2020-05-30 - Blown Up, Sir!

Summary:

Koas office gets blown up.

Log Info:

Storyteller: None
Date: Sat May 30 03:45:53 2020
Location: New York

Related Logs

None

Theme Song

None

keikokoa-turner

When the days are cold and the cards all fold and the saints we see are all made of gold.
When your dreams all fail and the ones we hail are the worst of all and the blood's run stale.
I want to hide the truth, I want to shelter you, but with the beast inside there's nowhere we can hide.
No matter what we breed we still are made of greed. This is my kingdom come, this is my kingdom come.

Koa is sitting in his office - the one that ISNT at the Triskelion - playing his ukulele. He hasn't done it in a while but it comes back to him like an old friend. He's got some artifacts that needed authentication in front of him and a couple of SHIELD casefiles. Also a half empty tumbler and a bottle of vodka. He's been playing for a few hours now, long enough that the shadows of the afternoon have lengthened and it is now getting a bit dark in his office. He sits up, reaches for the lamp switch and flicks it.

Boom.

Keiko knew that Koa would be out of the office today attending to things that are important to his ability to do WAND work, specifically his network of connections that his artifact business gives him. So she won't have been surprised when he wasn't in his WAND office today. But she will be surprised when her phone goes off. "Kurita, it's Turner. There's been an explosion at his office."

Koa stumbles out of the burning wreck of the building, covered in soot and coughing. His right arm and side are badly burned and there's a big piece of wood sticking out of his thigh. He stumbles at the entrance to the alley that runs along side his building and reaches back to pull the shard of his desk out of his leg. BANG! The rapport of a gunshot rings out from a nearby rooftop and the brickwork by his head explodes as a bullet misses him by fractions of an inch.

"SHIT!" Koa throws himself to the side and rolls behind a dumpster. He needs to call for backup… crap. His phone. It was in his office.


Keiko gave up trying to read the report that's displayed on her screen about an hour ago. Instead, she's been practicing with knives. Koa probably won't be happy at the splits in the doorframe but Keiko isn't thinking of that as she pulls the blade from the frame again.

Arananet pokes her head up from the tattoo that covers Keiko's wrist and Bella's lupine head rests on her shoulder. "Would you two stop that?" She mutters to the pair, juggling her phone when it rings. "I'm in Turner's office." Is her first reponse before it dawns on her. "Oh. Right. The other office. Was he there?"

Even as she's speaking she heads to the roof top - leaving the knife sticking where it is.

On the roof top, she summons Onyxia - the giant harpy eagle - to her side. "Away, girl." She tells the harpy … it's a horrifying sight, really - head of a woman and body of an eagle. The great bird takes flight and wings its way over the city, Keiko holding the short rod that extends to a staff. Grimacing when the 'collar' that is the skin on neck burns "He's alive at least … " but she knows he's in trouble.

Onyxia wings her way down towards what's left of the office.

Is there a SHIELD team enroute? Um. Keiko's forgotten to ask.


Even from a distance Keiko can see the column of smoke rising from the fire that is now in the building where the office was. And she can hear the gunshots. From her vantage point she can make out a sniper on the roof opposite Koa and see two other teams both moving across rooftops and moving with some kind of jump pack. One of them is helping the sniper lay down fire to keep Koa pinned. The other is moving around to try to catch him and turn the alley into a shooting gallery.

And then Koa moves. He phase-rushes up to the nearby roof and catches sight of the team trying to flank him. Without his weapon - it was on his desk - he does the only thing he can. Tears the AC unit off the building he's on and throws it at the flankers. They scatter and one is caught by the huge mass of metal, but the storm of fire he attracts from every hostile in the area makes him phase-rush for cover again, getting stuck behind a small brickwork machine house that is slowly being eaten away by bullets.


Onyxia screeches as Keiko urges her dive, aiming the the great bird of prey for the sniper. The bird does dive, giant taloned spirit feet extended as Keiko slides from her back and tumbles.

The distraction Onyxia offers is enough for the little WAND agent to call Bella and Cullen in flanking positions. The wolf and the barghest growl low and crouch, watching for an opportunity to take someone down.

