psychoshenanigans | Goodnight // AU

Entry tags:

coil,
zhas

Goodnight // AU

Coil knows how it is, by now. They go to a city for a particular task--a peace treaty, an assassination, a little structural upheaval--and they stay because Zhas can't go home happy without something returning to the grave. They're in Queens tonight, chasing things down tight, twisting alleys and winding roads, between dingy buildings and apartment units that crowd out the stars. Zhas has mentioned, very briefly, that he grew up in Queens. As he's not said a word about it since, it may go without saying that he's focusing on the hunt with particular zeal tonight.

They've got a group cornered. Zhas leads them right to them, six or seven, stuck at a dead end in their race to escape their pursuers. They're just grunts, and mostly Wolves--they start showing teeth and growling the second their banging against the easy-giving chain-link fence proves useless. One of them tries to climb up it, only to be dragged back down by a "buddy" of hers and called a useless coward.

Zhas fires one of his bolts while he still has distance--and in the chaos, one of the smaller ones slips away through a crack between the buildings. Just a little too big for his hulking friends to manage. Another one tries to follow, but they get a well-aimed bolt to the side of the head.

So that's five against two. Good odds?

They charge, two going straight for Coil. One is slower (but probably strong), and the other's face suddenly bares a striking resemblance to his clan's namesake.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Part of his attention darts off between the buildings after the fleeing monster--chasing things down in the dark and striking from the edges is where he really excels--but he can't let it get very far. He needs his focus close because he's stuck working in a corridor with creatures heading right for him. It's not his favorite setup, by far, but he'll work with it. At least he still has nearby walls to his advantage.

So, as the pair comes charging, he uses the seconds he has to back up and maneuver. Slipping toward the wall to keep it at his blind side, giving himself a little extra time to judge their speed, the way they move. And drifting backwards tends to makes him easy for the ravenous ones to underestimate--or at least makes it easy to misjudge the ways he's going to move.

Because when his momentum finally changes, swinging around from a slow retreat to a forward lunge, the switch is sudden. A step back, a quick one to the side, and then he's abruptly whipping around with his staff carrying the energy of the little motion tenfold.

He loves it when their mouths stick out like that. More teeth to smash, less protection for the breakable bones they're set in.

The thing howls in agony and clutches his broken face, immediately regretting his poor decision. Stumbling to the side, he nearly knocks into the other--who looks like he might lose his nerve anyway.

Coil has a big open window. Zhas has whatever lunged towards him covered, using his own speed to duck around and stab whatever monster's decided to make a grab for him.

He just has a moment out of the corner of his eye to make sure that Zhas has his side of things covered, because he's not pausing in his momentum. It's all laid out nicely; he can finish this relatively quickly now that they're not charging with such fervency.

The animal-faced one is still not as crippled as he'd like, and now it's being loud, so the next swing loops around to hit it in the face again--this time aiming for that lower jaw, where it hinges into its throat. Maybe he can kill two birds with one stone if he aims well enough.

After that, it's time to turn his attention to the big guy.

The shapeshifter crumples with a hideous gurgle, slumping uselessly against the wall before he disintegrates, starting from the crushed mass of his neck.

Not nearly as tough as he'd looked. Here's to hoping the next one is the same.

His friend's death only makes him angrier, snarling and spitting and aiming a wide swing for any part of Coil he can hit.

Zhas is darting in and out of peripheral, but the sound of his arm mechanism is a good sign.

Wide swings--he likes those too. Even with only one eye, he can easily track that movement and compensate. He's used to Zhas' relentless speed, so this will be a piece of cake.

Ducking the swing puts him in a great place--and puts the big guy in not as great of a place--for hopefully bringing the fight to a more even height.

He tries to use the large vampire's momentum against him. The brute is moving, swinging his weight in the attack... so Coil's next strike is snapped toward whichever knee he needs more, from whatever side would be trying to brace against the most weight.

