A Devil of a Job

[Karl the Mad]

"Guess we'll find out, aye?" Charles replied with a grin as he drove along. "I liked them movies, by th' by."

Soon enough they arrived, and the vet parked them behind Aislinn's bike. "Ooh damn, lookit that," Jenkins crooned, noticing the death-black Suzuki parked farther ahead. "I 'ad me one a' them once, fer an undercover in Taipei. Fun shit!" He and the others hurried on, wondering what they would find.

Inside, Mary followed along behind the Krampus, muttering to herself about obtuse electrical engineering problems with her attention on the clipboard. Which, as it happened, had papers full of electrician's notes, on the surface anyway. In truth her attention was on the gnarly fellow some bodies ahead of her, and on remaining unobtrusive as she kept him in her view. It was tried and tested; no one ever looked twice at the mousy lab-coated people with clipboards, not even when they lugged heavy bags around in one hand like they weighed nothing.

-----------------------------

Katherine figured she had little more to gain from these two. "Thank you for your cooperation," she told them with a smile. "You may leave now, and do be more careful with your security in the future, ja?" While they were leaving she texted Travis: Hey T, run a search for me. Irving Davies, mail clerk here at GrifSec London. Top priority, make it quick.

[IamLEAM1983]

A few moments later, Starr would receive an image from Travis: a fairly commonplace image macro in which some sort of Beagle puppy appeared to be winking at the camera while extending a paw. Underneath, the expected white Block font read "I GOT DIS".

Leave it to the company's lead data miner to respond like his job unfolded in the bowels of 4Chan...

* * *

"Never figured you for an Anime watcher, Jenkins," distractedly replied Drake, as he headed towards Aislinn. He didn't so much look at her as he kept her in his field of view, while questing outwards for some sort of telltale sign. Horns, maybe. That was like looking for a needle in a haystack, however, with the number of ungulate anthros and the occasional horn-sporting Fae or Green goblin that all pressed around the small group, hailing cabs or meeting friends and family.

Seeing as Archie wasn't around, though, they had one fairly solid hook... "Keep within sprinting distance of each other," he advised, "and look for a top hat. Black with a red felt band. It might not be on the guy's head, check the car rental kiosks. Press in a little if you have to. He might be smart enough to try and hide his calling cards."

* * *

The ashen-faced demon with a mile-wide grin sauntered over to an AVIS counter, in the far back of the terminal. Guiltlessly slipping in front of a waiting couple, he drummed a little solo on the counter with his index fingers. The man in the couple attempted to protest, raising his voice and putting a hand on Kramp's shoulder - but the demon tensed slightly.

"Y'know, chum - people tend to be attached to their hands. Hands. Attached. Hehe.," he said, snickering. "See, I'd hate to know what'd you if I lopped off that hand of yours...
- Are you threatening me, sir?! I can have the spaceport authority here in a few seconds!"

Krampus rolled his eyes. "Again with authorities! Listen, hairless monkey -"

He looked to the counter's female employee with a slightly ghoulish, if apologetic smile, and lifted a finger. That same hand then latched onto the human's and squeezed. "We can play games all you want, or you can take your cheating wife before I remind her what a real man feels like."

The man's eyes widened in apparent insult, while the woman's reaction seemed to betray something. Maybe the demon had a knack for these kinds of things, really. Maybe he'd noticed the spartan makeup and the joyless clothes, the set of her back or, perhaps, how her current perfume was covering a deeper, headier scent she put on less often, or the way her slapped-on odors and daily veneer of cleanliness couldn't completely banish hormonal plumes; how none of it could protect the fact that her thoughts weren't on the man who was standing beside her. Her pupil and nostril dilation suggested she had someone else on the brain, and that her guts were crying out for the chance to take off those painful heels and run off towards the greener pastures of whoever would happen to be that younger, healthier, more appetizing fellow...

In any case, the demon did certainly feel the man's sudden flush of anger, primitive needs coursing through the sleepy crevices of his civilized brain. Krampus smiled at those. Still holding the man's hand in a vice, he turned around, twisting the wrist to the point of pain.

"Come on," he said, "remind Wifey why she picked you first!" he called out, momentarily sounding like some sort of carnival caller. "Three chances, three punches! Smack me on the nose once and I'll let you both pass! Golly, I'll even pay y'all a freaking Mustang for two months! How's that sound?"

Torn between pain and confusion, the man only let out a confused "W-what?"

Krampus slapped him on the forehead. "I'm saying hit me with your good arm or I'll break this one clean off! Good God, man, pay attention!
- H-How am I supposed to punch you if you won't let me go?! HEL-"

The Christmas Devil stuck his free hand over the man's mouth. "First off, I don't even know your name. Can I have your name?
- Mmmphfin.
- Eh?
- MMMPHFIN.
- Eh?! That's not a name, that's a mouth tumor! Speak up, man!
- Martin!"

