Players: Jordan Mayfair, Shifter, and Zoya
Summary: Jordan plots the assassination of a city councilman and the surprise arrival of the Blood Brothers
Date: December 27, 2010
Log Title: Blood Brother
Rating: PG
Westchester - Turkey Hill Road
Leading away from the hustle and bustle of Salem Center, Turkey Hill Road turns into a long, winding, barely lit road leading to the more remote areas of Westchester. The road is surrounded by a thin, woodsy area, though there are a lot of smaller, family type homes.
It’s a chilly snowy day outside but the crowd has gathered outside to assist with the recovery of the area after having suffered a record snowfall and blizzard in Westchester. Among those helping with the renovation and clearing of snow is city councilman. Jae Gonzalez. News cameras are covering the clean-up and the councilman’s political bid for more power and prestige for future elections. This is clearly just a photo-op for the man, but he is out there doing his thing. He has a shovel in hand and is clearing the drive-way of a local daycare that was damaged heavily from the snow.
Making the trek through the snow in a limo, of course, Jordan sits with his ‘family.’ “Well, I guess we should do our part for the community and helping with the community. Axel this will be a good chance for you to use your shifting powers to blend in. Wear your hood, but still see how long you can shift your more revealing mutant features.” Jordan talks loud and loud about philanthropy and helping people, blah blah blah. At the same time, mentally speaking to Zoya, <The city councilman, Jae Gonzalez, has used anti-mutant propaganda as a platform to win elections and in secret has dealt with groups like Purity and Friends of Humanity. Once we are outside giving the appearance of helping this community. Disappear and do away with him however you see fit. But be careful. There is media here and he has protection.>
Zoya only likes half of the current plan, and it shows. She didn't sign up for any of this to help shovel snow and clear cars and all that other rot, she's here to make bad people go away. Or normal people. Or good people. Pretty much anyone still stamped as human will do, really. There wasn't a whole lot of time to plan for this one; if she had to take him out without being in the area then she would have been inclined to pack some manner of rifle along for the trip. Seems like she'll have to get a bit inventive with this one. Good thing the roads are still a bit slick, she might be able to work with that. <If you didn't want me to be obvious about it then I should have had more than a pistol,> she thinks back. Regardless, today the white snow would run red before she is through.
Shifter isn't sure about continuous contact with the large group of people helping out but he'll do his best, he's dressed in black sneakers, dark jeans, a black and grey hoodie, with a nod to Mayfair he shifts so his ears are rounded and the ridges disappear from his face, other than his unusual eyes he looks completely human, still he follows the instruction and pulls up his hood.
<I thought you would like this opportunity to get creative, my dear. I have a particular dislike for this man. So be as brutal as you want.> Jordan mentally offers that to Zoya while verbally saying to Shifter, “That’s good. You’ll be fine.” He opens the car door. “The minute either of you sense trouble just think it and I will take care of it.” That is said out loud to both mutants, but has double meaning for Zoya.” He steps out in the limo, dressed in appropriate winter clothing, but still expensive.
The reporter finishes interviewing Jae Gonzalez as he speaks about the difficulties this community has with winter and how he promises to use tax payer money for better plows. He waves to the reporter and goes back to digging at the driveway. With the councilman are two large men wearing jogging suits and winter coats. Not the best security.
Zoya does her best to keep her expression neutral but on the inside she's planning things through. She's got a new coat for the time being, even opting for something plain and drab to help her blend in a bit. With a pair of sunglasses in place her peculiar eyes remain hidden from sight, appearing to be just another pedestrian hanging around to lend a hand or whatnot. This would offer a chance to let her creative side out, alright. No showing off, no leaping from building to building. Good old fashioned murder, with no direct trace back to the source. On yes, the local traffic is a great place to start. People forget how to drive in this city, it's either mashing the accelerator or mashing the brakes. She can use this.
