17949/Red Reign: Hunted

Red Reign: Hunted
Date of Scene:	15 May 2024
Location:	Gotham Cemetery
Synopsis:	Caleb stops by Gotham's cemetery to give his mother a vist. Unfortunately, he ends up getting trailed by some rough individuals...only to then end up getting chased by much worse.
Cast of Characters:	Caleb Dykstra, Mary Seward
Tinyplot:	Red Reign

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Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Gotham Cemetary, early night.

Caleb could've gotten here earlier, but he's a wanted guy here in Gotham, so the cover of the night is always best to hide your steps.

He comes to visit his mother's grave, a victim of No Man's Land, and break down what has happened since - in other words, to commune with the dead.

Still, though the cover of the night is preferable, this doesn't make him invisible, and two people do happen to come across him from the other side of the street. And they start to follow him.

He climbs over the wall of the Cemetery, and lands on the other side. Finding a stony path, he proceeds, keeping an eye out for the custodians...

Mary Seward has posed:
No custodians to be found it seemed. Not so much a shadow. Even for a cemetery, tonight, it seemed oddly quiet around here. With all the talk of disappearing citizens in the news, that made it a bit extra dangerous to come out here all alone. Still, it was always going to be extra dangerous considering Caleb's circumstances. What's one more no-name criminal with intent on catching him?

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
And it's not like he hasn't come unprepared. Coming to Gotham means coming strapped - whith whatever items you might have in pockets, belts, fanny packs, whatever.

He continues along the path, then taking a turn towards the grave sites to his left.

The two goons, already halfway counting the money they'll get when they catch the young man, follow from afar with sadistic smirks...

Mary Seward has posed:
The only other signs of life seem to be animals. The flapping of wings can be heard in the distance. There are probably birds still out at this hour. An owl most likely. Gotham really had a thing with owls. As far as Caleb and the two men in pursuit knew, it was just them and a bunch of corpses. Which in some cases, was technically not wrong. Some of the "corpses" were even in the mausoleums...watching them...Waiting.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
For a moment - maybe a gut feeling, or maybe empyrical experience -, Caleb looks around. Is he being watched? Why does he feel like the hairs on the back of his neck raising? Is it getting colder?

This not being the first encounter with vampires, he takes a deep, controlled breath. From the sleeve of his arm, he lets something like a cylinder slide over to his hand...

Mary Seward has posed:
Nothing seems to come for him just yet. The night remains still as it was when he set foot on the cemeteries grounds.

But, in his fervor to stay on the watch for those that hide in the dark, Caleb might be giving his pursuers just a bit more time to catch up.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
They're not rushing, at first, but then greed gets to them, and as they pace forward ever gaster, one of them - maybe half drunk, half clumsy, but all goon mentality that shares half a brain cell with the other one actually falls and trips on a stone, that comes rolling out of the path to hit one of the mausuleums.

"Rufus, you fuckin' idiot!"

'Rufus' tries to get up, "D'uh, sorry..."

Caleb quickly turns his attention to them, blinking. And sighing. "Not the sharpest tolls in the shed, are they...?"

And still, the hairs on the back of his head are still standing up. So, he says to them, going to a lower position, but looking around, "...Exactly how much am I worth? Certainly not your lives?"

Mary Seward has posed:
The slightly opened door of the mausoleum opens just wider, thanks to the clumsiness of this Rufus. Just enough definitely put him in danger. Just as he's getting to his feet, Caleb's the one who gets to see it coming. Not quick enough for it to matter though.

Two pale arms reach out and grab Rufus. The man they're attached to, lunges out from the shadows of the now disturbed mausoleum and chomps on Rufus' jugular. With a quick yank, the figure effortlessly pulls Rufus back into the mausoleum's shadowy interior, both of them disappearing into it.

Leaving his friend behind with Caleb.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
'Rufus' screams and kicks as he's dragged inside, and doesn't stop screaming for a few seconds in the dark.

'Dammit', Caleb thinks. 'Vampires!' He quickly thinks of Jubilee - okay, Vampilee -, but she's at least showed some signs of keeping her humanity.

"You got a name, pal?"

"Y-yeah, Doyle..."

Caleb is still keeping his distance, "Well, Doyle... I suggest you start running in the next half second if you wanna live..."

"Yeah, fuck you, kid! I'm not gonna leave Rufus!" The remaining goon points his gun at the dark, and just... Starts firing!

Well, who is Caleb to complain? You know the scenario of people in the ocean and there's a shark, you need to swim to the boat nearby as fast as you can before it eats you? It's always good when there are slowpokes in that race. In this case, slow on the uptake.

