Log:A Cold One with the Boys

The Madness of David Flyte 2020/04/17 	 Night Marshal Grimm

1

It's late at night and the start of the weekend, leaving Carpenter free to pursue his moonlighting gig. Most stores are closed, but there's plenty of evening entertainment still going on.

Night Marshal tends to try to stick to rooftops when in Chinatown. He sticks out like a sore thumb if he's on the street level, and there ARE metas that work for Lee here. And perhaps some for Pride, if the Best of the Best is any indication.

Night Marshal is on a rooftop across from the Dragon Palace at the moment. After all, it's one of the hot spots in the area.

Down below and across the street, Night Marshal spies a group of five young Chinese men walking out of the Dragon Palace. They look like they could be Triad based on the way they carry themselves. They along several closed businesses and stalls. They chatter amongst themselves as one lights up a cigarette.

At the entrance of the Dragon Palace, Grimm walks out, her attention on the group of men that just left.

Night Marshal really should learn Chinese some time. But that's so much work. He spots Grimm and furrows his brow. He pauses to see what happens next.

Grimm waits for some distance between her and the Traids, then starts walking out. She looks about again to see if anyone's watching. As soon as she's scoped that no one on the street level is watching, she fades out of sight while pursuing them.

Night Marshal can tell she's looking to shadow them. Even if he can't see her, he can follow them. So he does so, remaining on the rooftops and gliding as necessary to keep them in sight.

One of the men in the center of the group is room temperature.

Night Marshal tries to get ahead of htem and get a photo of the odd one out. Probably has a record. May be a meta.

The men travel a few blocks, then take a cut through an alley near some warehouses. One of the men--the one with no body heat--steps in the lead and stops, turning to face the others, who also stop. He says something to them in Chinese which make them all laugh, though with a hint of nevousness. That's when Grimm appears a few meters from the back of the pack. "Don't. Just...don't," she implores in warning.

Night Marshal draws his weapon and takes a bead on the suspected meta. But he still doesn't know what's goign to happen. They might shift to English shortly.

The lead person does. "How unfortunate. For you," he threatens as the other Triads reach for weapons in their coats. But as they do, the lead person vanishes into mist, only to reform behind Grimm and seize her as he goes to bite her neck. The other men panic at this sudden display.

The cold one bites down on Grimm's neck as she gasps, finding no resistance. And no grip as his teeth and pass through Grimm as she becomes a shadowed version of herself in the nick of time.

Night Marshal takes a shot at the obvious vampire, while he's not mist. And he clearly won't be able to hurt Grimm right now. And...hopefully the gunshot gets the attnetion on the Triad guys.

The Cold One doesn't even seem to be bothered by the shot. Maybe his nerve endings are numb. But it does get his and the other Triad's attention.

The Triads are in a panic, unsure of what to do. They starts to retreat to the other end of the alley. Two shoot at the biting member, and two shoot up towards Night Marshal, who has some cover due to the angle and the rooftop.

The bullet goes through Grimm and the Vampire, though the impact is seen and felt on the Vampire as it puts a small hole in him, which quickly heals up. He laughs.

The Cold one waves a hand through Grimm, realizing she's untouchable. "You'd make a poor meal, anyway." He watches the others flee, then looks up at Night Marshal. "I wonder how you will taste," he flashes a fanged grin as he leaps at the wall and climbs up it on all fours with supernatural ease, climbing up over the rooftop by Night Marshal.

Night Marshal saw that bullets went through his target. But perhaps an electrical charge won't be quite so friendly. He strikes with his off hand using his taser gauntlet, hoping that it'll be felt more strongly.

The Cold One jukes out of the way with a practiced ease.

Grimm looks to the fleeing Triads, then looks up towards the rooftop before vanishing and appearing on the rooftop, accompanied by foreboding whispers. She's still a shadow for now.

The Cold One reaches out to try and grab Night Marshal. His nails have grown out longer than before, and his face looks more inhuman.

The Triads full on high tail it out of the alley and around the corner away from the danger.

Night Marshal brings his arm around in a standard police defense maneuver, like he's dealing with someone with a knife, deflecting the claw away from his body.

With the two in close quarters, Grimm doesn't dare send off a dangerous blast. She does have another option, though. Her hand points towards the Vampire and a swirl of smoke-like shadow makes its way for him.

The smoke strikes the Vampire and passes through. "Was that supposed to tickle?"

Gabrielle's expression hardens. "Shick. That didn't work..."

The Cold One circles around Night Marshal to put him between himself and Grimm, and tries to grab him again.

Night Marshal manages to deflect a second strike, "You're one of those creatures that just leans on your powers, aren't you? You don't have the skills to back it up, do you?" He ducks and tries agian with a strike with his taser gauntlet. After all, ther's no proof it doesn't work yet.

The Cold One snarls at Night Marshal's taunts, then hisses in pain as the taser discharges into him. "You're about to find out," he threatens.

