Under the Bridge (IC) (GM)

[Supercape]

GM

Centery Bridge, Freedom City

22nd February, About 6 in the morning...

The two men stood in the morning air, both tired, both drinking coffee.

"Damn this to hell" said the first man, throwing his empty coffee plastic cup to the ground and crunching it.

The two men where detectives, homicide squad. Below them, three forensic workers were already hard at it, examining what was left of a skeleton.

"No idea who it was, no idea how long it was there fore, no idea at bloody all!" said the detective.

"Yup" said his more placid partner.

"For all we know, should be the damn archeologists here, not murder squad. If it even is murder..." he whinged.

"Yup" agreed his partner.

"And all we got to go on, all we damn well got...is a name, carved into his skull I don't want to know how..."

"Yup"

"Nochehuatl" he spat out, disgusted with the situation.

"Sounds Aztec to me..." mumbled the second cop, finally speaking. He threw away his empty coffee cup and the two men wandered down to the site.

[Ari]

The Aztec-monikered being in question slid quietly out of the water and onto the rocky beach under the bridge, his long-nailed human feet and legs propelling him upright as he did so in a flash of light. Nochehuatl, or 'Wave-Eye' as he had taken to calling himself, had only recently arrived in this new human city, and stuck to the areas that were closest to the two rivers that fed silt and debris, not to mention fish, into the ocean. It allowed him a quick escape from the more easily-spooked humans, not to mention it kept him from crossing the path of many of the brightly-clothed ones he often saw doing battle, and who he had little notion of what to truly make of.

The gathering of mortals signaled to him that something terrible had happened, and the corpse on the beach told him that it just might be time to get involved more deeply in the affairs of humans. A harsh, rattling voice punctuated by hisses from between his sharp teeth curled through the air, understood by all who heard him. "I was once called by the name Nochehuatl, I am now Wave-Eye. Who has done this, and may I aid in their capture?"

[Supercape]

GM

"I was once called by the name Nochehuatl, I am now Wave-Eye. Who has done this, and may I aid in their capture?"

The two men were somewhat startled at Wave-Eye's appearance under the Bridge. But hey, this was Freedom City...

"Never heard of you..." said the first cop, scrutinising him carefully. Wave-Eye looked dangerous, but on the other hand he hadn't attacked. He pulled back his jacket slightly and put his hand on his side-arm, without pulling it.

"And I was just about to ask you the same question..." he added, suspiciously.

"Some drunkard found this skeleton washed up under the bridge here. God knows how long its been here. Could have been a few weeks, could have been a hundred years. I guess forensics will get to work on that - for all I know we have just found an ancient burial site. On the other hand, it could be murder most horrid..."

He scratched the back of his neck, without taking his eyes of Wave-Eye.

"All we got is a name carved onto the skull. And now it seems that it's your name. So, yeah, you might very well aid help us in our inquiries, so to speak..."

[Ari]

"A name?" echoed Wave-Eye curiously, and he approached the corpse, kneeling beside it and looking with care at the English runes carved into it. After a short struggle with the language, he recognized the markings as his own name! He glared up at the forensic specialists "It seems that some fool is trying to get my attention. Someone who knows me of old, very old at that, to know my right name enough to spell it in your tongue. I guess they will want me to meet them. I will oblige" he got to his feet, and asked the louder of the two detectives "Was this corpse found on the shore, or in the water? This matters because depending where your fallen comrade was placed, is where I am expected to meet this creature"

"Don't worry," he added coldly "I will not be kind to whomever did this"

[Supercape]

(GM)

"All very interesting, I'm sure" replied Detective Mead "but I think you miss the point. Right now I gotta corpse, zip leads, zip motives, zip suspects. All I got is a corpse with a name carved into it right here..."

He pointed right at his forehead.

"And now I got a creature coming up to me, all innocent like, saying that is his name. So, perhaps I should be doing the detecting round here. Perhaps I should be asking the questions, eh?"

"Because I know zip about you, my friend. Right now, you are number one suspect... I seen twisted minds come back to view their handiwork, even get a kick from aiding the police. Like the arsonist who phones the fire brigade. "

He kicked some dirt and mud meaningfully.

