and point him towards the sight of the grisly deeds. Soon enough he was at the outermost edge [i'll let you decide which direction/orientation] of the Promenade.

Imposter

The news report continues playing in the background, distracting the metamorphic teen slightly from his attempts at cheating.

Catherine Kato

Catherine overheard the rest of the story as the waitress packed her meal to go. She knew the Promenade was at least four miles away, as the familiar flies, though she had her own ways of getting around.

Mongrel Angel

After hearing the last of the news story and finishing his drink, Mongrel Angel headed out the door. Looking around the gain her bearings, she saw she had been in a place (an extremely popular one, apparently) called "Shaughnessey's," on Greenbank Road. Not far away she saw a sign pointing towards Mona-Glenn Bridge, and looking further she could see said bridge in the not-too-distant distance.

[CollateralKid]

Imposter decided to pack up his stuff and check out the promenade after hearing the rest of the report. Hastily stuffing his backpack with his books and papers he made his way out of the student center as they were about to close soon anyways.

Imposter stopped by his dorm room, dropped off his bag and ran out the door hoping to catch a ride with a bus, taxi, flying carpet whatever he found first.

" I really need like some kind of super-car. Superheros should not have to take public transportation....maybe a real life Transformer..that'd be appropriate." He thought to himself as he just caught the last bus towards the promenade.

[spectrevk]

Catherine walked out of the diner wistfully...the burger just wouldn't be the same when it was cold, and re-heating always changed the flavor, however subtly. Still, people had been murdered, and she didn't share the FCPD's opinion on the cause of death...it seemed rather likely to be something unnatural. Walking down a deserted alley, she concentrated for a moment, weaving a quick spell to take her to the Promenade.

She appeared, as she had hoped, in an empty bathroom stall at one of the more reasonably priced seafood restaurants in the area. They had an excellent swordfish steak, but she didn't have time for that this evening. Exiting the restaurant unnoticed, she made her way towards the scene of the crime...

[Nyrath]

Alex wasn't too pleased to find that she was on the wrong side of town, but then again that meant she'd get to stretch her wings a little after walking around on foot for the last five or six hours. Finding a nearby alley to be conveniently empty she slips in and brings forth her wings, furled of course since there's not enough space to actually fly in the comparatively cramped alley. After a seconds thought she morphs forth a rudimentary 'costume', actually it's just a burnished steel mask covering the top half of her face, accommodating her nose and eyes of course, and as such doesn't obscure all that much.

Stepping out of the alley she takes to the skies and steers her flight out over the river. While she could just have gone straight there, 'the way the eagle flies' as it were, she'd take the scenic route which lets her fly at a lower altitude without having to worry about hitting anything on the way. Besides, this way she can get another eyeful of the Sentinel.

Having passed Riverside park, and flown around the Sentinel a time or two, the winged girl espies the Promenade and more or less makes straight for it up the Wading river.

((By the way, if you didn't catch it from my last post; Alex's female. Figure it must be the somewhat ambiguous name which threw Archeville off.))

[Nightshyft]

Flowing along with the evening shadows, Nightshyft arrives in the Promenade as silent as the very shadows he uses for cover. Staying to the outskirts, Travis avoids the presence of anyone else within the Promenade as he makes his way towards the scene. It wouldn't do to be mistaken for the perpetrator of the crime....

[Dr Archeville]

Nightshyft

Making his way across/under the 40th Avenue bridge, Nightshyft soon finds himself at the westernmost edge of the Promenade. Near the entrance he could see one of Freedom City's finest, siting in his police cruiser and talking on the radio. There seems to be no one else present, and the police tape strung across the main entrance gives a good explanation why.

Creeping in, he realized he'd never been here, not for 'business,' anyway. The trails here had always been safe, making the recent murders doubly intrusive. As he made his way in, going around the darkness-triggered 'street' lights that were just beginning to illuminate the trails, he got the feeling he was being watched... but was that just his usual paranoia, or something more?

