18471/Havenwood: Assault and Battery

Havenwood: Assault and Battery
Date of Scene:	30 June 2024
Location:	Havenwood, Washington
Synopsis:	Rien and Logan are ambushed at the motel. A bomb blast destroys one room, but the pair of clawed mutants manage to grind through their attackers with little trouble. With the few survivors fleeing for their lives, Logan and Rien decide to get cleaned up before they go track down the organization responsible for the genetic experiments.
Cast of Characters:	Logan Howlett, Rien D'Arqueness

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Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan and Rien have only been in Havenwood for about an hour and they've already been involved in a bar brawl in the only bar in town. In what might be a first, it wasn't their fault. A group of well-dressed goons stormed the bar and attacked them, but not lethally. Based on the syringes full of sedatives and the tasers, the goons were trying to take them alive. But why?

Once the brawl came to an end thanks to Rien's physical prowess, the bartender Rhetta told the duo about some organization that abducts people in town and performs some kind of experiments on them, resulting in strange mutations.

Determined to get some downtime, Rien and Logan head to a motel on the outskirts of town.

The old Bronco rumbles to a stop in the empty parking lot of the town's motel. The Knotty Pines Motel. The motel itself sits just off the main road leading into and out of town. It's hugged by the dense evergreen forest, forming almost a solid green wall around the place. Beneath the canopy of the trees, the forest itself is dark, even in the afternoon. The scent of fresh air, trees, and damp soil overwhelms the senses. But there's something else riding on the breeze. Tires. Grease. Gasoline. Gunpowder.

Killing the engine, Logan glances over at Rien, "Smells like we aren't alone."

Unperturbed by that, Logan shoves the door open and steps down onto the pavement, then heads for the motel's office.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Sniffing at her knuckles, Rien blanches, "I should have washed my hands before we left the pub. I smell like... ew, is that Brylcreem?? Do they even still MAKE that?!" Blanching, she shakes her head and wipes her hands on her jeans before staring out the window.

The ride isn't long, but after the fight at the bar, it's long enough that she's getting antsy about being 'cooped up', letting out a breath when they pull into the parking lot. A shift of her shoulders is the only indication that she's growing tense in the cab of the Bronco.

Glancing around the area, she purses up her lips briefly, sniffing lightly at the air and gives a nod, "Seems like we're in for a party. Wonder if they've gone with the high-powered rifles, shotguns, or plan to stick to handguns..." Rien lifts a shrug and flahses a smile at him, "Well, we shouldn't keep them waiting. It would be *rude*."

Chuckling, she pushes open the door and hops out, shutting the door behind her, boots crunching lightly over the gravel. Glancing around this way and that, she moves towards the office, hands tucked intot he pockets of her leather jacket, nonchalant, as if they didn't just encounter half a dozen men in suits a few minutes ago.

Logan Howlett has posed:
"The bigger the guns, the better I'm gonna feel rippin' these bastards apart," Logan rumbles as he reaches the office door. He pushes the door open, the top knocking against a small rusted bell that jingles with a pathetic, muted sound.

The office appears to be empty, but their noses can no doubt pick up the unmistakable scent of body odor wafting out from a small room off to the side behind the desk. "I'm comin'," comes a voice accompanied by the squeaking of a chair that sounds like it's been through hell and back. A short, rotund gentleman emerges from the room, still seated. He uses his thick legs to whimsically pull himself into the office, the chair struggling to roll beneath his weight. "What can I do fer ya?"

"Two rooms," Logan responds.

"Two?" the man responds, throwing a look between the two.

Logan clenches his jaw as his feral gaze pierces the man. He's visibly trying to contain his frustration, "Two. Rooms."