"So let's start again, mister ohsohelpfull. Who and what the devil are you? How did you know to come here? Where do you live? What do you do? Hell, you can throw in the name of your aunt's cat for completeness..."

[Ari]

"I am a triton named Nochehuatl, now Wave-Eye" Wave-Eye snapped "A child of a human and an ocean god, who serves as the guard and soldier of theirs but may choose another master as they will. I was born thousands of years ago to the Lady of the Jade Skirt, Chalchuihtlicue, and a human named Chimali. I have fought under the waves for eons, and have waged war on behalf of nearly every power in the sea. I had no quarrel with whoever that was," he gestured pointedly to the corpse on the rocks with a spined hand "and saw you gathered there about this body. I live in the ocean, and have found no den to make my home yet, I sleep in the seaweed forest a mile out past your Great Bay, and try to keep your people from coming to harm by the stupid monsters that infest this coastline" he regarded the detective with cold distaste "And none of my aunts favor cats, though my distant and revered half-uncle Tezcatlipoca occasionally takes the form of a jaguar, in which guise he once caused earthquakes"

[Supercape]

GM

"Yup" said the second partner after Wave-Eye's monolouge.

"Well, that's a start" conceded Detective Mead fidgeting with his fingers.

"Damn I need a cigarette. Damn it. Hey, Blonski, did I give up smoking?" he asked his dour companion.

"Yup" replied Blonski.

"Damn it to hell!" cursed Mead again smacking his hands together.

"Well, Mr. Fishy" he said, addressing Wave-Eye once again "if you do intend on being helpful, perhaps you could have a look at the mud, slime, and decades of tin-cans and rubbers that have accumulated under the bridge. And see if you find anything of interest. It will be hours before the frogmen come and you might be a better bet anyhow..."

"Mr. Fishy in more ways than one..." he muttered under his breath.

"Yup" agreed Blonski.

[Ari]

"I heard that " Wave-Eye snarled as he turned and sank back into the water, turning his legs to a dragon's tail in a flicker before sliding gracefully down to the detritus of human civilization under the bridge. Given such a vague goal coupled with such a vague time frame was nothing he wasn't used to, but he still hated the feeling of being ordered around by a mortal, and a human mortal at that. This is what I have decided to do he reminded himself sourly and all the ill-feeling in the world must not make me any less determined to do it

Sifting through the trash accumulated around the mighty metal and concrete bridge was for him a relief. Here in the water he at least had a definite place, and the careful search for any clues of the recent attack did a lot to distract him from his ill-humor. Seeing a passing fish he decided to at least broaden his search a little. With a smooth hissing he called to the animal ~"Hello small scale, have you smelt human blood recently?"~

[Supercape]

GM

"I heard that "Hello small scale, have you smelt human blood recently?"~

The fish, of course, was not the brightest of animals.

"No blood" it replied in a rather dull way

"Bones...." it said more firmly, and swam off, leading Wave-Eye down.

Down at the very bottom of the lake, Wave-Eye could make out the shapes of human bones. One skeleton, two...no, more they were not all complete, and jumbled together, spread out over a few yards. It was impossible to say how many there were, and if they were complete or not. In the centre, a solitary skull sat.

As Wave-Eye approached, the Skull jaw opened in a yawn, and then it started speaking to him!

"Over here!, yes, over here! get me out of this dump, I can't take it any more!!!"

[Ari]

~"Many thanks"~ Wave-Eye said to the fish warmly. Looking with interest at the skull, he picked it up and began to carry it to the surface of the water "And who were you?" he asked casually as he swam rapidly to the glittering world above "Were you killed by a sea-dweller? I just found out about some brute who killed another human, and I wouldn't be surprised to find they weren't the first"

[Supercape]

GM

"Who was I?" replied the skull. Its face was, of course, expressionless.

"Damned if I can remember, my friend. Been rolling about the sea bed for longer than I can remember. And seeing as I don't have any brains, I guess that kind of mean's my memories get lost. Damned if I can remember who killed me too... a shark maybe? that sounds exciting..."

He jabbered on.

"As for the bones washed up by my side, yes, I heard talk of some monster from the deep. The spirits, as they depart this world. The sea has its own whispers you know, deep ones, atlanteans, and your regular fishes. Some monster, is the whisper, something, or somebody totally heartless and merciless, you know the type?"

