10/18/2003

02:14 AM

Logfile from Chase.

 

The Hard Rock Cafe

It's much darker inside, where the steady beat of some rock music is constantly being piped into the room via artfully hidden speakers. The walls are filled with records, pictures and music sheets of famous songs and singers. Here and there is the additional musical instrument, protected behind glass cases. The guitars of Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen and 'The Artist formerly called Prince' are among the prized possessions here.

The main area is a set of two platforms, one inside the other, where tables are set up following a square shape. They are all wooden with various stickers affixed to their surface. The bar is off to the side, a few leather stools serving as seats for the people in that section.

Amefuri and Urumiya are here.

Obvious exits:

Exit

 

It's not a date.  A date would suggest something more than 'friends with privileges'.  But Darren is buying Mina dinner, which is a sneaky way of making her eat.  Not a cheap way to make her eat, but whatever works.  Besides, the Hard Rock is a great place to get out, relax, enjoy the mood of the place.  For his part, Darren is dressed like a pop star in his own right.  Sleek leather pants, lovely silk shirt, perfectly groomed hair, and even some utterly functionless style-shades.  "..with bacon, but without onions.  And..oh, an order of nachos to start?  Thanks..."  There.  The order has been placed.  Now, they just have to sit and amuse themselves for an hour or so.  Woo?

 

When Mina got home, the last thing she was expecting was to go out on the town, but Darren's right.  She needs to get out more.  So she spiffed herself up some to match the other seishi's smart attire.  She'd chosen a soft black cashmere sweater with a scooped neckline that just hints at cleavage over a red and black plaid knee-length skirt, cut on the bias.  Knee-high black pleather boots complete the ensemble, her nod to fall fashion.  She can't help but sing ~o/I wear my sunglasses at night, so I can, so I can.../o~  Really, it had to be done what with the Genbu wearing his.  Sobering, she looks abashed as she shares, "...Anou... I saw Rathan again today."

 

It isn't coincidence that Chase is popping into the Hard Rock at this moment. Nope, not when you have that nifty ability to find certain people in a crowd, including Darren and Mina... apparently together. Pushing through the door, he neatly sidesteps a few people near the entrance 'til locating where they are,  only to nearly break to a halt at the sight of the pair of them. He takes a moment to let that sink in before bouncing up, "Not interrupting anything, am I?"

 

They aren't sunglasses, though!  They're cool faintly-blue-tinted specs!  Very...umm.. nevermind.  Darren quirks a grin at his companion, even when she kinda apologizes.  "Is that right?  He's still behaving himself, isn't he?"  See, as long as Rathan doesn't get all 'psychotic ex-boyfriend', Darren actually isn't too concerned.  Then Chase pops in.  To catch Mina and Darren in a datelike setting despite the non-dateness of the..um...date-thing...  "Heya, Chase!  Nah, nah.  Care to join us?" he offers.  See?  If it was a date, he wouldn't have invited.  So it's not a date!  Jeez!

 

Thankful for the interruption, Mina shakes her head and smiles at Chase.  "Iie, not at all Chase-kun.  'Miya was just treating me to dinner.  And if you bat your lashes at him, I'm sure he'd treat you as well," she adds with a giggle, hiding her smile behind her hand.  She's been making progress, day by day, and finally feels like she's getting back to normal.  Of course today could just be one of the good days, with a setback just around the corner.  But right now she's living from moment to moment, she has to or else it just becomes all too overwhelming.  Grinning again, she just shakes her head, "Well, obviously one of us doesn't have to bat their lashes to get a free meal around here."  Patting the seat next to her, she scoots over before nodding her head.  "Hai.  We're going to go punish some frat boys together," she announces happily.

 

Chase chuckles faintly, and then shrugs his shoulders, "Bat my eyelashes at him? He'd probably fall into a swoon, and there where would we be? Although, that just means I could get at his wallet easier. Or I could try one of those Vulcan sleeper holds he is so good at." Smirk, and then smarmy grin follows before the teen drops down onto the seat, only to slump back. "Punish some... eh?" Okay, that one just went right over his head, which really isn't all that difficult.

Darren snorts and waggles a finger at Chase.  "Unless you can forge my signature, you need me conscious."  Plastic is fun. He does give Mina an odd look, and wonders, "Punish frat boys?  Who and why are you punishing them?  I mean, I'm sure they deserve it, but..."  But if he's going to be called to the police station to pick up his friend, he'd like to be prepared, that's all.  When the waitress swings past to refill glasses, she takes the arrival of a third customer in stride, and offers to get Chase a menu and/or a drink.  Darren purses his lips and waits until she's gone again before asking, "How've you been, Chase?  I've been kinda out of touch for a few weeks."  Hardly anything new for 'Miya, but this time he's got a valid excuse!

