13846/Undead Investigation

Undead Investigation
Date of Scene:	15 January 2023
Location:	Hell's Kitchen
Synopsis:	Hellboy and Balm meet Ember on a rooftop. They don't even fight...physically!
Cast of Characters:	Embershroud, Hellboy, Phoebe Beacon

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Embershroud has posed:
    Hell's Kitchen. It seems more and more like that every night. Embershroud has only been in the city for a few months now, but she's beginning to see why it draws so many undesireable sorts. Floating overhead, barely a speck of red in the night sky above the city, she goes largely unnoticed. She doesn't have enhanced sight or hearing, so even though she can fly being too far away from the streets means she won't notice anything happening.
    It's an easy descent from the skies to the rooftops. When she lands, Embershroud looks down at the street below. She's watching the loading dock of a local small business - a truck is parked outside, and there are about a half dozen men loading crates into the back of it. A little late for this sort of business, it would seem, but so far she's only watching from she shadows above, unaware of who might be watching her.

Hellboy has posed:
    The garbage truck is NOT the kind of thing normally used for hauling cargo. One of the people wandering around is a big, red, gorilla of a man. He pulls a vibrating phone from his pocket. He groans and his shoulders sag before he tries his best to stand upright as he answers it.
    "Yeah?" Red says into the mobile device. There's a pause before he looks up at the rooftop. "Huh," he says, hanging up whether or not the other person's ready for him to do so. "Alright," he says. Moving to the wall, he looks at it, then up and sighs. "Here goes nothing," he says.
    The brickwork thankfully doesn't give 'way as the demon climbs it. Sturdy stuff, apparently. He manages to get to the rooftop and roll over onto it. He clambors to his feet and turns to look at the edge of the building that overlooks the garbage truck. "Hey!" he says. "This is a private party."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    On the contrary, garbage trucks are great for hauling cargo, because no one ever suspects and their backs are re-enforced really well. The crushing damage and the smell on the other hand aren't comforting.

    Hell's Kitchen used to be her home turf, and it felt weird to be back here, some ugly memories cropping up, but she was here to help a friend. She was in her covert Ops Magic set, which means lightly armored hoodie, hood up, domino with blue glowing lenses an thigh-mounted utility pouches!

    She herself seems to pop into being nearby Red, her head tilting a moment.

    "He's right, kinda late for a pickup." she remarks with amusement.

Embershroud has posed:
    The woman on the rooftop rises to her full height, a towering, impressive five-foot-ten. Still looking down as Hellboy begins his ascent, she frowns, which only looks like more of a scowl thanks to the mask covering her eyes and nose. Expecting a confrontation, Ember's hands clench into fists before becoming engulfed in flame. It certainly draws attention from below, but her attention is on the big red guy, and the woman who appeared beside him.
    "Not the party I was looking for, anyway," she replies. Her voice is a gravely alto, and now that she's better illuminated, it's easier to see the stitches in her neck. And the pallid, ashen grey skin. "You're the one they call Hellboy, ain't ya?" she asks, "Ain't it a little... y'know... stereotypical for you to be hangin' around Hell's Kitchen?"

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy reacts to Phoebe showing up as though she'd just walked through the doorway from the other room after he'd just climbed in a window. "Really?" he asks, like a teenager who just got one upped. Sighing and shaking his head, he turns back to the undead woman sharing the rooftop. "Look, lady," he says, not seeming to care if she's undead or what she is, at least with his honorifics. "You know who I am? You know I'm fireproof. Let's drop the light show, huh?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "What, now you're grumpy at me agreeing with you?" phoebe asks from beneath her hood, and she turns her gaze to Embershroud, lips pursing a moment as her domino picks up on some of the scarring, the danger of the fire, and Phoebe draws her hands up, the rose-gold glow of her magic circles forming on the backs and palms as she readies a shield.

    "Huh. She's new. Don't recognize her from living above the bar." Phoebe remarks quietly to Hellboy.

    Her stomach takes a fall, though, feeling the dark magic that helps animate her; Phoebe's own Light clashing against it.

    "I'm Balm." she introduces herself, "... what kind of party were you looking for?"

Embershroud has posed:
    There's a few long moments where Ember is silent, clearly considering Hellboy and Phoebe as they stand across from her. Finally she sighs and relaxes her hands, the flames disappating as quickly as they had appeared. "You are," she replies, "But your friend ain't." She gives a two-fingered point towards Phoebe. "I'm not interested in a fight though. Not with you two. You're not the ones I'm lookin' for."
    There's another pause and she seems to glance towards Phoebe. "I go by Embershroud," she replies - unaware of the sense of dark magic that Phoebe is getting from her. "I've been tracking shipments from a company called Jensen Corp," she says, before looking back towards the garbage truck on the street below. "It would seem I've been misled."

