Sold Out!

[Dorian]

Methos was on the floor staring at the body of a boy who'd been stabbed in the head and the knife was still in the wound. Dorian sighed. Nox what the fuck are you doing? But Dorian didn't have the impression Nox did this. He wasn't careless. And he swore up and down he didn't kill humans. And Dorian had to believe him, but the other one out there... Dorian turned to look back the way he'd come and saw Ivan slowing as he joined him. Dorian gave the other man a friendly nod. "Interesting night. One burning body in two, a man with his head twisted completely around and, a stabbed kid here."


A voice yelled a little further down the back of the stage "We've another body here." Dorian sighed. He tried to get Methos to move but the man kept pushing him away. "Ivan, the burning body has a wall of air around it. Whoever set the body afire wanted it to burn without interference."
Dorian could think of many reasons why Nox would have done it. But this wasn't him. "This is quick, but why burn one body, and not the others?"
Dorian could guess, but he didn't want to. Was it coincidence that Nox killed here and someone else did too? Was he housing a murderer in his home?

Dorian knelt down next to Methos and put his hand on his shoulder. "Mr. Turner. I need you to come with me. My team needs to take a look at things. And I need to ask you a few questions."


The officer who had found the other body came to Dorian and he stood up "The other victim is female with the same wound, the knife is still present. We've a serial killer."
Dorian nodded. It wasn't a serial killer it was Atharim. He was certain of that, but was it one or more?

Dorian nodded to the other officer and instructed him. "See about Mr. Turner. Medical attention, whatever he needs, question him gently, he's just lost friends."
Dorian turned to Ivan. "Let's look at the other body."


She was splayed out on the floor similar to the boy. She wasn't much older than he had been. The knife still sticking out of the base of her skull. It was quick and painless. Everyone knew their job Dorian didn't need to tell them what to look for. None of this made any sense. He really needed to talk to Nox, but he could do that in the privacy of his own home. "I don't think the same person did any of these killings."
Dorian wondered, could the burning body be Atharim? No, Nox wouldn't burn an Atharim body, there would be no reason - it had to be a monster, but what kind? Damnit, he needed to talk to Nox. The boy was gonna fall to all these murders if Dorian couldn't get to the bottom of it all. He had no choice but to bring him in. He was cooperating fully with the department - he couldn't ruin it for one kid. Nox would understand. Dorian knew the boy would do the right thing.

[Methos]

The man became men and Adam tried to think past what had happened. He heard someone say another body was found and he sunk deeper into his own thoughts and his feelings. He prayed that his family was safe. Troy was dead.

Moments passed and another officer joined them and he said something about a female and Adam breathed a sigh of relief Bradley was safe. That was at least one thing to look on the bright side. The same man pulled Adam away from Troy at the insistence of a dark complexion man, Spanish by his accent. It was such a strange thing to have so many accents in one place.

The man took him to another room and sat him down and handed him water. "Methos, sir, are you alright?"

A woman in an EMT uniform pushed passed the officer. "He's in shock. Give him room."

Adam waved her away. "I'm fine."
He sipped at the water and looked at the officer. "What can I do to help you?"


"Can you tell me about him? and her?" He showed Adam two pictures - Troy and Bev.

Adam sighed heavily. "Troy Watson and Beverly Kinkead. They worked for me in my technical aspects."


"Would anyone want to hurt them?" The officer asked.

Adam shook his head. But then small words rang through his head - the Ascendancy had mentioned something... Adam thought hard about the phrase used. The vigillanties hunting men like the Ascendancy. Adam shrugged as he spoke. "They would do special things. Troy had an uncanny gift with fire. He could think a spectacle and it would just happen. Same with lights. And Bev."
Adam's voice cracked with grief as he continued. "She could manipulate sound. I've never seen anything like it. I hired them on the spot to do what no other musician could pull off. I think the term is channeler? I don't know why anyone would want to hurt them they were nothing but performers they hurt no one. Did nothing wrong."
Adam knew he was rambling at this point, but there was nothing more he could say. The children were dead because of him...


Edited by Methos, Feb 15 2017, 04:20 PM.