 

"Vulcan sleeper hold?"  Mina blinks from one Genbu to the other confusedly.  "Do I... do I even want to know?"  Probably not.  So she focuses on the second statement, waiting until the waitress is gone to explain.  "Hai, hai, Chase-kun, Rath and I are going to punish some frat boys.  It seems that they've been targeting some young women, ganging up on them and... raping them," she finishes with a abhorred whisper.  "Rath didn't know if he wanted to get involved or not, demo we can't just let them get away with it, ne?  So I told him that I... that I'd pose as bait and we could teach them a lesson."  She looks awful proud of herself at this solution.  And at the fact that she and Rathan are working together.  And that she had a conversation with the oni that didn't involve her dissolving into a tearful puddle.  All in all, a very good day.  Top it off with a free dinner with her two favorite Genbu and she's doing quite well for herself.  Thus the cheerful mood.

 

Chase nods to the waitress, ordering something or another that more than likely involves no animal matter whatsoever. Gotta be good with the Byakko present. "I'm... fine," he eases. He peers at Darren for a moment, wondering if Anana has been telling him anything about some fairly recent events. "I..." Wait. What did Mina just say. He blinks, peering back over at her, "Rath? As in that rat oni bastard that..." Watch your language, boy. "Why are you talking to him?"

 

The hairs on the back of your neck prickle and a shiver runs down your spine as every sensitive person in New York City experiences a brief moment of vertigo.  Those with a bit more sensitivity (Chi Sense of 2 or more) can tell that there was some sort of disturbance originating from somewhere in the Village, but the feeling passes too quickly to determine an exact location or the nature of the disturbance.  Anyone with a Chi Sense of 3 or more can actually trace the momentary disturbance to the vicinity of Washington Square and its side streets; these extremely sensitive individuals can also describe the sensation in more detail.  It wasn't a surge of chi, such as the one that occurred about a week ago.  Rather, it was more of a chi... vacuum.  As if a metaphysical sinkhole developed and part of the mystical fabric of New York caved in.

 

Darren gives Mina a less amused look, concern pretty much visible all over his face.  "You're going to be bait for a bunch of idiot rapists?" he repeats quietly, trying to make sure he's got it right.  He isn't at all sure he likes the idea.  For a variety of reasons.  But Mina is capable of handling herself, and /needs/ to regain her self-confidence.  He makes a little face and sighs softly.  "Just be careful, Mina-chan.  If anything happens to you, I'm holding Rathan responsible, alright?  I don't want you getting hurt."  Again.

 

"Because he's my friend, Chase-kun," Mina blinks over at the Genbu curiously.  "He... he said he still wanted to be friends and he's never lied to me.  I... he's my friend," she repeats again, softly, stubbornly.  She doesn't mind if others eat meat, Chase should remember that, it's only that she chooses not to.  She's not a militaristic vegetarian, she would never consider converting her friends or family.  Heck, if she tried, her father would throw her out on her rump so fast she'd be walking silly for days.  After all, he's a cattle rancher.  Made for an interesting childhood for the girl who could talk to the animals.  "Hai 'Miya," she smiles beatifically for the other seishi.  Finally, someone who remembers that she's a shichiseishi as well.  That she can take care of herself.  So what if she's been doing a miserable job of it lately?  "Demo, you don't need to worry, nothing'll happen."  Famous last words.

 

Chase gapes at Darren for a moment, and then turns his head to give Mina that very same expression. "Rathan... he... he wants you too..." Somehow, the boy simply cannot wrap his mind around that, about a million protests rising to his lips. "How can you even think about-" Of course, that would be at about the moment when that chi wave suddenly hits him. His eyes flash open, only to wince shut as one of the worst feelings of vertigo yet overtakes him. And lets just say that this seishi has plenty of experience with that sort of thing. He lets out a breath very slowly, almost sounding as though he is going to be sick, fighting hard for consciousness.

 

Darren knows better than to argue against something Mina /wants/ to do.  She and Anana are alike in their stubbornness.  And the way they have him wrapped around their little fingers.  Le sigh.  "Tell me that when you come home safely, Mina-chan."  There's that endearment again.  He's slipping.  But he's also distracted by Tomite trying not to wretch all over the table.  Ew.  "Dude..." A word Urumiya never uttered.  "You alright?  Chase?"  Even as he asks, he's half-rising, and scanning the restaurant with quick eyes.  It is not beyond the realm of possibility for some disgruntled oni to strike in such a crowded place, and it would be foolish for them all to let their guards down.