The man nervously nods, "Okay, okay, two room." He snatches a pair of keys and tosses them on the counter. Logan pulls out his wallet and tosses a stack of bills, "That oughtta cover it." He grabs the keys and tosses one to Rien.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
"You would think they would recognize... well.. you, at least. You have a reputation, after all," Rien chuckles shortly, casting a teasing, sidelong glance his way. She keeps an eye (and ear) out for whoever might be out there, but is otherwise content to let them make the first move. Plausible deniability, it works best on the AAR's for SHIELD.

Stepping into the front office, she wrinkles her nose at the scents filling the small room, glancing to Logan once more with a lifted brow. Watching the man huff and puff his way out from the office, she gives a silent sigh and once again despairs for the future of humanity. The request for two rooms has her chuckling, the need to repeat it makes her fight back a smile. If only the man knew...

Catching the key tossed to her, she turns to head out the door, eager to be back into the fresh air that doesn't stink of regret, desperation, and some truly powerful BO. Checking the room number, Rien grins at Logan, "Aw, they're adjoining. So... money down on if that guy thinks we're having an affair?"

Logan Howlett has posed:
The motel manager wheezes with each breath as the two return to the parking lot.

Logan glances at Rien with a slight grin as he crunches across the gravel towards the rooms. He glances down at the faded red plastic elongated-diamond key ring. The paint if less faded where a 107 used to be, but has been worn off.

"I'd take that bet if I thought I wouldn't lose the money," he grunts as he aproaches room 107. As the key touches the lock, the entire door shreds into a splintered mess, an explosion erupting from the inside of the room.

Logan goes flying backwards across the parking lot and rolls to the edge of the street.

Men wearing black tactical armor and defensive gear come pouring around both sides of the motel, assault rifles and shotguns drawn. It would appear that they are no longer concerned with Logan, figuring him for dead most likely. Instead, they are closing in on Rien, but not firing yet. Maybe they think they can finally take her in.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Laughing at Logan's response, she flashes a grin his way, "Good thing, I was going to raise the stakes to 50 bucks for that one." She's headed to 108, ambling a little slower than Logan, still out int he parking lot when he reaches his door.

THe explosion certainly doesn't do anything for her hearing, making her wince even as the damage is repaired, two thin dribbles of blood barely staining her earlobes before the healing is complete. While the men rush out of the room and start to surround her, she glances past them to Logan, checking on where he's at with healing from that before letting out a breath and looking to the men in tactical gear.

"You really have no idea just how badly you've fucked up..." she doesn't bother to cry out for Logan, trusting him to be back on his feet shortly. Bone claws slide from the backs of her hands, three for each, and all of them outlined in a light blue glow. "Hope you have your wills made out."

With a complete lack of regard for the others surrounding her, she leaps forward, claws flashing to slice the bulk of the barrel off the shotgun aimed at her chest, the pull of the trigger just a hair too late and causing what's left of the gun to explode in the man's hands. Just in time for Rien to hit him full force with claws driving into his throat. Charred, burned, and now bleeding freely from a gaping wound in his throat, the first man's body hits the ground. Rien stands, turning, her own carred face rapidly healing over, one eye completely regrowing in its socket as they watch.

"Who's next?"

Logan Howlett has posed:
By the time Rien has torn holes into the first man's throat, Logan is stirring. The sound of gravel rolling over more gravel is completely ignored by the gunmen as they witness the explosion of a shotgun and the subsequent murder at the hands of the blonde woman with... claws?!

They definitely fucked up.

What isn't ignored, though, is the loud, feral roar coming from behind the Bronco. Logan is on one knee, his lips peeled back across his face, a look of pure rage contorting his features into something that resembles an animal more than a man. His hand clenches tightly into a fist and slams into the ground, small rocks flying off in all directions.

Rising to his feet, the burn marks and punctures to his chest, thighs, and face already healing over beneath his shredded clothing. He runs forward, his adamantium claws slicing through his knuckles with the familiar *SNIKT* sound. With another gutteral roar, he dives forward, sinking the claws of both hands into the chest of a surprised goon who turned his weapon towards Logan a second too late.