"You don't mind if I crash this party, do you?" Keiko asks in that mutt of an accent she has. Straigtening, she extends the rod to a staff and tumbles again, intent on smacking one of snipers to distract them from shooting at Koa.

She'll worry about his use of the beast, later …


The sniper never has a chance to answer her. He's caught up in Onyxia's talons and thrown from the roof of the building screaming. Keiko starts to take fire but then Bella and Cullen appear and make the fire team nearest to her jump pack to the next roof to try to keep ahead of them. One of them switches from the bullpup rifle he's holding to a sidearm and Keiko might notice that the weapon has a 'dangly.' A little pentacle is hanging from a chain off the butt of the pistol and the rounds leave glowing marks where they hit on the building rooftops. He hasn't managed to land a hit on the spirits yet but he might have some kind of enchanted ammunition.

There's a roar from where Koa was hiding and he phase rushes out again. He makes eye contact with Keiko - fully shapeshifted into a bestial shark-wolf shape - and closes the ground rapidly to where the flanking team had scattered to. There's a lot of gunfire and it looks like he's taking hits. But then the screaming starts and Keiko knows that he's closed the distance.

In the meantime someone is shooting at her again. Someone who just jump packed onto the rooftop she's on and opened up on her with another one of those enchanted pistols.


Keiko can see that pistol and the glow runes it leaves when the munitions explodes. She can only hope that Bella and Cullen are clever as they leap to next roof to keep running the group down. They'll either catch them or run them off … if they can avoid being hit that is. They're good at this type of chase, they've been practicing.

The peruvian is about to follow them when the ground about her explodes. The eye contact with Koa is intense - but he's got that bit, she's got her own trouble to worry about.

The staff is swung in a wide arc, intent to either connect with the gunners head or hand. She's like poetry in motion though - as she follows the swing with a tumble. When she comes to her feet, there's wings on her back and her skin is obsidian like armour - her eyes gleam bright yellow. With a growl, she launches herself at the gunner.


As Keiko moves she can feel Cullen take a hit. Not enough to take him out of the fight, but definitely enough to hurt him. It doesn't stop the two hound-like spirits from chasing though and the fire team is forced to give more and more ground to stay ahead of them. Bella catches a straggler and knocks him over. His companions leave him and make for another rooftop.

The team Koa is attacking has scattered and is now shooting at him from all angles. He roars in pain and phase-jumps again, winding up in someone's face, taking their gun and hurling them from the roof before turning to fire it one handed at the others. It's wildly inaccurate but it still makes those remaining seek cover.

Keiko knocks the pistol to the ground, breaking her attacker's wrist. He follows up with a knife but it's a very mundane knife wielded by a mundane man. It glances off her scaled skin and he tries instead for her face. He's good. Expert even. But he's injured and out of his depth now. Indeed the whole group has concluded this and the ones that are still able to do so are falling back, disengaging with great leaps of their jump packs.


Bella savages the straggler she's knocked over. Huge jaws clamping over their neck. Cullen is bleeding - dark ichor weeping from a hole that's been torn in his shoulder. It just makes the Barghest that much more ornery.

Keiko feels the hit on Cullen and grimaces as she's fighting. It's not enough to slow her, but anything stronger will cause the spirits to disapparate and Keiko to be gravely wounded.

The knife scores a hit, drawing a bloody gash across Keiko's face. The small - demoness? - snarls and grabs the hand with the knife, squeezing hard and twisting the arm. It will probably break, but Keiko is beyond caring.

It's amazing what the months of training at SHIELD has done - she was a good fighter before she joined but now … she's better. In one fluid movement, using that arm for leverage, she trips the guy over - coming down on top of him, snarling in his face, the claws that were once her fingers closing over his throat.


There's an odd noise behind her, sort of a woosh and a rhythmic pulsing. Koa arrives on the rooftop, still transformed, claws bloody. He is bleeding from gunshots and burned in several places. His eyes are deep blood red. "Leave him. Need at least one for SHIELD to question."