 

Mina flushes slightly at the endearment, dropping her eyes to the table before being distracted by Chase's reaction, one that she knows wells because she'd seen in once before not too long ago.  Wrapping her arms around Chase to steady him, she winces in sympathetic pain for the Genbu.  "Chase-kun," she asks with a soft whisper, not wanting to exacerbate his headache, because it looks darn painful.  "It's... it's his chi sense," she explains in the same quiet voice to Darren.  "I think... I think we should try to get him back to his place.  Maybe stop by a Duane Reade store on the way for some Excedrin..."  She runs concerned fingers through the seishi's dark hair as she nibbles on her lower lip.  She'd never seen him hit so hard.  "Chase-kun, are you... are you okay?"

 

Mina's phone begins to ring.

Mina picks up her phone.

 

<Phone> "Moshi moshi," Mina answers her phone distractedly, shuffling her position slightly so that she's supporting Chase with one hand while the other fumbles for the phone.  "Rath?!  Rath, is that you?  What... are you okay?"  Oh damn, bad timing, bad bad timing.

 

Chase lifts a hand up, pressing it to his forehead, feeling the sweat that suddenly broke out, but a little to concerned with trying to keep his head together right now. He takes a few more breaths, trying to steady himself, even as his eyes remain slammed shut. "I... no. I need to go there. Now." He missed whatever it was last time, this time he has every intention of getting there as soon as possible. "It's different... the fucking Yin." A shiver takes his form as he tries to push up from the booth, but still looking none too steady.

 

Darren sighs softly and slides up to his feet for real.  Bad timing indeed.  The food hasn't even come yet.  But the two bills he leaves on the table will more than make up for the inconvenience.  "C'mon, then," He offers his arm to help his friend up.  "Mina-chan..."  Even if she's on the phone, it's time to go.  Time to get moving.  He can support Chase with one side and help Mina up with the other hand.  He's talented, no?  "Where are they?"

 

<Phone> "Toshie's number?"  Mina looks over towards Chase worriedly before turning her attention back to the conversation.  "Iie, she never gave it to me Rath... I..."  Damn, she's torn.  "Where are you?"  She covers the phone's receiver, watching both Genbu worriedly.  "Go there?  Go where, Chase-kun?"  Oh, really, really bad timing.  Looking over at Darren, she licks her lips, uncertainty swimming in her gaze before it strengthens and she nods her head.  "Hai, we'll both go."  Duty comes first.  It always has.  Removing her hand, she sighs softly, "I think another oni would have it though, Rath.  I... I have to go.  I'll call you later, okay?  To make sure that you got a hold of her."  Mina doesn't want to do that, hates putting duty before friends, but she must.  Trembling slightly because she's got a bad feeling about the timing of it all, she tries to steady herself on Darren, relying on his strength once again.

 

Chase mutters something under his breath, waving off the pair of them with a shrug to try to slip from their hands. "It's not the park again.... V... Village. I think." He can still feel it. "Genbu, I'm gonna be sick." Be he gives himself another moment to gather his senses together, and then starts for the door, one hand still pressed to his head. "It was... it was like it just fucking sucked all the chi right out of... everything. Uhhhh." If there ever was something to make him feel sick and at such a rate, that'd be it. "I'm leaving."

 

Washington Square

The buildings are of average height in this part of the city and the streets are narrow and filled to overflowing. But this particular area boasts of one open space. Washington Square Park covers approximately four city blocks with greenery and benches, and a place in the village to sit and contemplate nature. Several points of interest can be found here. In the northwest corner of the park is an elm tree that legend proports was once a hanging tree, which gives it its current nickname, "Hangman's Elm." The tall marble archway that heralds this part of town stands tall and proud, made in commemoration of the centenntial Washington's Inauguration, its design based on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Surrounding the park are a variety of residential buildings, as well as dorms and classroom buildings of the sprawling New York University. More often than not, the relatively residential area is filled with students, ranging from the cleancut law school kids, to the magenta-haired liberal arts rebels.

Toroki and Amefuri are here.

Obvious exits:

E. Houston St. (EA)   W. 4th St. (WE)   NY University

 

Minai pauses in front of the window, sniffing with a wrinkle of her nose. It pays to stay in feline form for now, as it makes going inside much easier than squeezing even her own lanky human form through. The place looks dangerous and brings back far too many bad memories for the child-seishi, but curiosity was always a cat's downfall as she finally decides to leap through the broken window and take a look in the condemned building that bad blood and waste smell.