[Ivan Sarkozy]

As Ivan greeted Vega and began examining the scene- the multiple bodies- he felt something. It was wrong but Ivan felt a stab of....well, it wasn't excitement. That wasn't the right word at all. You didn't get excited when people died. These last two were around his age maybe. In fact, it made him angry. Yet there was a feeling there that, if he was honest with himself, felt a small thrill pleasure. Maybe it was the hunt. The chasing down of criminals and murderers and rapists and the like. Letting them know that they could not hunt with impunity. That justice was after them.

And so since he was being so honest with himself- and especially since he had felt so useless these last few days and not actually being out there pounding the streets and making a difference he could feel- he just accepted it. There was someone out there- maybe a serial, like Vega said, maybe something else- doing killing.

He nodded to Vega at his mention of a wall. He'd seen it, but with the power. Curious. How had Vega noticed? The other two seemed ordinary by comparison. At least in disposal. That said something. "So...kill and burn two- after taking a head? And then stab two more with a completely different MO?"
He looked at the girl again. The blade had been precise.

He mulled it over in his mind, trying to imagine the scenario. The fire and the wall spoke of channeling. How would a knife fit in? "Well, it's possible. Not all the same person. The thing with the head was personal. You don't take a head off by accident. So a guy I'll call Smokey took out the guy with no head and the other guy. Made sure to use the power to completely obliterate it. Person number 2 was more interested in these two. That kind of placement is intentional."


He looked at Vega. "So, a channeler for smokey. And a normal for the other."
He paused, something bothering him. Assumptions. "Or it was one person and they wanted to muddy the investigation. Either set could be a decoy for the real intended target."
It was more complicated, but it fit the facts too- so far, anyway.

It occurred him that perhaps there was something to the wall. Maybe channeling was unique to the person. Or maybe the way threads were placed. "Let me study the wall for a minute."
He walked back out front. The fire was still going but contained. The cop in him disliked what he saw. He'd burned creatures down in the tunnels when he'd been hunting with Xena. To prevent contagion. Maybe this was that. Or it could be getting rid of evidence.

Carefully, he reached out and probed the wall. It was pretty basic, though at least one thing jumped out at him after a moment. There was nobody there maintaining the wall or the fire. He squinted at them, tracing the weaves until he saw it. Some sort of....knot or whatever. A looping, anyway, fed in on itself. Despite himself he smiled. He had not thought it possible. But now that he saw, he understood and all kinds of uses sprang to mind. He tucked it away into his toolbox for another time. Something new to add to his practice.

Back to the matter at hand, though. Whoever did this was an advanced channeler. That could help him find him. He'd not met any yet who could do this. More than ever, Ivan wanted to find out who this guy was. Not to learn, though. No. There was already too much distrust and dislike of channelers after Ascendancy's announcement. All they needed was another one of them running around making it worse.

The fire needed to go out. But Ivan was not stupid. He created a large dome of air around himself and the burning head and body. After a moment, he tried the little knotting trick. It only took a couple tries- like tying his shoes the first time- but he got it. Knots had always been pretty easy for him when he was in the Young Pioneers. Reasonably sure that there was now protection in case there was something contagious, he gently probed with fire and air, tracing the threads that lead to the knot. They were relatively simple and he thought he saw a way that maybe he could pull on one of them and let it unravel. He paused and went over it again in his mind, all the while the body burning. Satisfied, he gently pulled. The thread resisted at first. But then he felt movement as it came free. The threads making up the wall immediately dissolved.

Suddenly he felt the heat of the flames and smelled the stench of burnt flesh. He worked faster. Thankfully, it wasn't much harder and the knot unraveled, the fire dissipating except for the few dancing flames that flickered over unburnt clothing or leather. Ivan quashed those. Then he did the same to the burning head, though it was more a ball of meat blackened meat now. He examined the body- or at least the lump of flesh that was missing a head. No hooves or claws. This was a man. Ivan dropped the barrier.

Calling out to the CI's that were just coming on the scene. "Can you process this guy first? He might have been burned to get rid of evidence."
He thought about the other two.

