Scene 5: Just some street, Tuen Mun

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Feng Shui: Case Files of Section 44
41

Nic steps in front, to the left, of the door.

Nic: You've done this before, Ken, so you get us in, then break right. I'll take the left. If there's anyone or anything inside, we'll keep it between us. Ming Shi, you come in a few seconds afterwards, in case we flush someone out or draw some kind of fire. Ming will move down the center, and everyone keep in sight of everyone else until we clear the interior of surprises.

Nic flexes his hands, and rotates his shoulders to loosen up and relax himself. The lingering thought that dark magic or even an Underworld being may be involved has him on edge, and he can hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears.

Nic: Ready when you are.

42

Ming grabs her Franchi SPAS-12 and puts two custom loads at the head of the chamber. She finishes loading with an impressive "KA-CHINK!"

Ming: I'll jimmi the door open then take cover behind the doorframe ... once Huang pulls the door up, I'll mark the targets and let off a smoke bomb. You guys roll under and in together. Ready!

(+1 dam for the KA-CHINK noise! The custom loads are my glow-in-the-dark glitter that clings to targets (1st in the chamber), and my smoke bomb (2nd in the chamber) ... this should let us see the targets while giving us all some cover with the smoke. Also, if the door is locked, I use my unique schtick: You always happen to have the right item on hand. When you want to pull any tool or gadget item out of your handy toolkit, spend a Fortune point and - bingo - you got it! So, like, a skeleton key?)

43

Ming Shi considers the lock. It's a simple pin tumbler lock, and she just happens to have a bump key of the right size in one of her pockets. It's much better to get in this way as attempts to pry open the door might buckle it and prevent it from moving, and trying to find and cut the bolt will make a lot of noise.

She has to concentrate to avoid humming as she goes to work, and in less than a second, the tumbler turns. She heaves the door upwards, and it slides quietly along its rails along the ceiling.

While it's halfway up, Huang and Nic duck inside. Huang, being more experienced at this kind of thing. immediately rests against one of the walls, so he's not lit from behind.

Ming then scurries to one side and, frowning, pokes her head and her shotgun round the concrete wall.

Nic's long shadow reaches the back of the garage. There's a strong smell of old oil and petrol, and something sharper.

Rusting paint tins are stacked on one wall, and there are some cardboard boxes at the back made soggy by a leaking roof. Some shelves a screwed to one of the side walls and have tools left haphazardly on them; screwdrivers, hammers and the like.

The walls of the garage appear to have been painted some sort of yellowy/brown colour- or at least that's their colour now. The paint is flaking away from the wall all over, in large patches about the size of a hand.

All three investigators notice an eye-bolt screwed into the concrete floor. Slowly, they follow the chain looped around it into Nic's shadow. He steps to one side, slowly, revealing the end it attached to what looks like a dog's collar, unbuckled, with an open padlock still looped through one of the grommets. Nearby by is a filthy mattress, small enough to have come from a cot rather than a bed.

It's not the location Nic baw briefly, when scrying, but it's very similar.

Suddenly Huang recognises the sharp smell- urine.

44

Ming leans against the concrete wall with her Franchi propped up next to her, crossing her arms on her chest in a pose of studied disgust.

Ming: Well, THAT'S anticlimactic!

45

As Huang looks at the chain and collar, and the nearby cot, a distinctly unpleasant feeling creeps up his spine, and that urine smell isn't helping much either, as it could have come from just about anything. Or anyone, his mind notes uneasily. Any number of things Huang didn't want to think about could have gone down here, and that collar could have held anything.

Huang: I don't like this. Somebody was definitely here.

Huang pulls out his regular camera and snaps photos of the mattress and the chain and collar. These are definitely going in the evidence locker. He looks upon the chain and the cot again. There's only one way to find out what the hell went down here...

Huang: Nic, I'll need you to do one of your readings here. I apologize in advance for any...unpleasantness...you may come across. Ming, I'll need you to collect some DNA samples from the collar and the mattress. If Mingxia was here, she was probably on that mattress. And I'm thinking a dog, a demon or worse was on that chain.