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy looks around. Nobody but the BPRD agents on the ground below seem to have noticed, at least for now. He looks back at the undead woman. "Skimpy duds," he says. He gently prods Phoebe with his elbwo before gesturing at the living dead before them. "And check out the racoon mask. Just the eyes." He smirks. "Yeah, lady, nobody's going to figure out who you are with that on your face. Every other woman's got that complexion." He looks over her. "Still, kinda an old fashioned superheroine, huh?" He raises an eyebrow. "Or are you a villain? I wouldn't mind a tussle," he concludes, his mind always at least gutter adjacent, it seems.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Balm blinks as she getes threatened, and her eyes narrow behind her domino.

    "Jensen Corp?" she questions, and she draws herself to a full stand, her hands still glowing. "And don't worry about me being flamable. I get over it pretty quickly." she remarks offhandedly to Embershroud, though she does give a :| face at Hellboy's commentary.

    "For what purpose are you following them?"

Embershroud has posed:
    Embershroud, like every other woman who's heard those sort of comments, simply replies matter-of-factly. "The mask isn't to hide who I am," she tells them, "It's to hide who I was. I don't need to be linked to a life I left behind, when there are still people alive who have already suffered from my death. Though I wouldn't be so quick to judge people's appearances, Big Red." The undead woman's attention shifts to Phoebe, and she nods her head once. "They're who I'm after," she affirms, "You heard of 'em?" It's unlikely, the company is just a shell corporation and they haven't exactly been making waves. Though there may be a memory of a massive fire at a warehouse owned by that company in Chicago some years ago.

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy doesn't seem too worried about protecting Phoebe. He'll do it if he has to, but she's more than capable of defending herself. However, he does look at her. He says quietly, but still loud enough to be overheard, "What do you think? I hold her and you do some kinda magic whatsit to see if she's telling the truth or whatever?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    There's a benefit to working with Bats, an that's the fact that Phoebe has an internet feed to her domino. She leans back a moment on her heels, regarding Embershroud.

    "I know there was a fire a couple years back at a warehouse owned by them, but it seems like they're a pretty quiet group. PO boxes and some empty offices that have security but no one enters." she remarks, her arms crossing.

    "Doesn't seem like she has reason to lie to us," she replies quietly to Red. "But she's definitely Undead, I can feel the dark on her. Kinda makes me wanna sneeze it out. Blech." she remarks, sticking her tongue out before turning back to Embershroud.

    "I'm obviously not going to force truth when you're already telling us."

Embershroud has posed:
    Embershroud nods her head slowly as Phoebe remarks about the fire. She lifts her right hand, as if by demonstration, ignites the flame around it again. "It took years for me to learn how to control it properly," she tells Phoebe, "But my awakening was... unpleasant, for all involved." The flame goes out again, and she folds her arms again. "I don't have a reason to lie. Yes, I'm undead. Technically. I like to think of myself as... Non-traditional. Besides, I doubt -you- could catch me." Ember nods towards Phoebe. "Her I'm not so sure about. You kind of... popped in out of nowhere, and I'm not sure how far away I'd have to get for you to be unable to surprise me with it."

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy harumphs, rolling his eyes. "I kinda prefer the undead that don't talk and take swings at ya," he admits. He looks at Embershroud for a few moments, drinking in her form again, though without any hormonal undertones. "I bet you give off a trackable thermal signature," he points out. He looks back at Phoebe. "My bosses can probably track her. You want front row seats if I have to wrestle her into a fireproof cage?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I don't know, having a verbal spar is kinda nice for a change. Usually they're trying to bite me. Or rip my lungs out." Phoebe remarks to Red, and she gives a small smile.

    "I'm good, Red. She seems like she might take a while to warm up, but--" she plucks a Nine of Hearts from the air, and with a crushing motion and a blow of her hand, the card appears at Embershroud's feet.

    It has a phone number on it.

    "Text if you need a hand."

Embershroud has posed:
    "I probably do," Ember replies, "Though I would appreciate if you don't track me. I like my privacy." There's a pause when the card appears, and she crouches down to pick it up. "I'm not out here to cause trouble. I'm looking for the people who made me into what I am so I can stop it from happening to anyone else. If I'm lucky, it won't be too late." She looks between Hellboy and Phoebe for a moment. "So are we good here, or are we gonna end up givin' these people a lightshow anyway?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "We're good, and if it's stopping people who turned you into this? I'm down to help you in any way I can." she states, and gives a grin, tilting over, and disappearing off the rooftop and through a handy-dandy portal, she's outta here!

Hellboy has posed:
    "Show-off," Hellboy snarks at Phoebe. He looks at Ember. "I don't have cards. Look up the business on that garbage truck if you want to get ahold of me. My bosses might even send me." Red then turns and bounds off the roof. "CANNONBALL!" he calls out loudly. He impacts the pavement by punching it with the Right Fist of Doom--definitely not a cannonball. The pavement cracks. All the agents rush away from the spot where he lands.
    One particularly grumpy-looking agent, a bald man who looks particularly frustrated by powerlessness despite nominal authority, shouts, "Hellboy!" He then begins chewing out the demon who largely ignores him.

Embershroud has posed:
    Embershroud gives a nod to Phoebe, after Hellboy launches himself off the building. A moment later, she's off like a shot flying through the city skies.