10595/Non-Magical Giant Roaches

Non-Magical Giant Roaches
Date of Scene:	28 March 2022
Location:	Widowstone Creek Apartments
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Zatanna Zatara, Hellboy

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Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Single-story ranch houses line the streets with unfenced yards. The unkempt yards with knee-high grass are often accompanied by old cars, and garden sheds overgrown with honeysuckle stick out in the rows of green yards with modest gardens. The development is old enough for trees to have filled in and shade the sidewalks during the summer.

But now in early spring, the trees are barely budding green, and only the occasional lawnmower is heard on the weekend. It's too cool to sleep with the windows open, so most people asleep in their beds don't hear the clang of sewer covers being pushed back or the scrape of clawed feet pulling heavy bodies over the lips of the holes.

Hardly, the setting for Zatanna's childhood memories, although the prosaic suburb lies within walking distance of her home. She would be hard-pressed to explain what drew her out of her house to walk the streets of the sleeping suburb beyond a niggling apprehension. So instead, she has learned to obey those or regret it later.

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy walks through the formerly idyllic landscape. He lights a cigar and nudges open an old gate with his knee. The rusted-through hinges are stiff, and the bolts give way before they bend. The gate swings diagonally before slamming noisily against the ground. "Great," Hellboy says. He steps on the half-rotted wood and draws his sidearm. He notes the woman and squints. He raises his stony Right Hand of Doom to his lips, placing his index finger under his nose. He gestures Zatanna to him. Hopefully, she would be able to be stealthier than he.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zee is a dark silhouette until she emerges under the halo of a street lamp. Light glints in her dark hair and is swallowed by the dark form-fitting clothes she chose for exploring the streets.

She stops walking at the sound of boards splitting under someone's weight and steps into the shadows on guard, ready to cast a spell. Non-plussed but hardly new to seeing monstrous beings, she scrutinizes the dark-hued man with the enormous hand a moment, deciphering the gesture to mean caution and nods, copying the gesture with a slender, manicured finger.

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy glances around, then gestures toward toward the abandoned apartment building he's aimed at. Quietly, he says, "Think there might be bugs in here. You bring your stomping boots?"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Approaching him so they can speak quietly, she shakes her head, "Not a problem, don't need them. Did you see the sewer cover pushed back?" The magician looks him up and down, ignoring the standard civilities for the moment. She politely glances past the stumps of what she imagines were horns on the man's head. And his unusual color.

"Have you seen something strange?"

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy shakes his head. Quietly, he says, "Can smell it." He gestures again, then quietly begins moving. It's almost confusing how quietly he can move. Unfortunately for him, everything squeaks in a building that old, and he has the heft to shift it at max volume.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
The man, if man he is, is huge. Under the stealth and wary sense of impending danger, the homo magi is amused at finding herself creeping behind this stranger late at night in an abandoned building. To add to the novelty is his size which she guesses to be well over six foot five, maybe closer to seven feet. His silence is impressive.

"Smell what?" she whispers.

Hellboy has posed:
    "Roaches," Hellboy says. His statement is punctuated by a creature that is both the size and the general temperment of Edgar from Men In Black. Hellboy raises his weapon, but too late, as the cockroach upper-cut headbutts him, sending him back onto the concrete path leading to the apartments!

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zee's mouth barely opens in oh of comprehension before it becomes astonishment. She had been walking too closely behind Hellboy to get out of his way. He takes her down like a bowling pin. Wriggling out from under his considerable weight, she looks up into the backlit shape of two barbed mandibles. And doesn't like it."