As he mulls over what Mingxia was likely put through in here, his hands tighten with suppressed fury around the handle of the Beretta. If Mingxia was hurt in any way, somebody is going down for this.

46

Ming pulls a set of surgical gloves and some plastic bags out of her shoulder bag, and sets to work collecting samples.

Ming: The forensics guys are gonna LOVE this.

47

Nic stands in the center of the garage, his face displaying a rapid passing of several emotions. His jaw muscles work tightly, reigning in the stream of curses he was about to spout loudly.

Nic: Dammit! Nic grabs a small wrench from a shelf, and hurls it angrily against the far wall of the chamber with a startling bang. He paces quickly back and forth a few times, but soon calms down, and focuses on the tasks at hand.

Nic: OK, I can try another trick. This one will be harder for someone to shield Mingixa from, but unfortunately it's not always as accurate as a good scrying.

Nic takes three old Chinese coins out of his wallet. They're strung together with a red silk ribbon. He quickly unstrings them and explains to Huang and Ming Shi...

Nic: I'm going to toss these coins and read the future. It's an ancient technique, commonly used with the I Ching. If the casting works true, I'll be able to get insight into where Mingxia is, or where we need to go, or at least what our next step should be. But you need to understand, it's often a subtle or vague process, so we may need to puzzle out our next step based on some loose clues gained in the reading.

Nic sits cross-legged on the floor near the cot, and for the next several minutes is engrossed in casting the coins on the cement floor. Huang and Ming Shi go about their business with the musical ringing of the coins carrying through the building as they strike the floor over and over.

48

Ming bends down to start scraping epithelials from the collar with a cotton bud. A scrap of paper about the size of a hand drifts in the wind onto her forearm. She goes to brush it away, and feels a sharp pain. The 'paper' turns a pair of compound eyes towards her, waving a couple of antenna while working a vicious-looking set of mandibles.

Something making a noise like a child's paper windmill buzzes past her ear. She looks up to see the 'paint' on the walls resolving into hundreds of paper-winged insects, swarming in the confined space.

Huang seems momentarily flummoxed by their appearance, and Nic is looking at them with distaste with one of his coins still spinning. Ming looks covetously over to where she left her piece leaning against the wall.

The sussuration of the insects takes on a more urgent pitch...

49

Ming: Holy giant bugs, Batman!

50

[i]Huang cannot believe his frigging eyes. Why the hell didn't he frigging think of giant paper bugs on the goddamn walls?

Oh yeah, because he's the [/i]mundane cop on Section 44, and this was a case of the crazy ass weird that people like Nic or Arthur were better prepared to deal with, as opposed to the human perps that were his specialty. Letting loose a loud string of curses of the non-sorcerous persuasion in Cantonese, Huang pulls his other Beretta and works the slide with the fingers holding his other gun in order to chamber a round.

Huang: EVERYBODY OUT!

51

Nic stands up and watches the swarming, fluttering creatures begin to spin and swirl around the garage.

Nic: Crap on a bagel. The coin reading's not done yet.

52

[i](Martial Arts 14) Huang searches for a target in the teeming mass, gives up, and claps his pistols together on one of the creatures. It drops to the ground in pieces and collapses into dust.

Nic pulls out his lighter, sparking it to life and examining the garage with speculative interest.[/i]

Nic: Smoke 'em if you got 'em!

[i](Guns 11) Huang chooses a target that's buzzing close to Ming, and drops it with a clean shot that buries itself in the far wall after killing its target.

Ming rolls away from the chain and grabs her shotgun. She ejects the glitter cartridge and pumps the smoke round into readiness.[/i]

Ming: Smoke!

(Creature Powers 14) From the cloud around Ming, one insect flies into her face, and vicious barbs on its legs catch around her mouth. (CP 10) The insects shy away from the lighter in Nic's hand, and he waves it at a cloud that get too close to him for comfort. (CP 15) Huang turns to check he won't trip over anything as he backs towards the door, and one demonic moth flies straight into his eyes and latches on, leaving him only a small gap around one wing he can see through.

Huang: Ta ma de hun dan! Why couldn't I have gone to work vice instead?