 

<Phone> "Rathan?!  Rathan?!"  Mina practically screams into the phone as it goes silent, but not because the line's been disconnected.  "Damn it, where are you?  Rath... Chuei-chan," she sobs worriedly into the receiver.  She holds the phone close as she follows Chase out of the restaurant.  The Village.  As the Genbu explains the feeling, she breaths a little sigh of relief.  Not Rath then.  Rath can't do that.  But it doesn't change the fact that the oni didn't sound too good on the phone.  Damn, why did he call her?  Her hands are tied.  She doesn't even know any of the other oni's numbers... crap, Sebastian was a Homasubi, too, ne?  And then they're disconnected because of the subway, leaving Mina to panic slightly and grab for Chase's hand.  And then she's redialing the number as soon as they resurface again.

 

Thank goodness for feline agility, because Minai's landing would be very unpleasant otherwise.  The floor of this mostly-empty bedroom is littered with splinters of wood, presumably from the door that likely used to hang on the now-shattered doorframe leading further into the basement apartment.  The smell of death has grown /much/ stronger now that she is inside.

 

Chase isn't paying a whit of attention to Mina and her dialing, which is probably both a good and a bad thing. He continues through the streets, also not checking to see if she is even following along with him. They move ever closer to the area of the disturbance, at least by Chase's way of tracking such a thing. "Mina? You still here?"

 

Tomite's exceedingly acute sensitivity to the metaphysical flows of energy enable him to easily 'taste' the residual aftereffects of a massive drainage of chi from this area of New York.  The flows of energy have been considerably depleted, with almost all energy drained from the area just northwest of the park, covering an entire city block, but the locus of the effect seems to be an abandoned tenement building standing about ten stories high, with a 'Condemned' placard clearly displayed.  As they arrive, it's possible that Tomite or Amefuri might even catch the briefest glimpse of a small fuzzy creature crawling into the building by squeezing through the bars on a basement-level window and jumping through a broken windowpane.

 

Minai's ears have flattened against her head, sensing death here. The young cat pads very gingerly around as she investigates, looking for whoever it is that is dead, and as importantly, whoever or whatever it is that caused this. No normal animal would hang around such a place filled with such miasma, but she can't help herself as she creeps about, tense and agitated. Being nearly right on top of the disturbance makes her just a little hairtrigger and bristly.

 

Mina keeps getting sent to Rathan's voicemail, which isn't helping things much.  "H-hai," she whispers, following closely behind Chase, giving up and slipping her phone back into her jacket pocket.  Her outfit, which was nice for going out, certainly wasn't made for dashing across town suddenly.  Timing.  Byakko's really peeved at her, it seems.  Really, really peeved.  She blinks as they draw up in front of the condemned building, blinking slightly.  "In there...?  It... it doesn't look too safe, Chase-kun."  Nibbling on her lip again, she debates summoning a small shikigami but one glance at Chase stops that idea.  The last thing the boy needs to do is suffer from another small chi surge.  "Think we can get in, then?"

 

Chase doesn't at all like that feeling of an absence of chi, far too used to feeling it all around him as it is. It gives him the shivers, to go with the headache to beat all headaches. He finally pays more attention to where exactly they are, squinting as he looks to the building. "Here? Nice place to put a drain." Wry. "We'll get it." It is times like these that he really does bless Sayu's foresight at giving him a lock picking kit for a present. Such a nice girlfriend.

 

The source of the smell is obvious to the cat as soon as Toroki picks her way over the splintered remains of the door and enters what used to be the living room of the apartment.  All this room contains are the shattered remains of a loveseat; the mangled remnants of an old but very sturdy steel-frame bed and ratty mattress -- with a pair of handcuffs latched to each of the four corners of the destroyed bed frame; a video camera and tripod, knocked unceremoniously to the ground and shattered; and gore.  Blood and less pleasant fluids are on the floor, the walls, even the ceiling, and two of the four walls have had numerous basketball-sized holes punched through them.  Judging by the number of identifiable limbs, there likely had been three or four living people in this room recently.  All of them are quite dead now, though.

 

For those yet on the outside... The old apartment building itself has been closed for some time now, the posted signs advising that trespassing is illegal, the building has been closed for multiple code violations, and renovations will begin in 2002 -- obviously, no such work has begun yet.  The front door is locked, but the lock is new and well-oiled, unlike the rest of the rundown building.  The first-floor windows are all barred, and the bars, although rusty, are still quite strong.