It's just easier when the tall ones are brought down to where he can actually reach.

And the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Wolves aren't known for quick thinking--or really, much thinking at all--so it comes as no surprise when this one topples forward, his bracing leg suddenly useless and broken the wrong way.

He falls forward, making a clumsy crab for Coil even as a string of swears pave his quick course towards the ground.

He hadn't wanted to switch out for his wire yet, but he doesn't like haven't to pick at big wounded monsters like this guy. He'd rather just end it quickly, especially since it seems like maybe this will turn out to be a short one, at this rate.

So, he leaves his staff behind as he dodges around the crumpling vampire's reach, and hooks the grips of his garrote out of the special pocket in his sweatshirt.

Hopefully the monster is low and just crippled enough for him to swing around behind and loop the wire around its throat. With its weight pitched forward, he'll help by just landing on its back, knee jammed down to add leverage for when he hauls back on the wire.

Coil's unfortunate opponent does try to twist around, reach behind and grab him, but his efforts are quickly thwarted by the horrible, burning thing at his neck. The knee grinding into his spine makes it impossible to do much more than clutch and grab at his throat, choking and sizzling and sawing all to important bone before the creature loses strength.

It's a slow crumble, but he's going. He'll be just another pile of ash, soon.

There's a short struggle and a final, satisfying crunch to Coil's left. If he looks, he'll be just in time to see Zhas pick his boot up out of the dusty skull of something that had tried to grow feathers. That's two and two--but what about the last one?

With no one to stop her, the "coward" resumed her climb over the chain-link fence. She only hesitates near the top, in surprise, when a sudden shrill scream rings out from somewhere beyond the thin alley where the first vampire had disappeared. Zhas pauses to glance; the monster makes it over the fence and continues her panicked break for it.

Zhas quickly points Coil towards the noise before resuming his chase with renewed energy. He uses the running start to kick off the wall and scale the fence in a few easy hoists. He takes off after her, regardless of what Coil decides to go.

It only takes a second of looking to guess his reasoning, though. There's no way Zhas could fit through that thin space and keep up any kind of speed. Coil's smaller, better at that kind of thing. That one is up to him.

It only takes Coil long enough to shake the garrote free from the remains before he's off and running, snatching his staff from the ground as he passes.

This is more like it. Tracking and running down prey in the dark--there's something about having the opportunity to beat these monsters at their own game that he takes a certain pleasure in. This might almost turn out to be fun.

As soon as he hits the true shadows of the alley, he slows his pace and starts really paying attention. Noting the layout of his surroundings, ledges and pockets of shadow--anything that could give him tactical advantage if he ends up having to come back this way, and signs for where the creature could have gone.

Time to go hunting.

The buildings get so cramped here that there are only a few places that they could have gone--and the frequent dead-ends, paths that suddenly end in six-story walls, mean that the thing has probably been stuck backtracking. There's no creaking in the fire escapes, nothing clambering onto the roofs above, so whatever he's hunting is on the ground... and trying very hard to stay quiet.

But there are little signs. A trash can recently knocked over, some scratches on the side of a short wall they must have scrambled over.

And there's... something else. It's silent, easy to overlook, but far enough into the maze and Coil gets the distinct feeling that something is following him. It's fluid and sticking to ledges, windowsills, a shadow buried deeply among all the others.

It's very quiet, like the buildings are holding their breath. Wherever Zhas' hunt has taken him, there's not a single sign of him now.

It's all starting to make him edgy. As watchful as he is, as quiet as he is, he still has one big handicap that takes a lot of work to compensate for. It's hard to watch for everything when you can only watch one side at a time. Splitting his attention between looking for his prey and trying to keep tabs on a potentially second thing following him around is just a little more than he's comfortable with.

He needs to take a moment.

After minutes of making sure to keep his pace the same, trying not to leave little clues that he's noticed whatever that other presence is, he slips into the dark around some corner. Finds a neat little place to quietly step into, settle into the shadows, press his breath flat and just go quiet.