[[ Please make a Stealth check; you can Take 10 if you wish. ]]

Imposter

Imposter avails himself of the city's fine public transportation. Specifically, a taxi. The cabbie -- from Jersey, as his accent easily indicates -- is friendly and talkative. "Hey, kid, howyadoin'? Promenade, eh? Yeah, I knoww here dat's at.... Dis is my first day here, ya know, got a transfer from Hoboken. Dang giant robot kept tearin' up da place, lost me t'ree cahs! So's I figures I come out here where dere's some, y'know, real superheroes, knowwhatI'mtakin'bout? Yeah, sure ya do...."

As Imposter engages (or avoids) conversation with the cabbie, he catches sight of some movement up in the air. Somewhat used to the sight -- he did attend Claremont Academy, after all -- the sight of this particular flier, who looked for all intents and purposes to be some sort of angel, was a hair unusual (especially when he at one point was in between his view and the setting sun, making it look like the angel was glowing. And it seemed to also be going towards the Promenade, in a very roundabout fashion.

Catherine Kato

The restaurant Catherine had popped into was at the far southeast end of the Promenade, technically in Kingston. Unfortunately, the brief info from the news report indicated that the latest murder (and the two prior) had all taken place in the northwest part of the Promenade (though the murder had been moving steadily southeast). There was still some amount of daylight, and once she made it to the Promenade proper she could easily see several walking trails. she also saw police tape blocking the main entrance, and a parked cruiser, but no one in it.

The going was slow, not because of any difficulty in the terrain, but simply because she was unused to such lengthy exertions. Though she knew the police had temporarily cordoned off the area, the absence of any other person did still seem unusual for such a big place. Eventually it got dark enough for the 'street' lights along the trails to flicker on, completely changing the shadows of the area, and making the loneliness a tad creepier.

Mongrel Angel

Mongrel Angel was filled with a burst of hope when she saw the Centurion statue, renewing her faith in the decision to take the path of the hero. Zipping northwest towards the Promenade, she soon found herself hovering over where she believed the report had indicated the last murder had occurred.

[[ Everyone please make a Notice check. ]]

[spectrevk]

Notice Check: 25

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1553432/

Catherine huffed and puffed her way to the crime scene, stopping occasionally to sit down on nearby benches. A look of pure relief washed across her face when she saw the police tape. She'd finally arrived.

And yet...she felt as though there was something wrong...something that called her attention to...

[Nightshyft]

Passing by the patrol cruiser slowly, Nightshyft is nothing more than a shadow to many who would glace his way. Quickly and quietly he makes his way towards where the latest incident was supposed to have happened. Still, though...he can't shake the feeling that someone else is watching...spying on him. Like an itch that cannot be reached, it bothers him enough that he stops again...this time taking a better look around.

[Dr Archeville]

[[ Spectre, Catherine actually sees Nightshyft near the scene. You may act accordingly. ]]

[CollateralKid]

Imposter arrives at the promenade, just in time to grab a breath of fresh air. He didn't know how long he could stand sitting in that taxi having his ears chatted off by the driver.

He sees the cop parked by the entrance blocked off by police tape, he takes notice of his appearance and keeps it fresh in his memory bank, just in case. But this time around he was gonna use the subtle approach, using his blending abilities to sneak past. His skintone started taking on the qualities of his surrounding areas as he snuck past. Once in he decided to take the form of a vagrant, as a precautionary method if he got caught. The authorities would more than likely send him on his way.

[spectrevk]

Catherine tensed, her eyes drawn towards a shadow that seemed...wrong somehow. Squinting, she could make out the form of a man, of heavy fingerless gloves, of a face obscured by a great hooded overcoat. Her fingers curled reflexively, her heartbeat quickening as adrenaline began to seep into her soft, lazy muscles.

She paused.

Surely this couldn't be the killer...why remain at the scene of the crime for so long? Perhaps it's only some local vigilante, or some wandering creature of the night. Quickly her mind shuffled through a list of known vigilantes for one meeting this description...perhaps she'd heard of him.

"Well Informed" feat Gathering Info check: 19

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1554160/

[Nyrath]

When Alex finally does arrive at her destination, or at least what she believes to her intended destination, she spends a few moments just hovering over it trying to figure out if there's anyone already there, and where she could land.