His voice is rough. It sounds like Koa and yet not like Koa. It's the tone mostly. Koa hasn't ever really been that strident before. Though perhaps that's understandable now. He's been blown up and shot. That'll put anyone in a bad mood.


Keiko is sure the tone is more than that. Or at least she will be later, when she's in her right mind - or as right as it ever is.

Her claws flex, piercing the skin at the attackers neck, drawing blood and it's questionable whether she'll actually do as Koa says. Still snarling, blood pouring down her cheek, the small demon tainted spirit caller breaths in through her nose. "I have your scent your now. My spirits have your scent. I'm going to enjoy hunting you later …."

Bella and Cullen return, both are limping and both are bleeding. Bella whines at Koa and lays at his feet … not pushing her head under his hand like she normally would. Perhaps understandably.

"Who are you. And why did you attack my friend…" Poor Koa. Keiko has barely acknowledged him.


The man coughs blood and works his jaw. Koa reaches down to try to stop him but he has already opened up his hollow tooth. A suicide trick older than Koa. "Your friend is in the way. Hail… Hydra…"

He's dying but he's not dead and there is still time to get more out of him. Interesting that he was equipped to suicide. HYDRA usually isn't. SHIELD has plenty of HYDRA prisoners who can testify to that. That means something has shifted.


"Do you think I will let you go to your maker?" Keiko snarls, sparing a glance for the predatory Koa near her. Bella shifts and nudges the man with her head … acknowledging a more dangerous predator. "I will keep your soul and bind it to my tattooes. Bring you out to play like I do my pets here …" She's completely lying of course. But he probably doesn't know that.

"Tell me what he's in the way of and who sent you … and I'll let you pass. If not …" Keiko bares her fangs and glances down at her chest "You're image will look quite good just there …"

Hydra? That earns Koa another look. They had a case that involved Hydra didn't they?


Koa's form slowly flows off him, leaving him still rather wild looking but at least more human. His hands are still bloody. He doesn't say anything. He knows Keiko is lying but he wants the information she's pressing for.

"Order. World order. No room for aberrations like him. Especially if they won't come to our side…"

He coughs again. He's fading and quickly. The light goes out of his eyes as he rattles out his last few breaths and then expires.

"I think…" Koa says after a minute or so of silence. "That reports of HYDRA's interest in magical things must be accurate…"


Keiko snarls. At the word aberration and at the fact the man has died. "That was … helpful." That's probably the most sarcastic that Koa has ever heard her. Her claws flex before she finally lets go and starts to straighten. "Do we have a necromancer on staff?"

As Keiko dashes a hand across her cheek, smearing blood from side to another, Bella now shoves her head under Koa's hand. Cullen is laying near them, licking his wound. "Good boy, Cullen …" the peruvian, who still looks somewhat demonic, goes to ruffle his ears and check him over.

"No shit, Koa? Were you approached to become part of their team? What they did offer you?"


"Probably. We'll tag him and see if we can get more answers." Won't that be an unpleasant surprise for the suicided gunman. Koa scratches Bella's head and gives Keiko a glare.

"I was not. Stop jumping to conclusions." He glances down at the smouldering hulk of the building where his office is and can hear sirens in the distance.

"I need to-" He takes a step forward and stumbles again. He is, despite his resilience, hurt and hurt rather badly. "Ow. I need to get to medical." That hadn't been the plan but it sure as hell is now.


"I didn't jump to conclusions." Keiko returns the glare. "I was asking if you were approached. He implied it … and others will be asking the same thing." Keiko's sense of humour is deplorable and what she had tried to joke about, had fallen flat.

When Koa stumbles, she's there though, putting her shoulder under his and supporting him. "So I can see. I'll call Onyxia and we can go …"

She'll call ahead, of course and uh … return to her more normal self… at some point.

She knows she should say sorry or something about his office but she … can't. "We'll have to go through your office when they secure it." Is what she says instead.


"Yes, there's some things there that can't fall into anyone's hands." Some of them are VERY important. Once the Harpy Eagle is there, they can depart. Koa can already tell he's going to be laid up for a bit and the fact that she isn't giving him any crap about it right now underscores how bad he looks.

In truth, however bad that is, he feels worse.


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