He listens and waits, giving his eye a break and letting all his other senses collect data. He'll let at least a few minutes go by if he has to, just getting a sense of what's around him.

It does take a minute. The thing that's following him is more patient than most. It lies in wait long enough to determine that its prey is playing the same game that they are, and then slowly sinks its way down onto the ground, creeping up towards the corner that Coil is tucked behind.

...the thing that's hiding, however, is much less patient.

"...Oy!" Comes a hushed call from somewhere further down the alley, crouched low behind some boxes Coil may or may not have seen earlier, "...S'he gone?"

There's a sudden, sharp hissing sound from very nearby, low to the the ground, just around the corner. And then it's silent again, just like that, but that's long enough to give away just where its hiding.

It must be one from the Shadow clans. Stealthy, said to blend into the darkness to the point of achieving invisibility. They're weak against bright lights, mirrors, and have trouble with being invited places... but silver and raw bashing damage never went wrong either.

Edited 2013-04-01 19:49 (UTC)

What better way to get around something that relies on invisibility, than by using something other than your eyes.

As soon as that hiss rasps right nearby, he locks onto the sound and moves. He's already confident that he can track down the more vocal of the pair, so it's the quiet thing that needs to be pinned down first. Swinging around the corner, not waiting for his eyes to catch up, he snaps his staff somewhat blindly for the source of the voice. As close to exact as he can get.

There's a thudding and a wheezing as his staff makes contact with something that absorbs and pushes back. The illusion breaks, and even in the dim light, Coil can make out his form clearly.

He's a Shadow, all right. Almost the wrong colors, almost translucent, dressed distinctly better than his animalistic counterparts. Looks like he grabbed at the staff as it came towards him, though that didn't stop the momentum enough to avoid a blow to the chest.

There's a rattling from behind them while the other tries to figure out what to do--but the vampire in front of him will try to wrench the staff out of Coil's hands.

Normally, combatants tend to at least try to hang onto their weapons. Coil, however, just lets go of his the instant that he feels it twisting to the side. He just lets the guy pull it away without any fight, giving no resistance for all that momentum to meet.

And as he drops it to the side, he continues the motion with an elbow towards that shadowy face. He doesn't need a weapon to still be a problem.

He gets the satisfaction of seeing a brief look of confusion on the vampire's face before it gets smashed into. Clearly not any kind of close-combat fighter, he stumbles backwards, dropping the staff immediately to reach up and clutch as his broken face.

He looks scared. These things aren't supposed to fight back like this. He tries to step backwards into a deeper shadow and cloak himself again, but it may be far too late for that--and he's not counting on Coil's unusual gift of vision.

There's some part of him that deeply enjoys when they're intelligent enough to have that look.

It's satisfying when they're smart enough to be scared. It's also encouraging--it means that he has a moment. At least in the split second needed to act, the vampire thinks he has a chance, expects to be hidden... which means that Coil has enough time to hook his garrote out of his pocket again.

And then, with that situated, he sets to trying to tie up one more loose end. Lunging right for the half-camouflaged vampire, he elbows in and goes to loop the wire around his neck. He tries to knock the guy's hands away from his face first, but he's not terribly concerned about it in this case. Whether there are fingers in the way or not, he's tightening the wire.

A couple of fingers get caught, but through technicality, they aren't caught for long.

After a surprised gasp, the thing at least has the smarts not to waste time breathing. Scared as he is, he quickly gives up digging for the wire at his throat and tries to gather a powerful kick towards his enemy.

He doesn't make a sound when the vampire stomps down on the top of his thigh, even though it hurts. He just grimaces and hangs on. It doesn't shake Coil enough to get him to back off--it's just something that comes with the territory of wrestling and strangling the life out of your enemies. And if the vampire knocks Coil, he's just making it worse for himself, because Coil's dragging him with.