He walked back to Vega. "Fires out. CI's are going to start processing him. Hopefully that will tell us about our killer. You find anything out about the other two?"

[Dorian]

Dorian listened to Ivan's assessment. It wasn't that he didn't trust the man's judgement, Dorian had just been doing this sort of thing longer. Few Atharim worked alone. This wasn't one person. This was at a minimum three people. Though the guy with the twisted head - that was super human strength and that meant monster, or a reborn god. Though if he gave Nox the benefit of the doubt he didn't kill anyone but the flaming body. He had to believe the boy teaching his son was good...

When Ivan left Dorian examined the wound of the girl and her height, and then the boy's. He had a feeling they were killed in tandem. Dorian needed the sequence of events. Thankfully Methos was able to provide them for him. The lights went out. Then the lights done by Troy and then the sound by Bev. Methos' last words before Dorian sent him back to his hotel. He could give his official statement in the morning after a good long sleep and probably a long hot soak in the hot tub. How Dorian wished he could do that.

When Ivan returned he asked about his findings. Dorian lead Ivan to a quiet spot away from everyone else on the force. He wasn't going to out Nox - no he'd do that with the boy alone but Dorian could easily send Ivan in search of Nox for answers while he did this work here.

"The two kids were reborn go... channelers."
Dorian would have to get used to the new term. It wasn't often he spoke of them, and when he had in the past they were always gods. No, he wouldn't help the Ascendancy propagate any myth like that - he was just a normal man with a gift - like Cruz. "I suspect two Atharim took them out. And a third Atharim was out in the audience. The timing is too close for there to be anything else. And we've no cameras to see the sequence ourselves. The only reason to burn a body is to prevent it from rising again. Common Atharim disposal technique - this one was interrupted."


"My monster lore is rusty. And I know next to nothing about your power. But we know someone who is versed in both. Though you will have to do it off the books. Not sure how Cap feels about using that particular resource. One of us should go. I can go when I'm done here, but you'd know better how to explain the situation here."
Dorian disliked keeping a small fact from Ivan, but Dorian didn't want to panic Nox. He was in his home, his family was right there. At least Dorian was certain he could bring Nox in without incident. He wasn't certain how much of a bond those two shared. Cop and vigilante didn't mix - and Nox was certainly not shy about what he did for a living.

[Borovsky]

(( Atharim PoV ))

Stephan Weiss and Henrik Mantere, were two dedicated Atharim. They had been at HQ when it burnt to a mass of molten rubble and a pile of ash and debris. The Regus had stayed to fight the fire while telling everyone else to leave. Stephan believed the man survived. He nursed his wounds to rise again - it was like prophecy fulfilling itself or something. Henrik believed he lived cause if Ascendancy couldn't kill him, and he was the first of the reborn gods the nothing could. But they both believed.

The safe houses in Moscow weren't as nice as the Baccarat Mansion. There wasn't another safe house worthy of that place. But now it was gone and with it all the priceless artifacts the Baccarat's had stored there. Not to mention their new god fighting arsenal.

They weren't archangles by any means, but they'd been tracking Methos and his concerts. Stephan had been a fan, Henrik knew the man but didn't care for his music. But he had two oddities and they both believed they were reborn gods. It was off with their heads if they could prove it. They hadn't been able to. Every concert was good, perfect, nothing out of the ordinary - nothing they could prove.

But the one in Moscow - home of the Atharim HQ - they would do what needed to be done. They would kill the monsters that walked in human skins - they would get the proof they needed.

Methos was an arrogant man and his itinerary and schedules weren't hard to find out. Easy as pie. And the arena was easy enough to get into and sabotage without a trace of their existence. This wasn't their first rodeo.

First the backup system was severed to within an inch of it's life. When it fired on, the circuits would fry but not alert the maintenance crews until then. Then the main systems - those were easy.

Stephan and Henrick wore gloves and checked all their clothes for catches etc. There would be no trace of their existence if what they believed would happen did. And when the lights finally went out Henrick and Stephan were ready. They'd been tailing the boy and girl for days. They knew where they'd be, they would be close by. Armed with only a knife - a simple one bought in any story anywhere in the world - it was perfect undeniably simple.