 

The one thing her senses aren't telling her, is whether or not there's anything alive in the chamber of horrors that she just entered. Toroki's fur stands on end again as she eyes the body parts, gore, and all. A loud unhappy yowl escapes her as she freezes in her tracks for a moment. Ah, the video camera. Perhaps there will be information in that thing. For this, she changes back to human form, looking somewhat shell shocked, but her expression is blank as she tries to avoid stepping in anything too nasty while reaching for the camera.

 

"A drain?"  Mina has no idea what Chase is talking about, and it shows on her face.  Yay for chi sense 0.  Still, the place is enough to give her the creeps, the small hairs on the back of her neck and arms standing on end.  Unfortunately she doesn't have a lock-picking kit, and even if she did, she wouldn't know what to do with it.  So she relies on Chase to get them into the building, watching his back as he does so, making sure that all sorts of nasties don't sneak up on them.  And making sure that she can give him ample warning if anyone starts down the street.  The last thing they'd need is to be caught breaking into a condemned building.  The yowl has Mina jumping and looking over her shoulder.  Creepy.  She reaches out with her mind to try to sense the animal that made the noise, but comes up empty.  A few curious alley cats rummaging in trash cans, but neither of them was the originator of that noise.

 

The young seishi in the basement can avoid the worst of the mess, but almost every square inch of the floor has at least some bodily fluid spattered across it.  The camera itself is beyond repair, and the VHS cassette has been cracked almost in half, but...  Yes, there's a but.  But the actual tape inside the cassette looks relatively undamaged, at least to the untrained eye.

 

Chase slips over to the building, approaching the front door with a frown. Naturally, he first tries the knob, but when that doesn't work, the lock picking kit is brought out. He works on the lock, once more praising Sayuri... let alone the fact that he actually has the little cloth bundle with him. "You okay, Mina? You can go home if you are having problems with this."

 

The lock may be new, but it's not very complicated.  Even an amateur could pick it, given a bit of time.  Once the door is open, the dusty, disused entry hall will be revealed.  Dusty except for the path from entrance to downward staircase, where the scuffed floor has been wiped clean of most debris by the frequent passage of feet in the recent past.

 

Minai shudders as she bends down to work the tape out of the camera, trying to touch as little of it as possible. Carefully, she tucks it into her jacket before trying to take a look for what else might have caused this horror. This is no place for a kid, even one as jaded and dangerous as Toroki. Hearing a sound from above as the door is opened, she tenses, but her senses tell her that those are familiar presences arriving. "M-Mina?" It is testimony to just how bad this scene is to her from the way the chibi's voice warbles.

 

"Iie, I'm a seishi, Chase-kun.  I've got your back."  Which Mina means to be comforting.  Whether it is or not, now that's another matter.  "I'm not going to leave you."  Though her mind is clamoring with questions and worry.  Worry for Darren.  Worry for Rathan.  Especially worry for Rathan.  As the Genbu unlocks the door, she congratulates him quietly, just an impressed smile and a pat on the back.  Chase, it seems, is in his element.  The Byakko follows his lead down the well-worn path, stands to reason that it's the way that they should head first, ne?  But then she's hearing a familiar voice, one that has her racing down the stairs without regard for her own safety.  "Ai-chan," she calls, racing into the basement room and skidding to a halt, aghast at the scene that greets her.  Covering her mouth with a hand, she closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths before focusing on the chibi, opening her arms.  "Ai-chan..."

 

The stairway leading down is old, but sturdy, and empties out in front of two doors.  One closed, the other slightly ajar.  From the partially open doorway comes the fragrant stench of blood and death.  Beyond the door lies the nightmare that Minai currently stands amidst -- the slaughterhouse living room, with three other doorways exiting from it.  One leads to the empty bedroom through which Minai entered, the second leads to a full bathroom remarkably devoid of anything except a couple rolls of toilet paper and an old hand towel, while the third provides access to the kitchenette... where the cabinets are empty and the appliances have long since been removed.  Obviously, whatever this apartment was used for did not include meal preparation.

 

Chase does get that door unlocked, much to his appreciation. He tucks the kit back away, and then moves to quickly step up near to Mina. He frowns, looking around, his gaze sweeping the area to look at this and that. "Another Byakko?" he frowns, glancing askance to Mina for a moment.

 

Minai rushes to Mina instinctively, shaken enough to run to her even despite their more recent animosity. "Mina!" The chibi clings to her sister seishi with a muffled sob, thin frame trembling slightly. This is not the reaction of the rough and tough little streetbrat, but the girl who thought that she'd be able to put this sort of ugliness behind her. Peering at Chase too with vague recollection of the other seishi, she starts babbling. "I just go here. Found all this in here. I've no idea what happened here!" Even in tiger mode, this sort of terrible slaughter isn't something Toroki would cause.

