A new arrival (Nekro, Pat, Count)

A man stood on the end of pier in Tampa Bay, Florida. He was tall, he stood at over 6 feet. 6 foot 11 inches to be exact. He wore a hood covering his face as he stared at the water. His clothing old and worn and looked small on his large body. He looked down at his clothes and sighed. He had gotten it from a homeless man when he first arrived on the mainland. Probably one of the few good things that happened to him when he did stepped out of water. Though he would have preferred not having to wear the jacket, which was more like a winter coat. In Florida, it was too hot for him. Maybe he should try to wear something different, like just a T-shirt like those large dark-skin men wore.

The man shook his head. That would cost money, something he didn't have. Besides that wasn't why he was here, not long ago he felt a cry for help go through his mind. After a twenty minute bus ride, it had voice had brought him here. Besides he was already looking into the disappearance of a few of the homeless men and women in the area. A good lot of them seemed to be disappearing lately, and it wasn't for the usual loitering or getting arrested. Besides that only happens during late winter. From the look of it nothing seemed to be amiss. The man had even reached out with his mind to see if he could at least feel the presence of a being. For a few minutes it seemed like nothing, then ripples began to form on the water, as 5 dog-sized four limb fish began to swim across the water. From the first look, the man could tell that they were nothing on this earth. Even with his long history with sea life he had never seen anything like this. They began to climb on the pier, showing off their sharp row of teeth making unintelligible sounds as they began to approach the 6'11 man.

The man tried to use his telepathy to reach into their minds, and tell them to be on their way and head back into the water. Only to be forced out. Didn't seem like they were going to listen to reason the man thought, and by reason he meant mental orders. Drawing a pair of twin blades from his waist he watched for their movements. He knew how to fend for himself, but he really wanted to avoid conflict if possible.

If there was one thing that Michael liked over Chicago, it was the fact that it was not extremely cold when night hit. Also the people around here had far different choices in their attire, which interested the Ethereal being more than one would expect, considering that he found human fashion to be an interesting thing. Something about how the species chose to cover themselves was intriguing, and he also had nothing better to do, considering that when your second in command could do most of the work for you, there wasn’t much that you really needed to do, other than intimidate a little. For now he was enjoying himself in the rather interesting city of Tampa Bay or whatever the city was called. Michael chewed slowly on a hotdog, a small amount of the mustard dripping down the side of his mouth, before being wiped away by the back of his hand.

The sun was high within the sky, and its glare annoyed his eyes, but it was nothing that he couldn’t deal with, because he was busy enjoying more fatty foods, including the chips from the small bag that was held under his arm pit. ”Probably should have put more chili on it.” He mused finishing off his hotdog, swallowing the chewed up food and following with a content sigh. ”Maybe I should buy another one, I do have enough money for like….” He froze for a moment. ”Ten maybe, or twenty if I’m feeling hungry enough in an hour.” He was dressed in khaki colored cargo shorts that he had seen a male wearing that was around his age, and a simple black t-shirt, with leather sandals and black sunglasses covering his silver orbs.

He looked like a tourist of some kind, and if it were the spring, one could mistake him for some kind of high school kid on a spring break trip. Running fingers through his dark brown hair, Michael removed the chips from their position, and began to devour them at a respectable pace, looking over everyone that passed him by as he walked along the warm sands of the beach, some of the heat even reaching his soles, but only feeling wonderful. Something about warmth was lovely, which perhaps only made why he preferred to stay around Chicago only stranger, though it could all be leveled out to the fact that he was slightly fond of the Metahumans that had come to depend on him there, especially his little healer Andrew. Well Michael would have been having a wonderful day, until he came upon an interesting scene, which was a man being happened upon by strength fanged beings from the deep.

There were around the size of the dog creatures, and he could tell that the bite would be nasty. ”Well now.” He said low to himself with a sweet smile, withdrawing the small weapon that he had learned to conceal within a small holster on his thigh, a small silenced weapon that would do its job when he did not want to waste energy. He looked to the homeless man for a second, and then back to the things crawling towards him, and with a pull of the trigger, and a nearly silent sound the bullet would careen towards the intended target, which was one of the little fish monsters.

Suited up in her dark-blue wet suit, Xiao arrived at the pier warehouse area not far from where the commotion occurred, on her Moped. She passed by the local populace, seeing that they were not the ones in immediate danger. The local area swiftly changed in atmosphere though, as Xiao could smell their stench on the air. They were simply called Fang Spawn, abominable amphibian-fish hybrids that preceded a terrible mass abduction by a mysterious alien force, who remain an enigmatic but growing threat. That they would attack during the day meant they were indeed desperate, and the young asian girl knew a little why.

