Agent Miller inhaled deeply as chaos whirled around him. The orange-haired Crown scrambled out of the hotel room, the stench of melting armour and flesh stinging the air. Crowns tried their damndest to strip her out of the melting armour. Crowns barked like the scared dogs they were and pointed their weapons at the hotel room door. Pinpricks of green light emanated from their Ministry-issued weapons. The laser sights reflected off of [i]something[/i] in the hotel room. The Crowns were thirsty. So was Miller. Maybe when all of this was over he'd treat himself to a much needed cold one. Agent Miller exhaled and held up a black-gloved fist. "Hold fire! Hold your goddamn fire, you bastards!" His partner next to him flinched. Miller cast a glance at her and grimaced. Why the hell would they send a [i]rookie[/i] out with him on something like this? The last thing he needed was some bright-eyed punk chained to him. Rookies either ended up dead, or worse--dead-weight in Observe and Capture operations like this. "You can wait in the patrol car, kid." It wasn't a suggestion. Mercy shook her head, her brown curls bouncing with her, "N-no, I got this sir." Miller narrowed slate-coloured eyes, "No, you don't." Mercy watched her partner through a sideways stare. The sqaure-jawed, grey-haired man seemed to command the world. "Rohaan Ja'aisen!" Miller continued. "By order of the King de Leon the Wonderous, may his reign last forever, I am placing you under arrest for--" He paused for a moment. Who the hell was playing-- [i]Oh, you can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman's man, no time to talk[/i] The music got louder. [i]Music loud and women warm, I've been kicked around since I was born[/i] Oh, no. Not [i]these[/i] idiots. Mercy was the first to turn around. Miller turned with her, his heels crunching in the gravel beneath him. A black van approached, headlights burning bright into the night and the Bee Gee's [i]Stayin' Alive[/i] blasting from its speakers. The black van rolled up. The side door was emblazoned with the image of a vampire's skull and a thin knife sprouting from the crown. It sat inside of a hexagon and the words "Semper Paratus" was emblazoned underneath. Mercy looked at Miller. Miller gritted his teeth. The van door slid open and out jumped a tall woman dressed in black armour, similar to their own. Her bare arms rippled with powerful muscle and tattoos danced on both of her biceps. She with a flick of her head she flicked short auburn hair out her eyes. She reached a gloved hand back into the van and dragged out a long, heavy, metal case. The other doors opened as the woman made a hurried dash passed Miller and Mercy, the metal case slung over her shoulder. Mercy moved as if to stop her but Miller cleared his throat. Mercy hesitated for a moment but before she could do anything Miller spoke. "Aldis, what the hell are you doing here?" A tall, broad-shouldered black man approached. He too wore armour, the breastplate of which had the same image that was on the side of the van. He smiled disarmingly, "It's nice to see you too, Miller Lite." He grinned at Mercy. "Who's your new boss?" "You didn't answer my question." Mercy looked confused. Two more people spilled out of the van and walked passed Mercy, Miller and the newcomer Aldis. One of them carried a pair of speakers. "And I don't have to," Aldis folded his arms over his chest. He looked at Mercy again. "He didn't tell you, did he? C'mon now, Miller, is this how you treat a superior?" He gave them both a knowing wink. Miller clenched his fist. "This is our case now. So why don't you and your boy scouts go make cookies someplace else, eh?" For a moment there was only silence between the three of them. Mercy could feel the tension between Miller and Aldis. She didn't like the look on Miller's face. Something was there. Something dangerous. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Autumn worked quickly. Her movements were swift and deft. She flicked open the locks on the metal case and popped it open. She mostly ignored the Crowns that kept their weapons trained on the maw of the hotel room door, but she could feel eyes on her. She was a giant of a woman, about as tall as Agent Miller. Muscles rippled across her body so much so that the armour designed specifically for her wouldn't contain her biceps. And why would she want to hide her guns? She was a strong supporter of open-carry anyways. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a pair of red leather gloves, the same symbol that was painted on Betsy--the van--and on her breastplate had been sewn into the gloves. She slid them on and then, gingerly, reached into the case and pulled out a long, bronze staff, wrapped in decaying bandages and smelling of earth and decaying matter. Her three coworkers sidled up to her. "Bringing out the big guns, I see?" Ray said as he set the speakers on the ground. He reached into his leather jacket, the back of which also bore the symbol on the van, and took out an iPod. "Oh, you mean these?" Autumn flexed her biceps and wiggled her eyebrows playfully. Ray chuckled. Dr Alucard smirked. "Magic must defeat magic," the doctor said. He motioned to the Crowns dismissively. "Something these brutes wouldn't understand." This brought a few snickers from Ray and Autumn and more than a few disgruntled mumbles from the Crowns. Dr Alucard thumbed over at Aldis and Miller. "And if those two can put their little spat on hold..." Autumn stood back up and stabbed the bronze staff into the ground. She spun on her heels and called back to Aldis, "Yo! It's set up! If you two can stop measuring your dicks we can get this show on the road!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Miller narrowed his eyes. "Fine." And shoved passed Aldis. "Pack it up boys! We're going home." Miller thought he heard sighs of relief, mixed in with disgruntled grumbles. The Crowns began loading up into the squad tanks. Mercy jogged, trying to keep up with Miller's long strides. "Sir?" When they reached their squad car he motioned with his hand and muttered something under his breath. A smoldering ring of green light flickered into existence over his palm and that same green ring lit up on the squad car door. The door sighed open. "Um, permission to speak, sir?" Miller sighed but didn't say anything. Mercy continued, "Wh-what just happened?" Squad tanks rumbled as they booted up and began pulling out the Wyvern Inn parking lot. "We're done here," Miller slid into the squad car. "W-wait, what happened?" Miller sighed, "We're [i]done[/i] here. It's in their hands now." Mercy looked over her shoulder at the five individuals who pulled up in a black van with the Bee Gee's blaring loudly. "Those guys? Wh-who are they? Whose hands?" Agent Miller adjust his glasses and followed Mercy's gaze. He narrowed his eyes. Mercy saw a glint of that [i]look[/i] again. "The Bizarre Patrol." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Aldis took one last look at the staggering countdown that was synced with his watch. Only twenty more seconds before the spell took full effect. "He'll come barrelling out of there any minute." Autumn reached for the small of her back and took out two, glowing, golden rings, the size of dinner plates. Aldis raised an eyebrow, "Halos? I thought guns were your thing?" Autumn raised an eyebrow, "Dr Klaus wants us to intercept a shapeshifter...and you expect me to use [i]guns[/i]?" Aldis shrugged, "I don't have a problem with it." [i]Ten seconds[/i] "It's just that guns are your thing and magic is my thing. "Aldis, focus!" "Hey, hey! That's [i]my[/i] thing too! "Besides, Alucard said only magic can beat magic! Speaking of which, Doctor, why aren't you wearing a vest?" Autumn, Ray and Aldis all looked at the doctor. He blushed for a moment. "They hurt. I have sensitive nipples." Ray guffawed, "Oh, look at me I'm the Doctor and my titties hurt soooo much!" Alucard sighed, "Ray, as Autumn said, you need to "focus". And what are you contributing to this?" Ray grinned and plugged his iPod into the speakers. "I'm getting this set up so we can listen to tunes while we work! It was Aldis' idea!" [i]Five seconds[/i] Autumn, Alucard, and Ray looked at Aldis. Aldis shrugged, "What can I say, I work better when--oh damn! It's showtime, Bizarre Patrol!" [i]Zero seconds[/i] There was a [i]snap[/i] that cut through the air. The staff stopped humming. Thick, black goo began to bubble up from where the staff had been placed. "Oof, that never stops being gross," Ray muttered. "No, no, no. This is the cool part, Aldis smiled. The goo [i]lurched[/i] forward and inched towards the hotel room door. Then came the [i]clicking[/i] as the gelatinous mass began to take shape. Small shapes. Tiny shapes. Each shape moving individually on its own but all moving in the same direction. The clicking became more audible. It was buzzing. The buzzing of a plague of scarabs. Aldis pointed to Ray. "Cue the Elvis! It's time to rock and roll!" [i]You ain't nothin' but a hound dog! Cryin' all the time![/i]