The Cold One locks eyes with Night Marshal. There's something mesmerizing about them. "Why waste the effort of using my skills when I can use yours. Obey me..." he commands.

Night Marshal blinks a few times...and his hand shakes a bit. "Not...just yet."

"Oh no you don't," Grimm warns as a shadow tentacle tries to reach out for the vampire.

The Vampire is fast. Moving almost in a blur, he escapes Grimm's grasp.

The Cold One laughs. "Serve me," he commands Grimm this time.

Grimm shakes it off, her mind slippery enough to avoid his grasp. "I've had tougher things than you try to manipulate me."

Night Marshal knows the taser worked...and the tangle grenades likely wouldn't. He tries to strike at the vampire again while his attention is on Grimm.

The Cold One hisses in pain, his short black hair even standing up on end. His face contorts to look more animalistic, his skin turning gray.

Grimm's tentacles try to wind around the vampire again.

Grimm sighs in frustration as the Cold One too fast. She's having trouble focusing.

The Cold One takes a few steps back from Grimm and Night Marshal, looking to the cowboy. "You -will- obey and shoot her so I can escape," he commands.

Night Marshal keeps up the pressure, "No...I'm not going to do that. I just won't." He ducks again and tries to strike one more time. The tactic seems to be working, thankfully. Hopefully the charge in his gauntlets won't run out before the vampire is down.

"You heard him, you nasty SOB," Grimm says to the vampire as she stops trying to be nice. She raises a hand towards the vampire and tries firing a blast of energy his way.

The Cold One gets knocked off the rooftop and onto the next one over, across a four meter gap. "Shick...I was afraid of that," Grimm blames herself.

The Cold One rises up to his feet with graceful ease, though he looks very rough around the edges. He reassesses the situation and shrinks down into the form of a bat and starts flying away, bobbing and waving as bats do when they fly.

Night Marshal jumps off the roof and glides ove to the other rooftop to close the distance, before he takes a shot with his firearm at the fleeing bat. At night. Surely that will work.

The bat is struck and twitches before it goes spiraling down. It shifts back into the form of an unconscious vampire just as it hits the rooftop up ahead.

"Holy crap, that was a crack shot," Gabrielle says in awe. She vanishes from the other rooftop and appears near Night Marshal.

Night Marshal runs over to check on the vampire's status. He's no longer shaking, already starting to get a little control back.

The Vampire is unconscious. Only lightly so. He could wake up at any minute.

Night Marshal chuckles. "I...reckon that was more luck than skill." He holsters his weapon. "Not sure what to do with this guy. I'm guessing you have an idea?"

Night Marshal says to Grimm, "These are non-lethal rounds. Remember that." He puts another shot into the vampire.

Grimm follows after Night Marshal on foot. He's a bit faster than she is in that regard. "Then that was a hell of a lucky shot." She thinks a moment. "I don't think he can be held by a normal jail cell. He'd just shrink and go right through, or turn into mist. But I bet Starguard's cells can contain him. They contained Nicky Winters...well." She frowns. "Not really, they didn't. But he doesn't feel the same as her."

She looks to him as he warns about his rounds and shoots the vampire. She still winces a bit as the Vampire's body jumps, then goes deeply unconscious. She nods. "I'll remember. Are you okay? Y'know, up here?" she taps her own noggin.

Night Marshal nods. "I bet Starguard can hold him." He then takes a moment and nods, "Yeah, I'm okay. I could just feel that I might turn on you at any moment due to his command. But I'm okay."

"Vampires can be nasty business. Not all of them, but...some of them just let go of their humanity," Gabrielle comments as her shadowy tendrils begin to wind around the vampire to lift him up. "If you aren't feeling back to normal in a few days, let me know. I might be able to help."

Night Marshal nods slowly. "I'll be sure to let you know. Thank you."

Night Marshal's accent slips a bit on that last statement.

Grimm doesn't quite catch the slip up. "You're welcome. Thanks for the save, by the way. I could've been in trouble going against this guy alone."

Night Marshal holsters his gun and then tips his hat. He takes a moment to focus, and he manages to start with the accent again, "I reckon I'd have had a similar problem. What was he going to do? Feed on the Triad folks?"

"Probably, after isolating them here," Grimm guesses. "Or turn them into more vampires. I don't speak Chinese. And I'm not allowed to look into his mind to find out what he was intending," she says as her tentacles hold the vampire upright. "I should probably check with the CBPD to see if there's been any odd deaths where people were found drained. Usually I keep up on stuff like that, but I've...been busy lately," she says.

Night Marshal nods slowly, "I'm afraid I don't speak the language, either. But I saw you following them, so I figured I'd follow."

Grimm smiles faintly. "I was just taking a break from things and wanted to grab a snack from the Dragon Palace when I noticed him. I've got a knack for sensing the unnatural."

Night Marshal chuckles, "So I see."

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