 

"Hai, Chase-kun, this is Minai... Toroki.  Ai-chan, this is Chase, Tomite."  Terrible place to make introductions, but Mina falls into the habit easily, trying to distract them all from what surrounds them.  If she focuses too much on what little remains, she would double over and lose what little she'd eaten today.  The urge is still strong, but she keeps telling the others that she's a seishi.  Now she'll prove it.  "We need to call Lee and Brice and get them here, pronto.  Ai-chan, you didn't tamper with the scene did you?"  Ye gods, this is a bloody mess.  "Damn it, our footprints and fingerprints are probably all over the place."  Which means their prime suspects now.  She can't worry about that now.  Lowering herself to look at the chibi, she asks softly, "Ai-chan, shhh... shhhh... no one thinks that you did this.  The important thing is whether or not you're okay.  Are you okay?"

 

Chase continues to look over the area, frowning with concentration. "Careful what you touch," he murmurs. He eyes Minai for a moment, pursing his lips slightly, and then going back to examining the site. "Yeah, we need to get one of them. Brice'll want to see this too." He winces slightly, not at bringing aniki into this, but more the raging headache in his head. "I need to go sit down," he murmurs, slipping back to the hall for a moment.

 

"Found a tape in the camera. It looks broken though. Maybe they can find something on it still?" Minai offers tentatively. "Should I not have taken it?" The kid isn't exactly experienced with stumbling across crime scenes. She's more used to fleeing from crime scenes. >.> "This isn't exactly a normal sort of... murder. Something really really bad happened here." She eyes the bed with a shudder. "More than once probably."

 

"You try Brice, I'll try Lee," Mina suggests, watching the Genbu worriedly.  "Are you all right, Chase-kun?  You rest, I'll try to contact the boys."  She's going to have to start carrying aspirin around with her to force-feed the other seishi.  One would think that he'd carry around his own, but nooo... he has to be a stubborn man about it all. 

 

Snuggling Minai close, she shakes her head.  "Iie, it's okay.  I'll call Lee and Brice and they'll help us, okay?"  She follows the chibi's gaze towards the bed and shudders again.  "Let's go and join Chase-kun in the hallway, okay?"  Because she doesn't want the little girl to have to look at the carnage more than she already has.  Fishing out her phone, she quickdials Lee and gets his voicemail.  Growling, she tries Brice next.

 

Mina begins to dial her phone.

 

Chase waves a hand vaguely at the two girls, moving to lean up against the wall of the hallway, and then simply sliding down it 'til he is sitting upon the floor. Yeah, he'll just rest here now, try to keep his head together.

 

Minai has seen carnage before, but 'Ai-chan' has not. She lets Mina take her out of that room, the smell was really plaguing her imagination as it was, something much harder to escape. But eyeing Chases's pain, she frowns and tries to pull herself together. "Your head hurts?" the littlest healer asks, disengaging from Mina just enough to reach out with a hand to try and soothe the ache of chi-burned senses.

 

<Phone> "Brice?!  Hi, it's Mina... can you... can you come to where we are?"  She quickly rattles off the address before pausing, taking a shuddering breath, she adds, "It's... it's not good here, Brice.  Grab Lee if you can find him, though I tried his mobile and he's not picking up.  I... I think we're in tr-"  She pauses, looking down at Minai.  "We need some help.  We stumbled across a crime scene."  She sits down against the wall, watching Minai soothe Chase's poor battered head.

 

Chase mmmmmms softly as he feels the ache in his head ease somewhat. He smiles rather thankfully to Minai, cracking open his eyes to look at the young girl for the moment. "I remember you now. Down at the docks."

Hikitsu comes into the area from elsewhere.

Mina hangs up her phone.

 

Minai lets her hand drop after a moment, though she does pat Tomite on the head before nestling back against Mina. That's scary, using Amefuri of all people as some sort of secure safety point. "Yeah, remember you too. Now. You felt that... bad thing too? It was gone by the time I got here from uptown. I followed the smell here though." The kid shudders again, purposefully not looking back into the room of horrors.

Hanging up her phone with a sigh, Mina leans back against the wall. 

There's nothing to be done but wait for Brice, she doesn't want to go into that gruesome room again if she doesn't have to.  The need to hold herself together wears off and she starts to tremble, shock finally settling in.  Wrapping her arms around the chibi, she tries to distract herself with the conversation around her, quirking up a wavering grin.  "Down at the docks?  Do I even want to ask why you were in need of healing down there, Chase-kun?"  You know so she can use it against him for all eternity.