[i]Nic spots the paint cans, and hopes they'll act as a suitable accelerant. (MA 28) He splits all of them open with an open handed blow and lets their contents ooze over the floor in a puddle of green pigment and clear solvent.

Huang walks crabwise out of the door, using his limited vision as best he can. (G 13) He shatters one that was threatening to cover his other eye with a well-placed round from one of the Berettas.

Ming fires her shotgun towards the back wall, and the garage begins to fill with thick smoke.

(CP 7) She then ducks handily away from a couple of insects that were threatening to catch in her hair. (CP 6) A trio of them buzz past Nic's face, but he bats one of them away with his free hand. (CP 19) Four of them land on Huang's back, their little claws digging into his flesh, drawing blood.[/i]

Huang: Fei fei de pi yan!

In the smoke, Nic hopes that the others are making a timely exit from the garage and drops his lighter into the puddle of paint and is alarmed by the speed with which it catches. He flaps at it to try to calm it down a little, but only succeeds in fanning it to greater intensity.

Nic: Err... Fire in the hole!

[i]Huang stops on the threshold of the garage to roll on the floor. (MA 0) He rolls into one of the walls, and a shelf collapses on him and drops a monkey wrench on his head. It's not his day.

Ming runs for the door, swatting at any of the critters that get in her way. The smoke seems to make them a little sluggish, but before too long it will be tough for her friends to see or breathe in there. Outside the garage, she turns to see how they are faring.

(CP 8) A few of the creatures have followed Ming, but they are easily avoided in the open. (CP 8) As they seem fearful of the flames, Nic has little difficulty avoiding their cloying grasp. (CP 12) One nearly gets a grip on Huang's leg, but he's thrashing so much he shakes it loose before it has a proper hold.

Holding the edge of his shirt to his face against the smoke, Nic runs out of the garage as fast as he can. The flames inside are lighting up the smoke.

(MA 15) Huang struggles to his feet, then dives in the direction he hopes is outside. On the way, he notices a length of string dangling and grabs it. It pulls the garage door part way down behind him.

Ming pulls the door closed fully, and slumps against it in relief. Wisps of smoke curl through gaps around the door. Then she realises the insect is still clamped across her mouth and nose, stopping her from drawing breath.[/i]

Sequence summary
Most of the creatures are trapped in the burning garage. One is clamped to Ming's mouth, one over Huang's eyes (which is currently causing him some impairment) and 4 on his back. There are 5 active moth-things outside.

Huang has taken 3 Wound Points, the others are unhurt.

Huang has fired one round from each pistol, leaving 15 remaining in each. Ming Shi has used one special round and discarded the other, leaving 5 regular shells in the weapon.

A new sequence begins...

53

[i](MA 8) Huang grabs at the thing over his eyes with his free hand, trying to find purchase to rip it away but it's moulded to his face such that he can't get a finger underneath it.

(Perception -7) Nic casts a quick glance around, but the fluttering of evil wings and Ming's muffled noises keep dragging his attention back. He's just not used to this kind of high-pressure situation.

(MA 6) Huang starts clubbing at his face with the butt of his pistol, to no discernible effect.[/i]

Ming: Mmmmmmph!

[i](MA 5) Ming struggles with the creature on her face, also failing to get proper purchase.

(Sorcery 6) Nic dashes over to Ming and takes a quick look at the insect. It's demonic, all right, and he's sure he's read about them somewhere, but he can't bring them to mind.

(MA 13) Huang decides to stop pussy-footing around and pistol whips himself across the face. The insect drops to the floor, dead.[/i]

Huang: Gos se! That's going to purple...

Nic watches Huang's success and hesitates in front of Ming.

Nic: I've never hit a lady before... sorry...

(MA 12): He delivers a furious open-handed blow to the insect, which shatters. Ming then spits out bits of demon with an expression that says 'that tasted bad[i]'.

(CP 10) Two of the flying insects circle Nic, but they are easy to keep at bay now there are so few of them. (CP 11) Another two dive for Ming but she knocks them away with the stock of her Franchi. (CP 8) The last one flutters around Huang, to little effect.