Deciding on simply dropping straight down on the path the silver haired angel stops beating her wings thus stopping her hover and instead uses them as a rudimentary parachute to slow her fall. Still, the impact with the ground is such that her intended knee-flex turns into a crouch. Sure, she could have just braced and taken the impact, but it was a bit jarring at times when she did that. Still, in her mind she should have been a bit better prepared to brace just enough to keep from going into a crouch like this. Ah, well, hopefully next time.

Standing up she flexes her shoulders a bit while folding up and tucking in her wings as best she can. Sure it would be easier to just shift them away, but that would give away the fact that she can shift them away at all. For now she'd like to keep a trick or two up her sleeve just in case. In any case she's currently hoping quite fervently that there's someone already here, or soon here, who's willing to pitch in with decent actual investigation skills; if she's got to rely solely on her own skills she'd likely get nowhere without a lot of luck.

((Given my less than splendid notice roll I'm saying Alex's got her back to Catherine right now, and naturally she's missed Nightshyft.))

[Nightshyft]

Slowly, Travis approaches the crime scene...just as he was about to leave the cover of the shadows, he hears someone breathing hard...as if from some sort of exertion...say running. Tensing for a moment, Nightshyft prepares for an encounter.

Just as he was turning to locate the exact location of the heavy breathing, Travis is startled by a form dropping from the sky just a few yards in front of him. Upon spying a winged form curling it wings closer to it's body, Nightshyft slides a bit further back into the shadows...He was sure that this was not the source of the heavy breathing...this was getting crowded. With a different purpose, Nightshyft now begins to move up "past" the flyer...while still trying to find the heavy breather's location.

[Dr Archeville]

[[ I've got nothing to add at the moment; y'all can keep RPing amongst yourselves for now.

Oh, and the Judges here don't really have any sort of "What you know of other PCs based on a Gather Info check" guidelines, so I'm leaving it to Nightshyft to determine what, if anything, Catherine knows of his character. ]]

[spectrevk]

[[if the 'heavy breather' is Catherine, then she's easy to find....she's not hiding at all]]

Catherine pursed her lips thoughtfully. This must be that shadow guy she'd heard about the other day...the punks on the street are petrified of him. Flexing her hands momentarily, she stepped towards him to say hello.

"Hey...hey you! I can see you up there. Aren't you that shadowy guy? What are you doing here?"

[CollateralKid]

Imposter heard the girl talking to somebody in the bushes on the other side of the path. He vaguely recognized the girl chatting with "a shadow guy"?

"It's that Kato chick..."he thought to himself

Characters are just seeping out of the woodwork it seemed... He needed to get a glimpse of this shadow dude as well. So Imposter in the form of a homeless man purposely stumbled out of the opposing bushes...

"Hey what's going on here?! I'm trying to sleep here!! Hey Who're you talking to?!" As he stumbled forward to try and catch a glimpse of the man in the bushes.. "Who the heck hangs out in bushes? Especially in this neighborhood?!" Imposter said trying not to laugh to himself...

[spectrevk]

Catherine turned to look at the homeless man, moved a step away from him and kept her food out of sight, then ignored him and continued talking with Nightshyft.

[Nyrath]

Mongrel Angel was only slightly surprised by the speed with which the scene became relatively crowded; first the somewhat overweight lady behind her, and then the, well, bum, stumbling out of the bushes. What really surprises her is how more attention seems to be spent on either finding, or getting out of the shadows, an apparent fourth individual. For now she decides to stay silent and instead tries to spot this 'shadowy guy' which the other girl was apparently talking too.

[Nightshyft]

Travis shook his head, this area was getting too much traffic...clues might get muddied...evidence contaminated....beyond that of what has already happened when the FCPD was here. Stepping from the shadows, Travis curls the darkness at his feet, holding it in like an errant dog, " I am Nightshyft...and yes, I am the one that the street gangs fear...rightly so."

Looking grimly from one figure to another, "We need to be careful here...there may be evidence here that the FCPD has missed...and we do not want to corrupt it."

Nigtshyft's gaze lingers on the homeless man for a moment..."You are not what you seem...so could you please let us see the real you?"

[Dr Archeville]

[[ *continues watching, silently, plotting doom for the PCs....* ]]