'Hopefully we won't run into trouble, all we have to do is act normal, shouldn't be too hard', hoping he hasn't just jinxed them, Shifter follows them out of the limo, might be fun helping out.
Jordan makes his way out of the limo and goes towards the organizer of the event, “Yes, two shovels.” He asks for as he is given a shovel. He spins it around in his hand and then lashes out in the air with it as if it were a spear. He hands one to Shifter, ‘Trust me, all be fine.’ He smiles as he mentally spots Zoya going to handle the councilman. He makes his way across the street to a home and looks at the pile of snow, “Wow. I don’t even know where to begin.” He looks to Shifter.
The traffic is moving along as Zoya expected it would. People swerving trying to avoid hitting the cars in front of them or speeding to head home after a day’s delay from the weather. Jae looks at his men and once the reporters are gone. He points to one take the shovel and start clearing the driveway. It really was just a photo-op. He goes with his other body guard into the day care, which is closed for business and finds a table with a rich meal and some bottles of alcohol for the sinister politician to enjoy.
Zoya swears inside of her thoughts as the guy goes inside. While she could easily send a car through the wall after him it would look a lot less like an accident and more ..well, deliberate. Would that be such a bad thing, though? A bit of a contained reaction, no one would realize he got plowed over until it was too late. He'd probably be in there for a while, which means she needs to start tracking down suitable candidates. An SUV would be a solid choice, not too heavy for her to push and solid enough to go through the front of the daycare. Hmm, so many vehicles on the road… People in this country do love their motorized transports. She gets to do a bit of shopping today. While appearing to be useful, of course.
Shifter takes the shovel from Mayfair and follows him to the pile of snow, 'Errm from left to right i guess, between the two off us is shouldn't be to big a trouble', he walks off to the left hand side, grips the shovel tightly and begins shoveling.
Mayfair hmmmns and sighs as Shifter starts shoveling and thinks to himself how he doesn't really want to be doing this. He pauses a moment and then looks as if he is carrying on a conversation with no one who is there. The limo pulls back up and Rocky, the driver steps out. "Rocky, please shovel for Axel and I." Rocky begrudgingly does so. Jordan looks over at Axel and winks and sends a mental message, <See the fat man in the cheap jogging suit outside the day care.>
Jae and one bodyguard munch down and begin eating and drinking enjoying their warmth while others suffer in the cold outside. As Zoya shops for cars, she will find a nice sleek 2011 black SUV among other cars still making their way through the snow-covered roads.
Zoya permits herself a faint little smirk as she spots the vehicle that will do the deed for her. Timing has to be good, but not perfect, she can touch it from any side or angle and still affect its momentum. With snow crunching underfoot and with sounds muted from the natural insulation she wanders along in the direction the SUV is traveling, eyeing distances and angles and all of those fun little details. When she has her window she acts, almost effortlessly darting out to shove the front fender of the large black vehicle. Anyone looking late might suspect that the driver hit a pole or garbage can, panicked, and hit the accelerator. Really the dent in the metal is from her hand, the acceleration from Shifter's punch the other night, and the catalyst nothing more than a murderous little Ruskie bitch. Nearly three tons worth of American auto suddenly leaps across the road towards the window that man sits behind.
Looking at Shifter Jordan telepathically states, <That man is not who he appears to be.> And suddenly, the SUV crashing through the day care catches his attention. And the SUV finds it target as it leaps from the road and careens into the wall of the daycare, destroying a shelf of kiddie books and the councilman who only has a second to gulp down a piece of a sandwich as he is crushed under the weight of the large sleek 2011 SUV. The bodyguard had only a second to leap out of the way. “What the.” Surprisingly quick, he leapt out of the way and moves back to the SUV and lifts it up and pushes it out hurling it in the direction that it came from, meaning Zoya. The other bodyguard rushes to the whole in the wall and looks to the other bodyguard. And suddenly, their human appearances disappear and more alien features appear.