(G 9 BOXCARS!) Ming, scowling furiously, tracks one of the insects and blasts it. Just too late she realises that it had flown in front of Nic. Nic closes his eyes, then after the bang pats himself down and finds to his surprise that he is uninjured. Around him, four insects drop to the ground. What were the chances of that?

There's a bang from the garage door, as a burning paint can rockets through the thin metal and past the mêlée. From the road, there's a crash and a blaring of horns.

(MA 14) Nic dashes over to Huang and drops four quick palm-heel strikes on his back, smashing the insects like crisps.

(G 8) Huang fires a shot at the last moth. He misses, but the muzzle flash singes its wings and it circles to the floor trailing smoke like a world war 1 fighter plane.

The three of them turn to look at the garage, and the hole in the door. One insect crawls through, but it's clearly in a bad way and drops to the floor. Smoke belches out through the hole, from the fire rather than Ming's round.

They relax.

A chimney stack drops onto Nic. He collapses with a cry. The stack has all its bricks floating freely but touching one another, vaguely resembling some kind of big cat. The two chimney pots point outwards like eyes, with smoke curling out of them. A TV aerial acts as a tail, and there's scruffy nest giving it a shaggy mane. The only sound it makes is the eerie scraping of the bricks slide over one another as it turns this way and that. It shakes its head with feral energy, and crouches as if to spring towards Ming and Huang.[/i]

Huang: Da-shiang bao-tza shr duh lah doo-tze!

Sequence summary
Nic is underneath the Chimney Beast, groaning. There are no insects left to deal with.

Huang is still on 3 wound points (and a coming black eye), with 15 and 14 shots remaining in the pistols.

Ming has 4 shells left.

Nic has 11 wound points.

54

[i](G 16) Ming runs crabwise towards the shell of a car, firing her shotgun a little high to make sure of not hitting Nic. Brick chips scatter where the shot hits it.

(CP 10) In response, the beast turns towards her and belches clouds of smoke and ash from it 'eyes'. The wind carries it away swiftly away from Ming, leaving her unharmed.

(G 16) Huang sets his jaw and fires from both pistols, throwing more chips into the air. Nic covers his eyes as they fall around him.

(G 7) Ming reaches the cover of the car and fires over the bonnet. At that range, though, it has little effect.

(MA 16) The beast springs towards Huang, but he rolls out of the way in he nick of time. The scrape of the bricks on the tarmac is enough to set the teeth on edge.

Nic hauls himself to his feet, still slightly stunned, and sprints over to where a broken exhaust pipe has been abandoned.

(G 31) Huang, lying on his back in the dirt, scowls as the beast advances on him, waiting to fire until it lunges for him with its ruddy paws. The bullets make it emit and unearthly howl, recoil and shake itself like a wet dog.

(G 16) Now the thing is closer, Ming has a better shot and it blows a large chunk out of one of the chimney pots.

(MA 17) Consumed with rage, the creature launches itself towards Ming, thudding heavily into the car chassis. It doesn't reach her, but the car's frame wrenches her shoulder and knocks her backwards.

(MA 11) Nic runs up behind it with his exhaust, but it snaps at him and bites it in two before he can get in a proper swing.

(G 6 BOXCARS BOXCARS) Huang quickly lines up another shot, only for the beast to collapse on a damaged leg and leave him staring straight at Nic too late to stop shooting. One bullet passes straight through an arm and the other hits his collarbone. There's a sickening crack noise.

(G 11) Ming, aghast at the accident, squanders the clean shot she had.

(CP 2) The beast attempts to belch smoke over Huang, but the damaged chimney pot hinders it so much the smoke ends up rising almost vertically.

(MA 15) Eyes wide with shock, Nic clutches at the remains of his exhaust pipe and then brings them down onto the beast. It seems that he didn't hit it hard enough.[/i]

Sequence summary
The beast is noticeably injured.

Ming has one shell left and 9 wound points.

Huang has 10 and 11 bullets remaining and 3 wound points.

Nic has 28 wound points, and thus 1 point of Impairment.

55

Nic flings down the pipe, then he slowly drops onto the pavement on his back, eyes wide as he realizes what just happened a moment ago.

Nic: (shouting over the noise of the creature and Ming's shotgun blasts, to Huang) Dude! Did you just shoot me?!

