Roleplayer Guild - Forum Roleplaying Games

Noelle was sat next to Seth, her eyes glinting in the light. She was examining the pictures closer, her face almost touching the screen. She whipped her glasses from her pocket and slipped them on.
"Jesus," she said quickly, "this is a lot worse than we imagined, it went for the liver as well, rupturing that at the same time as the stomach, it's half devoured..."
She quickly grabbed her cellphone, dialling Kundiman's number.
"Hey, it's Kiwi," she said, "I have some more info you may like, turns out that the victim was killed by the liver being ruptured, not the stomach like we initially thought."

Nicky stepped out of the shower. A towel was wrapped around his waist. He softly rubbed his head with another towel from his hand. After scouting for whole day, after Kundi, a nice hot shower was just what he exactly needed. He stretched his arms and legs and moved towards a pile of clothing that lay on his bed. He had picked it up earlier from dry cleaning and was anxious for a change of fresh clothing.

He picked up the bundle and untied the ribbon that held the plastic together. He sifted and sorted the stash until he had picked a shirt that he liked. It was Ralph Lauren - classic-fit stripe mesh rugby. It was blue with white stripes across and an orange layer at its collar. He had bought it a few weeks earlier after arriving at America. Clothes were nice rewards after putting down werewolves and vampires. He liked this shirt and hoped that it would last longer in his wardrobes. Chasing vampires often leads to irreversible tears and stains.

He picked out a pair of jeans from the pile. He had bought this pair at Armani exhange. He liked utility jeans because there was enough room for mobility or for an extra gun. This one had a tatter about it but it was in a strategic places. He liked damage now and then and thought it gave clothing character.

He looked at the mirror. He wasn't a pretty boy like Marcus but he had rugged charm about him. The clothes accented his well-toned body quite well. At the same time he could move with a lot of freedom. He liked that. He tousled his hair and wondered whether he should apply some gel or wax. Left unstyled, his hair often fell on his face. It was certainly a bother especially if he was chasing something.

Anyway he'd better hurry up and decide. Midnight was at hand.

Noelle was still with Seth, her cellphone in hand as they were driving to the meet. She was examining the pictures still, trying to work out what was going on. It's targeting pregnant women, noone else, it must really be sick to do that, she thought to herself as they drove in silence, a cough punctuating it at points. She had a bad feeling about tonight, her stomach was protesting to what was going on.

Kundiman stared at her phone and put it right back on her ear. "Great. Thanks for the info honey, you be careful now and make it back here asap. We're gonna do a quick meet to see where we're going from here. Apparently Nicky knows what the hell is going on. He'll tell us what we're dealing with and how to get rid of it."

"Okay then, see you in ten."

"Bye bye. Say hi to Seth for me," she flipped her phone closed and stared at the screen, watching Aimee sleep in the greenish eerie light of a camera's night mode.

"Who was that?" She asked Sara who opened the trailer door.

"Dinner. Seth pre-ordered it I think." She smiled and entered with three boxes of large pizzas.

"Seth didn't, I did. I thought if pizza didn't send those people coming then nothing else would." Kundiman smiled and took the boxes from Sara and sat down near the console. She stared at all the dials and looked up at the two girls who were already opening up a box. She smiled. "One of you girls do it, I don't wanna ruin anything by pressing things I'm not supposed to. You know I'm stupid when it comes to stuff like that. You tell them we have pizza with everything on it."

"Right. I'll announce it." Ri smiled.

Kundiman stood and walked out of the trailer, bringing with her a slice of pizza with everything on it. She wasn't afraid to eat, with this job, she ended up burning more than she was eating so it wasn't all that big a deal. She smiled at the sight of three men walking out of an alleyway. Must be the knight, the squire and Ballog, having come down from the roof.

She frowned as she realized something. "Hey guys, where the hell is Marcus? He's been out of touch for a while now. Can we try to reach him through one of your amazing satellites or something?" She heard a grunt from the inside of the van that looked more like a truck to her.

She brought out a phone and pressed the speed dial for the secretary. A pair of headlights hit her as she finished the last of the pizza. The car stopped near her and the tall silhouete of Nick stepped out of it.

"Hey Nick, just in time for the pizza dinner." she greeted.