Xiao quickly parks her Moped at a waterside research station near the Pier, the parking empty save for a single blue sedan. The door had been blasted off its hinges already, and Xiao could smell the gunfire in the air, the struggle, the poisoned needles...  Xiao peered over the security table and saw a rather obese security guard riddled with Needles, the poison too much for his heart and perishing due to cardiac problems. His gun was in hand, so the man had at least gone down fighting. The walls behind him had needles too.

The young girl followed the trail, the scent of these abductors as they stormed the small facility. The scent of violence was thick in the air, extremely recent, as the messy office was turned to complete shambles due to the attack. Papers, folders, envelopes and research equipment were scattered all over the floor. The walls were stained with alien blood- Xiao could recognize their smell, it seemed their victim did not go without a fight, and killed at least... three... perhaps four of the aliens. The window was broken, and the trail lead to the pier adjacent to the Fang Spawn attack.

Xiao sprinted after the trail, and witnessed some people at the pier already fighting droves of Fang Spawn, and decided to stop and help them a moment. The Fang Spawn attacked, simply rushing the metahumans on land with their numbers and ferocious teeth, with no regard to self-preservation. They died easily, Michael's firearm and Tidal Wave's blades enough, though the creatures showed a terribly death frenzy, clawing and biting for several seconds after they were supposed to die.

Their death seemed to draw the attention of more Fang Spawn emerging from the water, while the few that were killed... six large black slugs began erupting from their abdomens, for each Spawn, and attempted to leap and latch onto their killers, instinctively trying to coat them in paralytic slime. With six slugs to each death, the beach would very quickly be covered in these things.

Once she arrived, Xiao simply punted a couple of them far into the water with a strong, swift kick. With her strength, the little things went quite the distance.  "...These fish things are attacking people as a distraction! Something is controlling them, and someone is in grave danger!" She punted one more Fang Spawn then jumped into the water. Down there, Xiao saw more Fang Spawn mindlessly swimming then marching to the shore, drawn by the smell of their fellows' deaths, to attack, terrorize and die, while the true enemy was slowly making their escape with their prize... But not today.

Today, no one will get taken. Swimming deeper in the water, she could see the small alien craft in the distance, a black silhouette lit up by eldritch, emerald light like a terror from the deep. The raiding party carrying two slime covered human captives were slowly making their way to their undersea craft... if they got inside of it, their captives would be gone forever.

Before being able to make a move, Xiao was beset by a few more Fang Spawn, but she was already used to their mindless attacks, and simply grabbed their necks and asphyxiated them, as their teeth clamped down on her arms, to prevent releasing their death pheromones or blood and drawing in more.

Earth and dust fell from the Malakovian’s hands as he stood up, brushing them off against his jeans. The Atlantean had definitely been there, and recently. The ground still held a trace of the aquarian scent, with the slight musk Megareus had come to associate with sentient beings of the ocean.

The Atlantean authorities had hired him to track down and return a wanted fugitive, who had escaped jail and fled to the surface. Normally a land dweller would not be considered for such a task, but he had worked with, and for, the Atlanteans before, and had gained their respect, if not trust.

He walked for a few miles, being led by his ever active sense of smell. He was getting closer; the aquatic smell was intensifying greatly, even with being in Tampa. Either this Atlantean was a giant, or there were far more oceanic beings nearby.

He was within a half mile of the target when he stopped abruptly; either he had been attacked with a blunt force object to the skull, or a sudden “migraine” had suddenly struck him. He hissed, and grabbed his head. When his hands approached his countenance, something out of place on his arms caught his eye. One of his veins, starting  near the base of his hands and running down to his elbow, was a charcoal grey, with the edge pulsing a dull black color with each heartbeat.

He frowned. “That wasn’t there before,” he muttered to himself.  After a few moments the headache receded, though the oddly colored vein remained. He resumed the tracking of his target, though with a more cautious pace, waiting for the headache to resurge any moment.

A few minutes later and he arrived at a pier, one of many in the area. He glanced at a sign that read “Skyway Fishing Pier State Park”. A welcoming party of sorts awaited him; three oddly dressed people and several fish-like creatures were scattered about. He raised an eyebrow as the creatures were slowly fought off and the female of the group dove into the water.

Did I miss the party?”

As his gaze turned to the tallest of the group, apparently the Atlantean, a small smiled played out on his lips. This was a rather easy job.

As he took a step toward his prey, ignoring the fight going on around him, he felt something large fall on his back. Hissing as he whirled around, he pulled out one of his daggers and stabbed the creature in the neck, watching as burn marks spread from the area of insertion. The creature died almost immediately, and Megareus frowned. These creatures were unfamiliar to him, and yet...

“They are known as ‘Fang Spawn’. No more than mindless drones, they are vicious in their attacks, but cannot stay out of water for more than a few seconds.“

Megareus grabbed his head, for that was where the voice had originated.

“Who are you, and how the Hell do you have access to my thoughts?” he thought to himself, or rather to the voice in his head.

No response was given, save a faint chuckle.