Zoya didn't plan on this happening. How could a guy that actively hated mutants have been in league with something similar? With the battered vehicle sent right back to her she slaps her hands down on the hood, stopping it short but giving the driver another harsh lurch within his seat. She could reuse that energy later. <Something's wrong, who are these clowns? I'm two seconds away from turning them into stains on the sidewalk, subtlety is over with!> If the intention was to kill the official and disappear then now would be the time. She'll give Jordan one chance to call the shot before things get nasty ugly.
'Not what he appears?', Shifter's head snaps round when the SUV crashes though the day care, 'What the hell?!', wow that guy is strong, mutant?, then the guy shifts into some kind of alien, no not mutants, 'Ok i know you want me to stay hidden, but i should do something'.
Sending mental messages to Shifter and Zoya, <It appears the councilman’s body guards are more than they appear. I cannot get a good grasp of their thoughts leading me to believe they are not human.> The bodyguards are revealed to be the Blood Brothers. The two aliens look at each other and speak out. Any passersby drive around and flee generally leaving the area. As people are leaving the area, Jordan nods, “Go ahead and help out. It’s your first instinct so go ahead. The Blood Brothers suddenly use this opportunity to wreak havoc. Jordan rushes forward and waves at the aliens. One breaks a piece of the wall and tosses it in his direction. <Please dispose of the aliens.> He mentally asks the two mutants.
Please dispose of the aliens, he says. Bye bye, subtlety. Zoya suddenly spins around and rams a foot back into that trashed SUV, slamming it back over to the one former bodyguard. Before the move is done the pale city light falls upon the two weapons flicking about into her palms, snapping a pair of shots off at the very same guy she sends the damaged vehicle towards. The projectiles effortlessly pierce through layers of automotive glass, shattering windows into tiny crumbs before the SUV can be intercepted a third time. Distractions are useful things, maybe she can drill him a time or two before he can see it coming.
'Aliens?, man i did not see that coming', still Shifter's nothing if not adaptable, he runs towards the closest of the two aliens, jumping over two cars and shifting his right hand into a sledgehammer as he goes, as he gets close enough he jumps into the air aiming to bring the hammer arm down onto the alien.
The SUV is thrown back at one Blood Brother. He remains standing and catches it and rips it half and disposes of the halves when the bullets are fired and merely bounce off of him. He laughs as he spots Zoya, “Leave the terran female.” When he turns to see his brother get hammered by the shifting arm of Shifter. “Brother!” He shouts as he rushes towards Shifter who knocked one of the twins down. Meanwhile watching the melee, Jordan sneaks over into the day care to see the actual dead body of the councilman, “Perfect.” He says as he looks at the dead body.
Zoya quickly frowns at the complete lack of use she's being against the big guy. On the other hand, Shifter seems to know where it's at. Alright, cool, she can do that. Like the wind the femme sprints out across the street, diving over the hood of a parked car after the one that laughed at her. No fancy tricks with cars or guns, she's trying to ram her shoulder into the toughie and push -him- out of the way like she did with the vehicle. Think less like a spring and more like a hammer, hammers seem to work.
How the hell did Shifter -do- that, anyway?!
Shifter grins as the alien goes down, as far as he's concerned these bad guys aren’t human so he doesn't have to hold back, he shifts the hammer into the same claws he showed Zoya yesterday, 'Jordan, do i end this thing?'
Seeing the dead body, Jordan begins to stomp on what remains of his face, “I told you. I would get even, Jae!” He continues to stomp and stomp on the dead man’s face when he gets Shifter’s message, <Yes!> One Blood brother gets tackled by Zoya and pushed into the building where Jordan continues to stomp on the councilman. The other alien stumbles after having gotten hit by the hammer, but then looks up at Shifter shifts his hand into claws, “Boy, Come at me.” He extends his fists ready to fight.