 

Chase smirks faintly from where he sits in the hallway just outside of the room, on the ground and leaned up against the wall. "Felt it? I almost got sick all over Mina's lap," he mutters, flickering a glance askance at Minai. "Lucky for her, I hadn't ate yet, otherwise she'd probably be real pissed at me." His eyes drift shut though, wincing just the slightest. "I don't like that feeling of... everything being sucked away." He cracks open his eyes though to peer at Mina, "I... why do you always think it is me? I wasn't doing anything."

 

Minai isn't quite the sensitive that Chase is, which is quite a relief to her. The heightened senses as a feline made the smell of death and blood bad enough, she didn't need the mystical mess on top of that either. "Nah, just ran across each other once, that's all." she murmurs to Mina, pointedly not trying to think of what's lying all over the other room.

 

Cops can get anywhere they need to practically, and Brice definitely wasn't going to loiter around after hearing Mina's tone of voice. So he makes it as quickly as he can down to Washington Square, looking for the address given and finally recognizing it as the derelict building and pushing open the door - gun drawn. He's not taking chances. "Mina? You there?" He listens for a second, then steps in and makes his way down the hall, noting the tinge of blood in the air. Once his eye has adjusted to the gloom he makes out the three shapes and no one else, so he stuffs his gun away for the moment and goes to the group. "Are you all all right?" Check the sanity of the living first, the dead aren't going anywhere right now.

 

"You keep asking me that," Mina teases, poking him lightly in the shoulder.  See, she's good.  No tickling the poor abused aching seishi this evening.  "And I keep telling you the same thing.  Because it usually involves you, ne?"  Of course, the same could be said for Mina as well, but she's willing to overlook that little hypocrisy.  "Ai-chan, you came in here in cat form, ne?"  That's going to confuse the mortal officers to no end.  "I bet that you can get out the same way... we'll just have Brice cover up whatever tracks you've made so far."  It's awkwardly stated, but this is Mina's attempt to protect the chibi.  "Brice," she calls up towards the first floor, relieved.  "We're down here."  At his question, she nods her head tiredly.  "Hai, hai, I think we are.  Chase has a bit of a chi hangover, but other than that, we're fine."  She unwillingly lets her gaze go towards the partially open door.  "It's... it's in there," she adds hoarsely, tightening her hold on Minai slightly.

 

Chase looks up as Brice enters, but doesn't remove himself from the floor. "I... don't know what happened. But... it was another... don't know how to describe it. All the chi simply got sucked out of here, felt gawd-fucking-awful." But he didn't get sick! That's a good thing. "I didn't look too close in there." A gesture to the room.

Minai has an easy solution like Mina says. All she has to do is 'go kitty' and hide in Mina's hair or something to be taken home. Wordlessly, she pulls the tape out from her jacket and hands it over to Brice as he comes down towards them. Then as quietly, her slight form shrinks down into a small fluffy white half grown cat that clings to Mina's leg.

 

Brice heads down the stairs, careful not trip over anything, and has to skae his head from the even stronger smell of blood at the bottom. Poor Minai's nose must be trying to shut down right now. He kneels in front of the small group, trying to judge their state as best he can in the dim light. "All right... what happened? Was it something like what happened in the part last night?" He reaches out and puts a hand on Mina's shoulder, glancing at Chase. "Are you all right to get upstairs? I want you three to go up there and stay up there, in case something's in there and in case something we don't want tries to come in the front door." He glances down at what Toroki hands him, then decides he'll ask later and stashes it in a pocket before standing again and drawing the gun once more. "Go upstairs and wait for me. I couldn't get Lee. If I yell, Chase, you come down and Mina, you watch the entrance. Minai, be ready to run for help just in case." Here goes nothing... He pushes open the door and goes inside.

 

Mina moves the chibi-neko closer, cradling her on her lap and she gazes wearily at Brice.  "None of us got a really good look, but it was like that when we got here."  She's hoping that they don't have to go in right away and give their statements, but it's a slim hope.  And geez, what are they going to say, 'We were in the area, got this need to break into an old derelict building and found this whole scene?'  Somehow that sounds rather flimsy, even to her.  Stroking gentle fingers over the kitten's head and spine, she leans back and closes her eyes.  "Can we at least drop Minai off at the Penthouse before we go in for questioning, Brice?  She's been through enough, I think.  'Suna and Dylan would be the best thing for her right now, ne?"  Nodding, she gathers up the kitten and starts to head upstairs, towards the entrance.  To keep watch.