Caleb starts to move as fast as he can, pressing the cylinder in his hend to unfold a sword.

Mary Seward has posed:
Doyle's loyalty to his incompetent friend was admirable but ill-timed. The source of the flapping, not owls but in fact Gotham's other prominent winged infester Bats, make themselves seen. Three in particular flying around the gunman, distracting him before they changed into human form.

Or maybe "human" wasn't the right word. Before Doyle could defend themselves, they were on him, like a pack of wolves on a cornered elk. Tearing the poor man apart with their teeth and claws as each one rushed to get as much blood down their gullet as they could.

A fourth bat would be in pursuit of chasing down Caleb, it's shape-shifting to a good mid-point between humanoid and animal, it's arms massive bat-wings enabling flight, before swooping down to take a bite out of his fleeing prey.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Halfway looking over the corner of his eye, halfway listening to the flapping of the creature's wings, Caleb times it as best as he can. He knows the creature will get to him in no-time.

*FLAP!* *FLAP!* *FLAP!*

(Silence)

Wait for it... NOW!!

From his free hand, three pellets are thrown into the air, each blowing up and quickly spreading water vapor and droplets.

But not just any sort of water... /HOLY/ water!

He rolls to the side, just in case...

Mary Seward has posed:
The water bursts right into the vampire's face, helped by his swoop lining him up perfectly for the blast. His wings quickly sink back into his arms, rendering them normal as he hits the ground hard, writhing and hissing in his agony. It feels like a bucketful of acid was suddenly tossed at him.

Things weren't too easy, just yet, though. As Caleb's rolling came to a stop, he'd find figures in the trees above with glowing red eyes, hissing at him.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Sitting and waiting for those things to come down, Caleb is not. He grabs from within his coat a flashbang grenade, which he presses hard until a click is heard, and he throws it up at the three figures, and as fluidly as he can he resumes his running posture. As the grenade reaches the figures's area, it blows up in a wave of deafening sound - which, if Caleb's calculations are correct, will disorient them - and light; but the light is that pesky ultra-violet spectrum - and, if Caleb's calculations are correct, it's gonna do more than just disorient them.

He passes by the row where his mother's grave would be, "Hey mom, great to see you! Can't talk right now, gotta ditch some vampires! Talk to you soon!"

Mary Seward has posed:
The flashbang saves Caleb's life, sending the three caught in it's blasts tumbling down. Other tree-climbing vampires in a safe enough distance to disperse leap away in the nick of time, shifting into a swarm of bats flying over head.

The swarm flies over head, trailing him, flying down and moving past him. Behind Caleb, a current of wind blows around him, seeming to move in tandem with the swarm. The current brings a fog with it. Being caught in it feels...Somewhat disorienting. Almost tiring. It swirls in the air around the flock of bats as the land, shifting shape as humanoids.

The shifts as well, taking on the form of a woman, floating in the air. Red hair, red eyes, red stripes painting her body...and pale skin. The vampires present look up at her. No doubt how one would look at a queen.

She speaks. "...Haven't you heard? It's not safe to be out at this time...People are going missing....dangerous folks could be out there."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"People going missing in Gotham?", Caleb scoffs. "Next thing you're going to tell me is that water is wet."

He circles the woman, halfway looking at her hovering figure, then at the humanoid creatures, counting them - and marking with his sword on the ground a clock reference, so he doesn't lose track of where he was headed off to. "But looks like the missing people have been found..."

He looks at her figure, "Gotta say, points for the look. Very... 'less is more' kinda vibe to it."

He tries to work out a plan, so he goes for the small talk, "You the head honcho of this biting bunch, no doubt?"

Mary Seward has posed:
Mary Seward has a light smirk on her face. "You know you could really try to be less obvious with the whole stalling thing...I mean, I can see the sword right there." She remains floating above, while her attentive vampires continue to sneer and hiss in Caleb's direction. It's mainly her presence that's holding them back.

"Still, you're right. I'm in charge. The head vampire, as it were."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Yeah, I'm drawing a circle", Caleb plainly admits. "Hope you don't mind, I like sketching."

"Now, am I to correctly assume that you felt curious about the fact that I managed to survive more that those two - I forget their names already -, that instead of just letting your drones have their way with me, you wanted to come and check me out yourself?"

He counts the creatures as he moves - how many exactly?

Mary Seward has posed:
More than he could hope to take on. With the way they crowded together, and blended in with the shadows, it was hard to pin a number down. Just that there was this mass of them.

"Something along those lines" Mary answers, making her descent and touching the ground.