The Krampus smiled. "Excelsior, Martin! And to answer your question, Martin, in complete, brutal honesty - better fighters have answered that question in the past. Not that I'd expect you to excel at that, you're the kind of guy who gets his weekly cardio in front of YouPorn!"

Grunting through the hand that covered his mouth, Martin limply threw his free hand towards the demon's face, Krampus responding with an exxagerated Oof and a series of snores. He rolled his eyes. "Holy shit, Jim, look at that haymaker! That was one, Martin. Two to go."

Another attempt, the wife finally managing a series of panicked looks around them. "Uh-oh, Marty; looks like your wife here doesn't really know where she stands... What's your name, sunshine?
- C-Claire!
- Then cheer for Martin, Claire! The man needs you, honey - desperately so! He wants you so bad, right now! That's two out of three! Better make the next one count, husbando!"

By the third swing, Krampus moved his head to the side, twisting Martin's imprisoned arm behind his back. "Oh, well, Marty! Thanks for playing, but it's time to say goodbye to your mundane existence! Hope your insurance covers prosthetics, because you'll want the Full Monty! TRANSHUMANISM, HOOO-"

Before the sound of snapping bones could be heard, the man turned a panicked gaze towards his wife. "I forgive you!" he called out, as if these were about to be his last words. As they rang out, however, the demon-turned Fae suddenly let go of Martin's arm and used a foot to push him forwards and away.

Arms parted, the Krampus smiled widely. "And there we go, folks! One couple dug out its shit in public and mended its ways in record time! Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen! All your weekday expectoration pros in the Jerry Springer School of Public Shaming can go back to the drawing board, and where's my free Mustang, my dear Frances?!"

The clerk looked down on her nametag in sudden horror, hurried to the back of the counter and returned with a single key.

"There," she said, her voice white. "It's, uh, it's on the house. Don't hurt me, please."

Sliding closer, the ugly Fae smiled. "Hurt you? Why, Frances -"

He snatched her hand and turned it over, exposing its back. Bringing his head towards, he traced a few lines on it with the tip of his nose before depositing a slow and expertly delivered kiss on it. "I'd never do such a thing," he said, his voice suddenly husky. While she was stunned, his other hand plucked the key from her.

"Grazie mille, cara signorina. I don't get a lot of pleasure out of hurting people whose only crime is holding down a shit job."

He held the pose for a second, head bowed and mouth close to her hand, but his eyes slid to the side even as his nostrils pulsated. "Curtain's calling, I'm afraid. Tell Lizzie that Mister Beaknose says hi."

Puzzlement and confusion fought it out on Frances' face, but he merely gave her a rakish smile and turned away, hopping over Martin and his wife and otherwise hurrying into the crowd that was exiting the terminal.

[TennyoCeres84]

Aislinn had increased her pace through the crowd when she felt she was going to lose sight of the Fae. She had just heard the encounter between Kramp, Martin, and Claire taking place and could only see glimpses of the peculiar target. Finally, she saw him making his way out of the terminal with the other departures and pressed on ahead.

Three probably would have lost sight of her by this point, but the small roane finally managed to get within range of Oberon's butler. "Kramp, wait up! I need to speak with you!" she shouted, hoping to get his attention.

The tattooed woman's pale skin was a little flushed from her sprint through the mob of people, but she was otherwise still functional and able to approach him.

[IamLEAM1983]

"Wouldn't be the first, missy!" he replied, still walking forward. "Keep talking, maybe I'll turn around and actually give a damn!"

[TennyoCeres84]

Good, at least he heard her. Aislinn kept up with him and said, "I'm Aislinn McConmara. I don't know if Oberon's mentioned us to you or not, but my coworkers and I are working on the same mission as you, to prevent that bastard Michael from murdering more kids, and want to join up with you to stop his killing spree. We've already started an investigation which would be useful to you as far as saving time spent looking through an entire city for the culprit."

[Karl the Mad]

Wow, someone really had to take lessons in subtlety. If Mary had done that back in the day, just ran after a mark shouting their objectives in front of God and everyone, why... who knows what her bosses would have done? In any event she had her first close glimpse of these new vigilantes that had been stealing her thunder recently, and frankly? She wasn't impressed. The demon's little show with the cheating couple was far, far more amusing, although she had kept it to herself of course.

Up until now she had kept the guise of a salarywoman with her nose in the books as it were, striding along a few steps to one side of Aislinn. But when the selkie mentioned killings, investigations and the like, she gasped, dropped her clipboard and seized Ais by the shoulder, unintentionally forcing her to a halt. "What did you say?!" she demanded, eyes wide and staring down at the much shorter woman. "Kids are getting killed?! Did I hear you right?!" She was every inch the scared little muggle grasping at straws, two blinks short of a panic attack.