And then he's dragging him around the other way. Throwing his weight to side, Coil tries to keep the vampire from keeping an even enough footing to try something like that again, and he'd really like to haul him all the way around until their places are switched. Coil would rather his own back be against the wall instead of exposed to the rest of the alley like this. He needs a meat-shield, just in case.

That vampire at the end of the alley isn't going anywhere. He's half-standing and staring at the violence in front of him, gawking as his partner stumbles and sinks to the ground, choking under his own weight.

It's too much. Even without breath, the garrote breaks through in a splash of steam. It cuts through him like he's made of sand, after that, head tumbling away from his neck before it and the rest of his body dissolve into a fine ash in front of Coil.

"Oh... shit."

Having said the only appropriate reaction to the scenario, the last vampire finally bolts away from the thing that just took out something much better at its job than him.

You know, with the spasming pain bound up in the muscle of his leg, he almost considers just letting the vermin go. Really, the worst it could normally do is head off to make more things for him to hunt later.

But the fact that there was a shadow creep working with him does not inspire confidence in Coil that they were up to something comparatively harmless. At the very least, he'd like to keep one more footsoldier and piece of information away from whatever they're involved with.

Just in case.

So, ignoring the shocks of discomfort in his leg that will probably be following him for a while, he once more collects his weapons and sets to chasing down his very unfortunate prey.

Unfortunate is right.

He's not going to make it far. He wasn't given extra speed, and clearly wasn't marked for his strength. Unless he's got animal forms that he's too scared to use, he may really be the runt of the litter. He's dashing right for an open area, where the tight squeeze between brick buildings spills out onto a dingily-lit road.

But just as he hits that opening--he trips.

There's a sudden shriek (very close to the one before) and something pulls its leg back. The vampire spins around trying to get back up onto his feet, trying to see what he tripped over, snarling and panicked and--

Well, now there's really not a chance in hell that he'll be able to outrun Coil.

That catches Coil off-guard enough to interrupt his run, jogging down to a slightly more hesitant pace. ...He might have forgotten that shrieking variable, somewhere along the way.

At least his prey is... delayed. He can afford to slow up and figure out the same thing the poor vampire was trying to. What other complication does he have to factor in now?

There's a girl there, huddled up against the wall, now keeping her legs very close to her body. She can't be past her twenties, dirty-blonde hair matching how the rest of her looks like she's been in a scuffle. When Coil shows up, her hands are clamped firmly over her mouth and her eyes are wide. Half hyperventilating, she must be trying to keep herself from shrieking again.

The vampire doesn't waste time--he grabs for her, tries to pull her up off the ground with him and use her as a shield between himself and the crazy guy that's been chasing after him.

She just whimpers, terrified. "P-Please, I just w-want to go home..."

Well great.

He's got to try to keep this girl safe now. Zhas would kill him if he indulged in just eliminating her as a complication to this scenario... but the vampire doesn't need to know that.

Coil takes a quietly-frantic stock of what options he has available, and notes that if there's any resource to be found in abundance here, it's fear. The human girl is only adding to the surplus. She's exuding so much terror, it's making him twitchy... so he can only hope that it's having a similar effect on his vampire friend.

Coil knows fear. He maybe isn't used to often inspiring it--either working too quickly or too silently to even have the chance--but he's still very familiar with it. He knows very well what it's like to be on the other side of it, and he's seen it work alongside him night after night.

So, he emulates it by not hesitating--his eye narrows in frustration but he just marches coldly forward, straight for the two of them. He works to keep everything about his body language saying that not only does he not care that the vampire is threatening her safety, but he'll also move through her to get to him, if necessary.

He's not calling the vampire's bluff in thinking that he won't actually kill her. He knows that the little monster would without a second thought, and even still might hurt her to test Coil's resolve. Instead, he's putting all his chips on the hope that the vampire will tap into its sense of self-preservation and realize that Coil is not going to stop coming for him, and hanging onto that girl is only going to slow down whatever chance for a last-ditch escape he might have.

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