The man becomes pinned against the motel wall, Logan's claws piercing through the man and into the wall itself.

"Oh shit! They're mutants!" screams one man as he hoists his assault rifle up towards Logan and opens fire.

A trio of men closer to Rien lift their weapons as well, pulling their triggers as it would appear they no longer want to just capture the pair of mutants. Now they're fighting for their lives!

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
The sound of the roar coming from the Bronco has Rien smiling. A grim, morbid smile as she mutters, "Now you've done it. All he wanted was a bed and a beer.."

While Logan is launching himself at the next poor sap that doesn't know what's about to hit him, Rien makes good on their hesitation to rush towards the nearest man to her, those glowing claws lashing out to slice, taking off the man's trigger finger by rmoving the hand at the wrist. He won't get much chance to mourn it, though, with her dropping to a crouch that has her sweeping the man's legs out from under him even as she drives upward again to plunge the other set of claws through the man's jaw and up into his brain.

Kicking the corpse off her claws, she turns in time to see them raising their guns, her lip curling up at one corner. She rises up to her full height and reaches a hand out, that blue glow showing up in a rapid patter as the assault rifle's hail of bullets ping off a magical shield that dissipates as soon as his clip is empty. Looking at the trio near her, she chuckles... then disappears.

Two of the three men disappear with her, or at least seem to. The sounds of gunfire from somewhere nearby but also UP shows both men falling from a good fifty feet up, screaming and firing as Rien can be seen teleporting between them, the flash of claws unmistakable, along with the rain of blood and viscera that precedes the men to the ground. Two bodies hit the parking lot with a sickening SMACK, leaving them in such a condition that it's difficult to tell what was from the girl and what was from the fall. Rien herself appears on the ground between them, crouched and smiling grimly.

Logan Howlett has posed:
The man pinned to the motel wall by Logan's claws stares back into Logan's eyes, terrified as the feral Canadian ball of muscle screams in his face.

Shots ring out and bullets pummel into Logan's shoulder and side, sending sprays of blood into the air.

Turning to look at the man over his shoulder, he pulls his claws from the dying man's chest, sending him collapsing to the ground. He cocks his head to the side, his metallic bones popping beneath his skin, then steps towards the man firing at him, quickly swinging one arm up to slice the rifle in half, then following it up with a swipe of his other hand, slicing three thin gashes through the man's helmet and half of his face.

Horrible screams erupt from the man as he staggers backwards and falls to the ground, throwing his destroyed gun away and clasping at his mangled face.

Not stopping, Logan runs towards the next two, then leaps into the air, shoving his boot into the closest man's chest, then lands on top of him, his claws sinking into the downed man's chest, silencing him instantly.

Logan is terrifying. Rien is somehow worse.

The men who witness Rien teleporting into the damn sky with some of their colleagues all step back and gape as they watch her disappearing and reappearing, slicing and dicing the men before they can even hit the ground in a puddle of their own innards. The smile Rien gives as she lands on the ground sends them running. They've clearly seen and had enough of these two.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
With the last two fleeing for their lives, Rien rises up, letting out a breath and sheathing her claws.

Turning towards Logan, she picks a peice of some guy from her forearm and flicks it aside, heading towards him. "Logan. They're either dead or mutilated. Lets grab the bags, looks like we're sharing a room after all. And I call dibs on the shower." She flashes a grin at him before heading towards the Bronco to get her backpack. It at least has a change of clothes in it until they can do laundry.

Tossing his bag to him, Rien bumps the door of the Bronco shut with one hip. Heading for Room 108 with key in hand, and muttering, "There better not be a bomb behind this door or I'm going to be *very* upset." The key goes into the lock and the handle turns... no explosion. Small wins!

Turning back towards Logan, she grins, "Hey, we have a functional room! C'mon, lets shower and change and catch some shut eye, then we can go hunt down the rest of those assholes after dark. Besides, healing will be easier if you let me pull some of those bullets out."