 

Does that mean that he has to get up off the floor now? But he just got here, dang it. Chase squints after Brice, looking none too pleased. While he'd like nothing more than to go to sleep and try to get rid of this queasy feeling, the boy does climb to his feet after a moment, and with no intention of going upstairs. He instead follows after Brice.

 

[FTIMsg] Homasubi paged you with: Homasubi says, "Same thing I mentioned to Brice... Nothing will attack you, no one's hiding, and there are no other obvious signs of anything unusual.  Except some fragments of rock mixed in with the bone shards and splintered loveseat."

 

Aww, shit, Chase - but really he expected it. Still not taking chances, Brice does the classic cop-edging-around-the-door thing, gun going first so he can shoot if necessary, followed by his head and finally his body. And then when he sees it... He's glad Chase is there, very, very glad, because that gives him something to hold onto. That's just... too much for words. One of Brice's hands goes instinctively to Chase's shoulder and grips hard, the one holding the gun falling uselessly to his side as all he can do is stare. "Oh... Christ..." No, this is not good... at all. And, amazingly, Brice instinctively crosses himself before letting go of the otouto and heading into the room, steeling his nerves against the sights.

 

Chase reaches up to rub at his eyes before following after Brice. He doesn't quite enter the room, but remains at the entrance way. He remains there as he is gripped, only to flick a glance over his shoulder to where Mina and kitty Minai are. He leans against the side of the doorway, looking at Brice more that the sight of the room. "I don't know, but this is where it all happened. The chi thing. I'm fairly sure of it."

 

[FTIMsg] Homasubi paged you with: Homasubi says, "Almost imperceptibly, chi is seeping back into the area, gradually replacing the ambient energy that almost every location possesses.  But it still feels like an uncomfortably empty void, metaphysically speaking."

 

A quick glance around the room, quick plea to something that Chase'll know if anything's coming after them, and Brice puts his gun away and kneels in one of the very few places of clean floor, pulling plastic gloves out of a pocket. Never go to a crime scene without them. "Whoever did this is an absolutely sick, deranged bastard." He glances around, wishing for some light, then pulls off his patch and sets the symbol a-glowin' so he can better see what he's doing. "Hmm... Can you feel any chi now? Is it coming back into the area?" The blood hasn't solidified yet, so a dark spot catches his eye among the strangely green blood and bone, and he reaches for it. "What the... rocks?" Oh no...

 

Chase doesn't quite cross into the room yet, nor is he really intending to at the moment. He knows the need to keep a scene pristine rather well. Can't get any clues if people start messing around in it. "There is more here now then when we first got here. More energy. Before, there wasn't hardly anything... now it is coming back."

 

Brice shakes his head, rising to his feet and carefully peeling off the gloves. Not another one... Oh, Lee's going to be pissed he missed this... But wait, wouldn't he have felt it if it was a chi disappearance like last time? Or is it exactly like last time? "Chase, how similar is this to what happened in the park? The exact same sensations chi-wise, or different?" He's gotten control of himself again, and he carefully steps out of the room, not looking closely at anything and making sure not to touch anything else. "This is too big for just me to handle. I'll call the station and have them send a team out here, they can contain everything until our department can get back." And maybe some of the profilers - could they have a serial killer on their hands?

 

[FTIMsg] Homasubi paged you with: Homasubi says, "The park was more like in influx of chi gathering chaotically, perhaps gathering /into/ something, before settling back down rather suddenly.  This was more like the chi in the area being siphoned away, or eaten."

[

FTIMsg] Homasubi paged you with: Homasubi says, "And with the lack of chi here, you can't tell if there's a yin or yang taint."

 

"It is... different," Chase murmurs after a moment of thought. "Before, it was like everything just suddenly came together. Like a surge. Here... it all disappeared, was sucked away." He doesn't much like either though. One nearly have him a pounding headache, and this one had him feeling sick as anything to go with that headache as well. "I'll make sure Mina and Minai get out of here then... before the troops arrive. Alright?"

 

Folding the gloves into a small ball, bloody sides inside, Brice sticks them in a pocket and extracts a cell phone, flipping it open. "Exactly the opposite, huh?" He's still not sure he likes that explanation. He shakes his head to get his thoughts back together, then starts to punch in a phone number. "Take the girls home, but you three better stay where I can find you tomorrow. Lee or I will come by to get your statements - we can find some way to fudge most of your involvement out of existence, at least as far as paperwork goes." Putting the phone to his ear, Brice nods at the otouto, putting a hand on his shoulder again. "You keep an eye open on the way home, and call me if anything else happens. I'll wait until they get here, then come back to your place." To check up on him, but that's going unsaid. "You better get out of here and get far away. Make sure no one sees you coming out."