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...some people are only alive because it is illegal to kill them...

Noelle was sat in the car as the pair headed towards the meet. She stuffed the camera back into the bag as she pulled a pack of chewing gum out of it.

"Want some?" she asked Seth and passing a bit to him, chewing slowly on her piece. She blew a bubble from hers, it almost exploding on the screen, "maybe we should take a short cut or something, would mean we're not late then."

Seth nodded before taking another turn, the feeling in her stomach was growing even worse as she got closer to midnight. They got a little way up the road before stopping.

"What the..?" she said as she got out of the car. They had entered an alleway, completely deserted save a few garbage cans dotted here and there. She walked down the alley, pulling a small handgun from her pocket. Seth followed her and pulled a gun from his pocket.

"Oh my god..." she gasped as they approached something in the shadows, she couldn't quite make it out but as Seth approached, she pulled him back as something screeched, heading for the pair of them.

"S***! It's a manangal!" she exclaimed as she pulled Seth down with her as the thing approached them as a low growl erupted from it. "We found it's rear, and it's pretty mad about it."

"Ya think?" Seth said as Noelle fired a shot at it, it narrowly missing. It headed for them, before she passed out.

After a while, she came to, her vision blurred as she realised her glasses had been smashed. She groaned as she tried to move, pain erupting through her body, "Seth?" she said quietly as she looked over at a heap next to her. "Oh crap," she said as she slipped her cellphone from her pocket, trying not to make a sound. She hit the speedial for Kundiman, "hey! It's Kiwi again, we seriously need help, we found what we assume is responsible for the death, but we got attacked by it, Seth's in a bad way and I can hardly move my legs," she said quietly, her breath drawn in deeply as she tried to sit up.

Ri finished the call and looked to the monitors she'd hooked up with Sara those first days. Her eyes narrowed a moment as she saw Ballog and the men from the Vatican head towards the van. She made a mental note to herself to finish fixing the security system. The annoying brother wouldn't have damaged the door if she'd finished her job. Ri sighed. She was going to have to repair the wires he tore as well. He could've just knocked. Puffing her cheeks in annoyance, she exhaled. Anger wasn't going to get her anywhere and it took too much energy.

Ri reached over then to get a slice. She was glad she'd changed from the habit. The grease would've stained the sleeves. Dressing up as a nun was fun but the heat from wearing it all day was a drag. How could the sisters stand it? Ri turned to her side as she took a bite of her pizza slice, the toppings narrowly missed her notebook.

She heard a car approaching then. Glancing through the open doors of the van, Ri saw the car and mentally whistled in appreciation. Shiny. She liked the look of it. All neat lines and it reminded her of the new laptop casing she'd ordered online for one of her notebooks. It was suppose to arrive sometime this week. Looking up when Nicky came out, she smiled at the two. What a pair they made. Mizz Manolos and Sir Armani. She smiled more at the underlying tension between him and Kundiman. She was tempted to break out her popcorn screensaver and watch the show.

And she almost did but it was just then that Kundiman's phone rang. Judging from her sudden movement, something happened. Everyone was accounted for except for Noelle, Seth and Marky. Ri watched as Kundiman began frowning, she sat up straight and put the pizza down. Oh God...

Kundiman signaled to her. "Where are you?" Ri leaned in to listen, her hands poised above her keyboard ready to locate their teammates. "Nth street, in X avenue." Ri typed quickly and turned her monitor to Kundiman displaying the map, it wasn't all that far from where they were. Kundiman nodded and said into the phone, "We're on our way. Do what you can for Seth."

Kundiman turned to them. "Something's happened. Seth's unconscious. And Noelle's been hurt. I think they've stumbled onto our target." She turned to Nicky. "Tell the details quickly. We need to get this done now."

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"I'll see what I can do, but I can't move properly," she replied as she tried dragging herself over to Seth, checking him over and trying to stem any bleeding that may have been occurring.

"Dammit Seth! Stay with me!" she shouted as she held back tears, she didn't want anything like this to happen, she shouldn't have suggested they take a shortcut. "Hurry guys..." she said to herself as she brushed her hair out of her face and tried to focus her blurred vision on an unconscious Seth.