"And call me skull face hahahaha! pleased to meet you..."

[Ari]

"As for the bones washed up by my side, yes, I heard talk of some monster from the deep. The spirits, as they depart this world. The sea has its own whispers you know, deep ones, atlanteans, and your regular fishes. Some monster, is the whisper, something, or somebody totally heartless and merciless, you know the type?"

"Could not have been me, Skull Face" answered Wave-Eye placidly "I was only ever mostly heartless and merciless" as they reached the top the triton asked the nagging question "I have met spirits separated from their bodies, they could recall what had happened to them in life without any trouble. How then are you hampered by the loss of your brain, and yet still attached to your body like this, even if tenuously? You know how to speak, you know what a monster is, all these require you to remember them" he looked at Skull Face closely and added "Did the other..departed say anything else about their killer?"

[Supercape]

GM

"Could not have been me, Skull Face. I was only ever mostly heartless and merciless" as they reached the top the triton asked nagging question "

"Where you now, where you?" said Skull face, his jabbering stopping momentarily with a pregnant pause. What was it...fear? curiosity? one could of course, not read an expressionless skull.

"I have met spirits separated from their bodies, they could recall what had happened to them in life without any trouble. How then are you hampered by the loss of your brain, and yet still attached to your body like this, even if tenuously? You know how to speak, you know what a monster is, all these require you to remember them"

"I remember tumbling around the sea for ages, my friend..." replied Skull face, it's hollow voice hinting at sadness. "I think I had a body once, a bag of bones like my friends over there...but its been so long...so very long...I just...well, I just went to sleep, I guess, if you can call it that. Just fish for conversation, and they don't make very good conversation. I just kind of...shut down...till you woke me up!"

"Did the other..departed say anything else about their killer?"

"What did they say now...what did they say...you know, they are young, so very young...and dead. I mean, properly dead, not like old skull face. I mean, I know I'm dead, but I talk and think and stuff. They are just dead dead, if you know what I mean. So it takes a particular skill to talk to them..."

"And fortunately, old skull face, he is good at talking to dead bones! so, what did they say now...let me think...I don't know rightly about times. No clock down on the sea bed and after a while you stop caring about counting the days. And the properly dead, well they don't have any clue about time, mostways. But I think they haven't been dead too long. Least, not compared to old me. What did they say...what did they say..."

He paused in thought for a while.

"Squid!" he concluded.

"Great big enormous squid! not your regular type!"

[Ari]

Wave-Eye nearly dropped Skull Face in shock at the revelation. "A..squid?" he held Skull up to eye level and said flatly "A giant squid has been doing this? What kind of squid would go and kill humans for no-" he stopped, his eyes narrowing as realization hit him "Of course. The stupid things could be swayed with a pike wrapped around a piece of coral, it's like they're just a swimming stomach with arms, hate those things" he swam back up to the surface, muttering and snarling under his breath as he went. Upon reaching the surface he walked up to the detectives, telling them

"According to this talking skull self-named Skull Face, a giant squid has been responsible for the deaths of numerous citizens over the years. I would guess they might be responsible for the perishing of this one as well" he nodded grimly at the corpse on the shore "If you wish, I shall seek the animal out and kill it"

[Supercape]

"According to this talking skull self-named Skull Face, a giant squid has been responsible for the deaths of numerous citizens over the years. I would guess they might be responsible for the perishing of this one as well. If you wish, I shall seek the animal out and kill it"

"A talking skull? Are you outta your goddamn miii....whoaaah!" yelped Detective Mead, spilling his freshly hot coffee all over his trousers.

"That's a goddamn skull!" he remarked, as Wave-Eye showed him the skull.

"That's me!" said Skull Face "I'm a Skull, and I talk!"

"That's a godamn talking skull!" said Mead, almost shouting this time.

A few pleasantries later...

"Yeah, if you can nail this squid for us, we would be mighty pleased, I'll confess" said Mead to Wave Eye. "You would be ok in my book then, hero. Goddamn, you always get strange stuff in Freedom City. "

"I suppose if you do nail it, we should take a look at it's insides. Forensics, and all that. Sounds like messy work, but we should do it properly..."

He strolled off.

"Someone get me a godamn marine biologist!" he yelled as he walked up back to his car.