---------------------------

Katherine snorted in amusement, and went for the coffee maker to refresh herself. It felt strange to not have any calls to make or meetings to remotely be a part of, so she sat down with a little makeup case and touched up her face. She gave Travis half an hour, if that.

[TennyoCeres84]

Aislinn yelped lightly when she was suddenly yanked by the shoulder and was now facing the taller woman. Who the hell was this woman?! She could tell the disguised former cop was stronger than normal, whether it was some augmentation or special ability she didn't know, but managed to pull loose of her grip. Given the salarywoman disguise, she naturally thought she was a civilian freaking out.

"Miss, I'm part of an investigation. Please calm down and continue on your way," she stated as she held up her badge, then going to catch up with the horned Fae. If they lost sight of the former devil, they would spend precious time on a wild goose chase looking for him instead of narrowing down suspects, giving the killer ample chances to kill more of Oberon's offspring.

[IamLEAM1983]

Hearing the brouhaha unfold, Kramp turned around and gave Mary a circumspect look. A few moments later, he shook his head.

"God fucking dammit," he swore, "she figures she might follow the freaking hand of Faerie retribution in a lab coat and armed with a pad," he said, bending down to pick it up. "Does it look like we're anywhere near the delousing stations? Or what about the pressurization chambers? Nope, don't see any of those here!"

He wrested Mary off of Aislinn. "Tell you what, ladies - we go through this one at a time. Badge Lady, you start first. As for you, Duffel Bag Faux Lab Rat, you get to zip it for the next few minutes."

As if to bring the matter forward, he more or less directly placed himself in Mary's face, his nose partially crushed onto hers. "Take that righteous panic and stow it, m'kay? Kids have been dying. Yes, it sucks. Believe it, I'd be storming across this fucking town like a dervish, cutting everyone down to the last man if that guaranteed I'd take the fucker out. Thing is, it doesn't. My warpath comes with a plan, miss Hong Kong Special Task Force, whereas you're still at the part where your eyes get wide and your mind exits the building."

Krampus cocked his head sideways. "So - chill, sister. Let's all behave like adults, here."

Looking back to Aislinn, he briefly rolled his eyes. "Feel free to flash a look to the rest of the cavalry - I ain't gonna let you run around town looking for me more than you have."

This was sort of odd, seeing as they'd all taken some space in order to avoid being spotted. Still, he looked in the exact direction where Charles stood and called out.

"HEY, CHUCKIE! THE BIG MAN HASN'T FORGOTTEN YOU! NEITHER HAVE I! REWIND THAT NOGGIN OF YOURS, HUH?! I KNOW THE FIRST TOY YOU REMEMBER GETTING FOR CHRISTMAS!"

[TennyoCeres84]

Slightly annoyed at her human coworker, she waved her arm in the air to let the others know where she was at and telepathically snapped at him, "Three, move your ass and get over to the rental car terminal! When you get here, it's time to go over the info we have!"

Aislinn turned back to the Krampus. "My coworkers and I have been going over leads that could help us identify the killer. Aidan Drake's figured out how he gets into the house by disarming the security system and resetting it. Katherine Starr paid GrifSec a visit to find the leak and is trying to narrow down who's connected to the crimes. I did some cross-referencing in the Witches' Hammer from some of the messages "Michael" left behind. Our killer's definitely an Inquisitor wannabe with some ties to Oberon. Like I said, we're wanting to work with you to stop the fucker."

As for Mary, the Christmas Devil's reveal about her made things click into place. Her being a member of the Hong Kong Special Task Force made her wonder why she simply hadn't introduced herself to someone who was technically an ally and saved the melodrama for the soap opera.

[Karl the Mad]

So much for a low profile, Mary thought sourly, rolling her eyes. "If that's the way of it," she muttered, undoing the coat and letting it fall. Beneath it she wore her typical out-and-about outfit, the Dead or Alive-worthy leathers that she was so oddly attached to. While the others regrouped she pulled her gear back on, pulling a pair of skin-tight black climbing gloves from the duffel bag and and pulling them on; there was a faint whirr, they shrank around her skin and then settled into place, looking for all the world like her skin had turned black and slightly rubbery. No fingerprints, of course. She gave Aislinn a disdainful look. "Retired, please."

Charles of course heard the demon, and chuckled as he strode on up. "Sure 'n I do too. .22 varmint gun, 'er was. Shame they threw 'er out though."

Preston, typically, was lurking unobtrusively behind Aidan, wanting to avoid notice as much as he could.