She was shaking fervently as she half knelt, half laid next to Seth, she was trying to help him, but the injuries to her leg were pretty bad, she collapsed, exhausted and in pain as everything went black around her.

Nicky sensing the urgency of the situation pulled out a photograph from a folder he held in his arms. He had just gotten out of the car and everyone seemed pumped and ready for action. He flashed the picture of a young girl in front of everyone.

"This is Kath, she is a manananggal. A demon woman who grows wings at night and feeds on the blood of her victims. She especially likes to feed on pregnant women and their children," He said.

"I see where this is going, go on." Kundi said.

"She's a creature I've hunted before way back in the Philippines. I've killed the mother before but this one escaped. I traced her here in Chicago and that's when I started calling you guys for help as well. I need confirmation whether we're dealing with the same creature here" Nickly replied.

"Most of our research suggests that this girl is probably the killer. Take a look at some of the evidence we've gathered." Kundi turned the laptop towards Nicky.

"I have confirmation on that, Noelle was just attacked by the creature" Ri put in.

"You've dealt with it before, how do you take it down" Sara asked.

"Manananggals detach their bodies when they hunt. It will have a lower half hidden away somewhere. That's the vulnerable spot, you have to spread salt or mashed garlic at the bottom so that it can't reattach itself. By morning it will weaken and die if it can't become whole."

"Why can't we just kill the upper half?" Sara probed.

"The upper half is extremely agile and dangerous. It's tongue has the ability to pierce into human flesh. This is the reason why so many victims have torn apart. Not only that its hands become virtual claws that can shred anyone into threads. Lastly, some of the creatures have been known to possess regenerative properties. Damage it enough and it'll fly away and victimize other people the next day."

"So how do you hurt the upper half?" Kundi interjected.

"Salt and mashed garlic can sear it temporarily enough to cause considerable pain. I have some salt guns with me if you guys don't have the tools but I have 2 pieces. The others will have to find other means of attacking the creature. Whatever the case, we have to hurry. If Noelle has been ambushed chances are that the creature hasn't finished its attack," Nicky said.

Nicky noticed Ballog and two unknown figures had dropped by during the conversation. One had a rather familiar book chained to his trousers. Nicky rolled his yes and whispered at Kundi. "Oh shit, what are you guys doing? What's this guy doing with you?" He eyed Brightglory.

‘Fantastic,’ Sara grinned around at the group, who had managed to squish themselves into her van like sardines. Her smile faltered when the others looked back at her as if she’d sprouted a third arm from her forehead. ‘Well, obviously not the whole Mananana – whatever the hell that thing is – problem. Or the fact that Noelle and Seth are in the middle of an ambush. Or… oh, forget it,’ Sara sighed and leapt into the driver’s seat.

The truth was, for the first time on this mission, she was finally able to do something more useful then watch security cameras and she was excited. Plus she was going to be allowed to drive fast. Really fast. What the team didn’t know was, Sara had just spent the last few days ‘fixing’ the van. She’d just added a few things here and there, like a new cold air intake system and 3300 stall converters. It was certainly going to make playing corners heaps of fun. And when they were tearing down the street at 220 kilometres per hour, she wouldn’t have time to worry about Seth and Noelle.

‘Ri, I need you up here,’ she said, reaching back and hauling her team mate into the passenger seat. ‘I’m gunna need you to hack into the traffic lights system. Make sure every light we come to is green because, at the speeds I’ll be going, it will not be a good idea to stop.’

When Ri had confirmed she could do what Sara asked, the young mechanic started the van and put it in gear, revving the engine a little to show off. She considered for half a second warning those in the back to ‘hold on for dear life’ but decided it would be much more fun if she didn’t. Then, as soon as she fastened her seatbelt – safety first – they were off.

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Noelle opened her eyes, groggily scanning the area around her, looking at Seth who was still out. "Where are they?" she asked herself, grimacing at the pain she felt through her body, "this is great, we get attacked and now we're dying in an alleyway, what a great day for us two."

She turned onto her side, looking at Seth again, she brushed his hair out of his face, "I'm sorry, this is my fault if I hadn't suggested we take a shortcut..." She burst into tears, they were a mixture of pain and hurt at what had happened and the fact she had let her teammate get hurt.