[Ari]

"As you say, detective, I will kill it and bring it to you, or else die" Wave-Eye called after Mead, turning on his heel and vanishing once more into the waves, not having bothered to turn his tail back into legs. Glancing at Skull Face he realized that carrying the conscious skull would require the use of at least one hand, an intolerable trade-off to his mind. With a brief "Sorry Face" he bound the skull to the many-thonged cord his conch was bound to running from shoulder to hip like a bandolier.

Diving into the ever-murkier depths he asked Skull Face "So, what in all do you know about this beast? Do you know where it came from when it killed those other departed?"

[Supercape]

GM

"So, what in all do you know about this beast? Do you know where it came from when it killed those other departed?"

Skull Face did not seemed to mind being strapped to Wave-Eye.

"An adventure!" he said, excitedly "I haven't had one of those for...well....a very long time..." he said quite happily.

"Although I think I was killed" he added.

"As for the squid, well, old skull-face knows plenty of the secrets of the sea. From Pirates to Deep ones, I've seen it all. And Giant Squids are no exception! They live down below, where its cold, and dark. Where they come from, I cannot say. The very depths of the very deepest chasms in the ocean, I should fathom..."

He chuckled.

"I should fathom..." he repeated.

"Anyway..." he continued "the old proper dead bones, they don't talk much, haven't got much of what you might call smarts, or a sense of humour. So as for where this monster is, I would just say down, down, down..."

[Ari]

"In the depths, hm? I hoped it would not be so, but the food is better deeper down after all" he shrugged philosophically "It will be a tedious trip swimming down to meet it, and I suppose I could stand the conversation. Tell me, Skull Face" he asked casually as he slithered down into the blacker depths of the sea just a few hundred meters from Freedom "What can you tell me about yourself? You seem a brisk, unflappable sort considering you are barred from much of what you knew and did in the the world. How do you remain so..happy?" Wave-Eye looked inquiringly at his decapitated comrade. "I am used to people growing ever more bitter at far smaller injuries than losing almost their entire body and living on as a head. A lost arm, an eye or two, busted tails and even one fellow losing his..." he trailed off as the memory of dimly-seen bloodshed in his youth stirred. Clearing his throat he finished "So..how is that?"

[Supercape]

GM

"So..how is that?"

"I just I am just kind of determined..." said Skull Face, with a touch of ferocity "I may have lost my body, my family, my whole life...but something just keeps driving me..." he concluded.

"What could it be?" he said slyly, before laughing and cackling "but for all you know, I am Insane....muahahaha!" it laughed, its Jaw slackly clacking away from its cranium.

As Wave-Eye sped downwards, and the ocean got colder and colder, darker and darker, and the fish less and less, he could make out something below him, something large, and heading upwards, straight towards him...

[Ari]

The reverberations and bulk of the thing brought it into Wave-Eye's view long before an average human could have detected it. He stared at the creature as it swam quickly(for its size) in his direction, and marveled darkly at it.

"Ah, Skull-Face, I don not you are insane. The insane never seem to doubt their sanity, whereas the sane doubt that score greatly" he smiled, his sharp teeth glinting from the reflected sunlight that trickled down into the murk "And now...to the task I have been set!" he barked, a spined hand grasping the conch shell that hung at his thigh and putting it to his lips. Blowing through it with great force, he sent a wave of frothing water around the dimly-beheld squid, which dispersed into the rest of its companion liquid. With a roar through the shell that sent a soft tremor through the Centenary Bridge, the water around the squid turned almost black with a sudden profusion of bloody trails, which wound around the sea creature and tried to carry it with them on their way to the surface along with the thousands of gallons of water that happened to be near it.

Turning to Skull Face Wave-Eye declared warmly "And now that it is closer the surface, how much weaker it shall be! It is a rare thing to behold a combat such as this Skull Face, add it with care to your memories" he looked back at the squid, coolly planning how he would weaken and kill it.

[Supercape]

GM

" It is a rare thing to behold a combat such as this Skull Face, add it with care to your memories" he looked back at the squid, coolly planning how he would weaken and kill it.

"It beats sitting on a riverbed watching beer cans float past" conceded Skull Face.