Zoya has the guy off guard. Just what she wanted. Rather than leave him be she again runs right after the strong creature, pressing the attack. He can handle being thrown around, he can handle things being thrown at him. Can he handle getting slammed into the ground? With her speed up she's hoping that he'll still be sprawled out on the ground by the time she reaches him, intending to leap onto his chest and shove straight down with her power, like a mallet to a packet of ketchup.
Shifter smiles, and shifts the other hand to match and his tail comes out from his hoodie, i wonder how long the alien will be able to keep his fists, for now he simply brings both sets of claws slashing down at the alien.
Zoya’s Blood Brother alien is on the ground, but he stands up a bit before he is knocked over by Zoya. He lets out a loud howl of pain when she strikes his chest and spits out a large amount of alien blood, “This female is not weak!” He swings his arms about trying to strike her, but he moves clumsily like an ox. As Shifter slashes at the alien, the alien is surprised to see blood dripping from where the claws raked his chest. He covers his wounds with his left hand and attempts to swing out at Shifter with his right hand. After the face of the councilman has been sufficiently stomped on by Jordan, he spits, “That settles our little rivalry from law school.” The mutant telepath watches as Zoya and Shifter appear to demolish their opponents and seem to be enjoying it.
Zoya lets the guy hit her a few times. She needs the recharge! Strike after uncoordinated strike she soaks up the energy, allowing it to build above what her usual store contains. She won't need the guns for this. With enough power contained to ignite her nerves and make her skin tingle she frees up her hands and places one on either side of the alien's head, hissing out a "Do svidanya." That power erupts from either palm, going straight for the temples. She hasn't yet tried such a trick but the results are likely quite messy if it works. Like a watermelon in a vise.
Shifter takes the hit from the alien and gets knocked to the floor, in a rage he swings his arm up aiming to stab into the alien's stomach, if the attack connects he'll shift the arm into one long blade.
It appears Jordan has a history with the councilman from law school and cared nothing about the anti-mutant stance. But no need to tell the others. He watches as Zoya attacks the alien. He glimpses briefly into his mind and senses blood vessel pop in its head. The creature bleeds from its nose mouth and eye sockets and it simply falls limp in her hands. Jordan then turns to sense the alien that
Shifter is fighting. The claws connect and rip into its stomach and then turns into a blade. The alien falls over and drops to the ground bleeding profusely from its body. Jordan scans both Zoya’s and Shifter’s mind to see what their surface thoughts are as they eviscerate their enemies.
Zoya's mind is ..creepy. She wants to get the red mist, wants to leave nothing but a bloodied stump where the creature's head used to be. Probably for the best that no one could see the dark mask covering her features as she intently stares down at the beast as veins burst and things generally start to shut down on a large scale within him. The initial explosion of energy didn't do the trick and she can't do a sustained drain of her power, now it's just the muscles in her arms twitching with the strain as she tries to make that thick skull collapse beneath her. 'Big guys can take more, they all die in the end. Die, -die- goddamnit, bleed for me! Get in my way and this is what happens! Teach you to cost me bullets…'
Shifter's mind is shocked, shocked enough that his hands return to their normal, one still inside the alien, he's never killed anything before, he pulls his hand out and just stares at his blood covered hand, 'What did i do?', this didn't occur to him during the fight, but… he just killed.
Jordan hmmmns as the thoughts from the two mutants, but before he can react to them. Both aliens’ bodies are bathed in light and simply disappear. Jordan himself blinks as he looks up. They have been teleported elsewhere. He exhales and looks between the two and mentally states, <To the limo. Before you are seen.> Rocky is already at the side of the destroyed daycare and Jordan waits for the others to get into first as he remains by the dead body of the councilman.
Zoya's mindset changes in an instant as the body disappears beneath her. Now she's just feeling cheated, that's not fair! With a verbal snarl she retrieves her weapons and kicks away from where the creature had been, that evil aura yet surrounding her as she walks out of the demolished building, nonchalantly holstering those guns. She hasn't had enough, the look is clear in her eyes. That fight should have brought more reward with it. At least the guy she was supposed to destroy is dealt with yet it feels like an oddly hollow victory to her. Next time would be better, she promises herself while climbing into the limo.