Nic looks at the injury on his arm, gritting his teeth in pain as the wound to his upper chest begins to throb.

Nic: Man! I've been burnt by the breath of Underworld demons, nauseated by ghostly touches, and even electrocuted by Sizzling Padungway, the infamous dark sorcerer from Thailand. But this is the first time I've been shot by one of my own guys!

Nic tries to sit up again, leaning back against the wall of the garage.

Nic: This... (he waves his bloody arm in the air at no one in particular) this is why I don't work with people who play at being gunfighters!

56

Huang's eyes go wide. He's been in a good number of shootouts over the years, but this is the first time he's hit one of his own people. A horrible feeling rises up in his chest.

Huang: NIC! (muttering to himself) Ai ya. Tian a... Richardson's going to kill me for this...

He listens to Nic yell at him over the noise of the gunfire. He swings his gaze forward to cover Ming.

Huang: Ming! Keep an eye on Nic!

  • Ai-ya. Tian a...: Merciless hell...
57

Eyes wide with fear, Ming totally ignores Nic and keeps firing, reloading as quickly as possible when needed.

58

Nic rips the sleeves off his shirt and works on bandaging his arm wound, and trying to staunch the bleeding from his clavicle, gritting his teeth as the bone grinds.

Nic: Hey, you two! Finish this sucker off before he flattens us!

59

[i](G 11) Hands trembling, Ming's last shell goes wide of its target, blowing a hole in another nearby garage door.

Huang dodges round the beast, putting himself between it and Nic, and slides one of his Berettas underneath the chimney creature towards Ming.[/i]

Huang: Here!

[i](Medicine 10) Nic staggers away, holding his arm awkwardly. He tears a strip from his shirt and ties it round his arm with his free hand and teeth. This done, he feels steadier on his feet and less like he's going to yodel groceries.

(G 16) Ming sweeps the Beretta from the pavement and puts one bullet nicely in the monster's face, if it truly has one.

(CP 13) It bellows smoke at Huang, tensed on the ground like a panther, but the smoke and ash are visibly more feeble than before and easily borne away by a gust of wind.

(G 14) Huang places a shot into its leg, making it stumble and thrash. It manages to emit a shrill keening like an animal in pain.

Nic sits down heavily on the ground, trying to tear more of his shirt off to make a sling. He keeps a wary eye on the fight, in case he needs to roll to safety.

(G 14) With the creature in the cross-fire, Ming shoot is again, throwing brick chips into the air. It keep turning round to face it last attacker, confused and limping.

(MA 10 BOXCARS) The creature turns to swipe a leg and Ming, but trips over its own legs and lies in a twitching heap.

(G 17) Huang blasts it again, triumph showing through the anger on his face.

(G 22) Ming sidles up to it, puts the Beretta to its neck, and fires one more bullet. The beast shatters into splinters, and with a roaring wind it was as if it was never there. The only sounds are the traffic from the road and the crackling of the fire in the garage. In the distance, there are sirens.[/i]

Huang: Ming, bring the car over!

Huang stoops to pick Nic up, and staggers with him towards the road.

Sequence summary

The fight is over.

Ming has an empty shotgun and a pistol with 10 rounds remaining. She has 9 wound points.
Huang has one pistol with 10 bullets and 3 wound points.
Nic still has 28 wound points, but he is stable enough to get to hospital for proper medical attention.

60

[i]Ming comes up from her crouch behind the much-abused abandoned car. She stands for a moment with a dazed look on her face, Beretta hanging limply from the hand at her side. Then she passes the back of her other hand across her eyes ... and stares at it when it comes away with blood smears. The hand starts to shake, and soon Ming's entire body is shaking in reaction. Silent tears streak her face.

The sound of Nic's pain brings Ming out of it. She visibly shakes herself and takes a deep, calming breath. Then she grabs her shot gun and bag and quickly heads for the car.

She pulls up to the curb in front of Huang and Nic.[/i]

Ming: Doesn't that sound like police sirens? Maybe we should vamoose ... oh, wait! We ARE the police! What exactly are we going to tell them? Mass hysteria? LSD poisoning? Kooky weird stuff?