"As for memories, I've seen my fare share of blood and battle. And it's sealed in my memory, like a bitter horror that will never be forgotten. The scars of war leave only vengeance...."

He trailed off as the flailing giant squid flew past, propelled by Wave-Eyes underwater turbulence, spinning, with its enormous tentacles squirming this way and that. However, its mighty thrashing limbs were able to control it's movement as it sailed through the torrent of water, until it right up to Wave-Eye and Skull Face.

"So what now? make it bleed?" asked Skull Face, genuinely curious.

[Ari]

"Profusely" answered Wave-Eye with noticeable surprise in his voice. He had felt the bonds slide off the fellow sea creature, and he knew for a fact that he hadn't made it move on his own strength, so its sudden change of position bred dark suspicion in his heart. "This may be a trick" he muttered to himself(and Skull Face), but still charged forward through the dark water towards the tentacled fiend, bringing his conch to his lips once more once he was almost close enough to reach out and touch the squid. A deep groan echoed through the water, and a jet of pressurized water slammed into it, Wave-Eye making sure the creature felt the full force of the attack, hoping it would be enough to at least injure the squid so he could encourage it to go after him. He had no fear that he couldn't move faster than it, and besides could move it away if he needed. If this breaks its hide enough, I'll have weakened it enough to easily lure it to the surface

[Supercape]

(GM)

The mighty power of Wave-Eye was no trick, and hit with the power of a tsunami. Splintering the main body of the Squid and sending a mixture of ink and blood shooting through the water. The squid convulsed, its tentacles thrashing, and squirming, but it was mortally wounded, and somewhere in its primitive brain the light had gone out.

It floated away, to the surface, turning slowly on its axis, it's blood painting a spiral as it ascended and turned.

"It all boils down to blood..." said Skull Eye, slowly "I guess once you get a taste of it, you are never free of it...." he said, somewhat subdued.

[Ari]

"It all boils down to blood..." said Skull Eye, slowly "I guess once you get a taste of it, you are never free of it...." he said, somewhat subdued.

"That..is very much the way of things beneath the waves, to my understanding" replied Wave-Eye, shocked at how vicious the damage to the squid had been. He looked at the shell in his claw, wondering if he needed more practice in its use. He had no desire to kill someone he didn't want to by accident, just because he didn't know how much weight the water had behind it. "I did not intend to strike so hard" he admitted vocally for Skull Face's benefit "but I came to kill it and it is nearly dead" he placed the shell back at his side "Now to finish the task" he said with quiet force, approaching the squid's head.

Once he was was close enough he reached out, almost cradled the massive head, and delivered a tremendous punch with his super-human strength to its fleshy skull, sending an impact through its body that killed the mighty sea creature nigh-instantaneously. He looked morosely at it for several minutes, lost in thought about how horribly familiar this mission was...

Shaking his head he said gruffly in an especially watery and gurgling voice "Now, time to get this beast to shore, the humans will want to cut it open and look for their brethren inside it" catching hold of its tentacles, he began the laborious process of hauling the dead weight to shore, wondering as he went why he had never thought to ask it about its possible crimes. I wonder why I never even thought it wasn't guilty? he pondered, saying aloud to Skull Face "With any luck, this will be the minority of our missions together"

[Supercape]

GM

Back on Shore...

"What the blazes is that?" spluttered Detective Mead as Wave-Eye hauled the beast ashore. His coffee splashed around, a goodly slice ending up on his shirt.

"What the hell? Somebody get me another coffee! and a towel!" he yelled at the more junior officers working the crime scene. "And a Cigarette!"

He tapped his fingers and looked at Detective Blonski.

"I've given up haven't I?" he muttered, vexed.

"Yup" answered Blonski.

"Dammit!" he yelled, kicking a rock skyward.

With a sigh of resignation, he walked forward to Wave-Eye and the Kraken. And Skull Face, still dangling strapped to the creature.

"So this is our murderer is it? Big enough, I'll say. Straight out of some B-Movie. Well, Mister Fish face, looks like I got you all wrong. Seems you have caught the beast, fair and square. Guess you might just be some kind of hero after all..."

He called over some forensic examiners.

"Let's get this thing open, see if we can't find out what it ate. And for christ'ssake - will somebody get me one of them marine biologists????"