Next time.
Slightly shaky Shifter gets to his feet and runs in the direction of the limo, he's trying not to think about where the alien went, he wipes the blood on his arm off on his hoodie, before pulling it off and discarding it as he gets into the limo, he doesn't wanna bring back any reminders.
Looking down at the dead councilman, Jordan bends down and rips off a piece of his flesh for the lion to eat. “I win, Jae! That should show you never to offend me again.” He kicks the dead politician and makes his way to the limo which begins to drive off with the three mutants, “So it looks like that freak car accident killed the councilmen and those aliens just came out of nowhere. I guess they were teleported before you were able to kill them.” He says to the others and mentally congratulates Zoya on a job well done on the councilman.
Zoya frowns somewhat as she leans back and laces her fingers together, flexing those hands in front of her to ease the tension in her knuckles. Very unsubtle. Violet eyes then shift back to Mayfair. "Karma can be bitch, no?" Yeah, she's one to talk. A glance is then cast towards Shifter, part of her warped mind contemplating tickling him as if the whole thing is nothing more than a big, sadistic game. Instead she decides to tell him "Will get used to it." As if that's any comfort.
Shifter is still looking at his hand even though the blood isn't there anymore, the knowledge that he didn't kill it doesn't help much, neither does Zoya telling him that he'll get used to it, he really doesn't want to.
Jordan hmmmns and sighs as he senses Shifter’s thoughts and for a moment, he genuinely feels sorry for involving Shifter in his scheme. He exhales, “Zoya is right, Axel. Our lives are dominated by violence and even death. You have not killed yet, but it may come.” He speaks as someone who has killed. Telepathically to Shifter, <I am very sorry to have gotten you involved in this Shifter. You fought well and for a right reason. You never know what those aliens could have done.>
Zoya need not be a mindreader to tell that Shifter is troubled. Part of her flat out refuses to care, it doesn't concern her. The side that still holds rational thought objects the notion, Shifter is a mutant and they need to stick together in order to survive. And ultimately win. She's not much of the hugs and good vibes approach so she does the first thing that comes to her which isn't completely out of line for her. A compliment. "Did good out there. Had him figured out before I did. If we were not around to stop it bad tinks would have happened." Well, presumably.
Shifter just sits back in his seat looking out the limo window, ok so he had to do something or people would've got hurt, but he's gonna need to keep control of his temper next time, to Mayfair and Zoya he just nods, "K".
Jordan sighs again and exhales loudly, “Well, the councilman is dead.” He says it flatly and without any emotion as he pockets the ounce of flesh he has to feed the lion. He looks out the window, “Well, today turned out to be more eventful than I thought it would. He sends a mental message to Shifter, <We’ll talk about this again. I want you to process your thoughts about what happened with me.> He is not a psychologist like his brother, but knows a thing or two. As Shifter looks out the window, Jordan offers Zoya an approving nod and smile.
Zoya catches the look from Mayfair. His words tell her that the job was done. His expression tells her that the job was done well. Can't argue results like that, anyway. Letting out a slow breath she settles into the seat, one more look offered to Shifter. "Will be okay," she assures the guy with a light smile. "Am glad were there to help." Help him to get the heck out of his shell, that is.
Shifter nods again to show he's listening, however his thoughts are completely elsewhere, oddly it's about one of the video games Mayfair got him, planning on how to complete the next level is keeping him good and distracted.
“We’re home.” He smile as the driver opens his door. Jordan actually smiles at the thought of the video game in Shifter’s head. As the limo finally reaches their home and pulls into the driveway, Jordan cannot help but think of the demented little family he has put together and ponders just how far he will go to use them to get what he wants.