Stephan was first killing the boy and the lights overhead died. He stepped into the mass of the crowd leaving and no one knew any difference. Henrick got the girl and slipped out the back stage door. They left the weapons - their marks. These gods died and the world would know it. They died by their hands. Nothing Ascendancy said or his police could do would bind their hands. The Atharim had lived long before the CCD and it would live long after - such was the Atharim. Long live the Regus and may his reign see the end of the gods before their reign ever begins!

[Ivan Sarkozy]

Ivan looked at Vega, one eyebrow raised. They were channelers? He frowned, putting aside how the man would know. He knew it was Atharim related. Not for the first time, Ivan tried to assess the man and his affiliation with that organization with its kill-on-sight policy. What was the word? Extra-judicial? Just a fancy word for murder. But Vega had made the human choice. And there was no indication that he'd ever taken part in it himself.

What would Ivan had done? Well, what did he do? He was a police officer. And yet he was not so idealistic and naive to believe that every cop out there was good. Bad things were done. Corruption existed. Even institutional injustices remained and went unchanged. Bribery; police brutality or indifference.

Did that mean Ivan gave up the badge? Did that evil, for lack of a better word, mean that Ivan was evil? Or was he working the best he could to do a good job despite the real problems that existed?

That was Vega. Because part of what the Atharim did was hugely important. He'd seen what was in the tunnels. Humanity had needed them. And if, as they claimed, been around for thousands of years- the thought blew his mind- behind the scenes, keeping mankind safe in ages where no channelers existed...well, that was a good thing, all things considered. More than good.

He lowered his voice. "So this third Atharim...he burned the guy out there? Does that mean that it wasn't....a man?"
He paused, thinking on the man's words. "Too bad your monster lore is rusty. I wish you could give me a list of what kind of stuff is out there and how to fight them."
He smiled. "Maybe your friend can help. I'll go, since you suggest it. Can you give me his contact info?"

[Dorian]

Dorian nodded. "My gut says it wasn't a man, but common disposal technique is to burn bodies."
Dorian knew, he'd burnt a number of bodies, he even had a few tricks up his own sleeve for that."It was humanoid - or once upon a time it was human, but had mutated into a monster. There are dozens of humanoid monsters - who can pass for human, but aren't. He can give you a list."
Hell Dorian was sure he'd seen a book among the things Nox had brought from the Little Song's apartment when his american treasures arrived that was literally titled Monsters for A to Z... the a and the z were of course a monster's name, but Dorian didn't know what it was. He'd never heard of either.

But when Ivan asked for Nox's contact information Dorian smirked. He must be tired, it was late. Nox's name had been dropped in the captain's office surely Ivan could make the connections. Why else bring up the boy at all? They didn't need his expertise for chanelers - they only had one on hand and Nox was far more dangerous as an Atharim channeler. But then again it was good he hadn't made the connection, other wise he might be number one on Ivan's list too. Dorian hoped that Ivan didn't try to bring Nox in.

Dorian smiled at Ivan, the pretty boy cop was in for a treat when he saw Nox's set up in the basement. "You already have it. You gave it to me to begin with."
Dorian sent a text to Nox asking where he was, and there was a quick reply saying he was home. That was all the information Dorian needed. "He's at my place. He's in the basement. Just tell Christian when he answers you are there to see Nox."
Dorian let the information sink in.

[Ivan Sarkozy]

Ivan laughed and rolled his eyes. "Ah. Yes. Duh. Nox."
Things clicked into place. Man, he must be tired.

Then something Vega said got his attention. "He's staying with you?"
For a moment, he wasn't sure why. It's not like they were friends. Then it resolved. "Ah....your son."
He looked around. He didn't expect any Atharim around but....well. They could be anywhere.

Which kind of gave him an idea. A stupid one, but one all the same. He'd have to think about it. "I'll give him a call. I need to get up to speed, especially if we are going to be doing what they are."
He looked around. No need to say more. "I'll help you finish up here and then head over."