"...Really impressive things you've got there. Now, how'd someone like you get your hands on such wonderful toys?"

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"I invent them, I reverse-engineer them...", Caleb says. "Not my best work, by far, but it gets the job done."

"But... I mean, we're not even on name basis, and you already want to know about my trade... For a lady of your stature, don't you find that somewhat rude?"

Mary Seward has posed:
Mary Seward hums. "I've been told I could strive to be more polite..." She chuckles. "Can't help it, I guess." With a wave of her hand, more wind came, blowing at the ground underneath Caleb and stripping away the circle he made.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
'Crap', he thinks.

"Seriously, I hate the weather around here", he comments, slumping his shoulders. And, as he does so, more pellets fall from his sleeves into his hands. "I was hoping for a sunny morning, but my weather forecast says rain... As always." He mutters under his breath, "So fuckin' typical."

Now, something here happens; his face changes his demeanor from what would be the average, perhaps nervous teenager, to that of a no-nonsense seasoned expert - someone who's seen shit go down before. "So..." He asks, "Now what?"

Mary Seward has posed:
Mary Seward couldn't hope to care at all. "...Well...That all depends on you, little man....What are you gonna do next?" She leans in. "You could fight...if you do that, you'll die for sure, but it's an option."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Well", he sighs, "you're not giving me much of a choice, are you?" He scoffs, "Either way, I don't come out of this alive..." He shrugs, "So, celebration?" All the pellets he gathered in his hand, he throws into the air, which again explode into vapor and droplets of holy water to sprinkle all around, Mary included - maybe that will break her concentration.

The next move he does, having memorized the path partway, is starting to run, sticking a device on the ground, that blinks and bounces into the air - picture a bouncing betty -, launching a flashbang of sound and UV light to clear the path of anyone coming after him.

Any other? Well, his sword, we presses the other tip and a second blade extends, which he spins like bo staff to cut trough anything that gets in his way!

Mary Seward has posed:
It seems Mary doesn't show much emotion when Caleb goes into offensive mode. As she sees the pellets go up, she scoffs. With a move of her hand, the pellets go flying high. Dispersing into the air, evaporating.

She wastes no time in repeating the move with the flashbang. It blows off to the side, heading to the tree tops. It's burst shakes the leaves, making them pitter down.

The sword wasn't something as simple blowing it away...so she went for a different approach. She grabs onto the closest edge tha comes to hitting her, using her force against it's momentum. A combination meant to snap that end off.

"...Moves like that don't work as well when we know what to expect from them...Didn't you figure that?"

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb is decidedly surprised at how his plan went so wrong, so fast - clearly this is no leight-weight of a vampire. He looks at the broken blade. Titanium core, silver plated; shattered to pieces.

"Well, Carmilla or whatever your name be..."

He pulls out a big bladed pistol from a holster withing his coat...

But when he fires, it's no ordinary bullet. I lights up like a flare, to hit like a missile. And it burns, magnesium-like.

Mary Seward has posed:
Mary Seward lets out a bemused "What the f-" Her thought can't be finished as the "bullet" shoots right at her. In an instant, it looks to make contact and she appears to disintegrate.

The dust and mist in the air twirls around, forming a vaguely human shape.

Then, it fully forms into Mary, as she raises the titanium blade she ripped from Caleb's weapon and smashes it into his fancy gun.

"...You really don't learn huh?" She chuckles. The rest of her horde joins in on the laughter, like some kind of crowd you'd find in a nightmare where you're naked on stage.

"...You know...you could just run now. I won't hold it against you. You can live tonight...Knowing that the human's time as the ruler of earth is coming to it's swansong. Your best efforts won't work to stop us, and we'll be the ones making the orders soon."

"Fight another day, with that in your head. It's food for thought."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
And, it's a fail! Sure, why not? Moves are getting more and more desperate, and it shows.

"Well", Caleb says, "You know what they say... If you can't do it at first, you try and try again."

He takes what she says as his cue to leave. He looks at all the others, who would let him pass, and he says nothing more.

Oh, but he's thinking. He's thinking, alright. And already he's formulating ideas to hold against this coming storm.

Mary Seward has posed:
Mary Seward watches him pass by, the rest of her crew showing seldom disappointment that they don't get to tear into him after all.

"A good point. A good point in deed."

Caleb may be formulating plans...but Mary's been formulating her own as well. This is the third time in a row she's faced the measures humans have to defend themselves from her kind. She's a learner. Five-hundred years gives a girl plenty of time to strengthen her ability to adapt.

You don't plan a revolution on half-baked thinking.