Encounterlogs
Nikolais Odd Encounter Sr Korina 240707
Nikolai's unusual encounter on Suncrest Lane takes a turn for the combative when he's ambushed by a pair of inexperienced hunter siblings, Alina and Adrian Ashford, intent on making a name for themselves following the tragic loss of their mother. Despite their enthusiasm and supernatural awareness, their strategy falters right from the start. Nikolai, easily evading their attempts at restraint and subdual, outmaneuvers them even after a neutralization grenade temporarily suppresses his abilities. As the conflict escalates, his outer demeanor of irritation belies a deeper, personal connection to the plight of the Ashford siblings, reminiscent of his own loss at the hands of amateur hunters. With the timely assistance of Jane, a vampire ally, Nikolai captures the duo, opting for restraint over retribution, a choice that speaks volumes about his character and personal ethics.
The encounter concludes not with the expected confrontation, but with the Ashford siblings' realization of their precarious position, leading them to a desperate flight into the forest. Instead of pursuing direct vengeance, Nikolai chooses a more merciful path, one that involves capturing rather than harming the siblings, thereby preventing them from becoming the vengeful figures they sought to be against him. This resolution highlights Nikolai's growth from a potential victim of revenge to a figure of authority, capable of showing mercy where none was afforded to him. As the Ashford siblings are subdued and taken away, Nikolai muses on the cyclical nature of violence and the importance of breaking it, hinting at a deeper narrative of redemption and the possibility of change, not only for himself but for those he encounters.
(Nikolai's odd encounter(SRKorina):SRKorina)
[Sat Jul 6 2024]
On Suncrest Lane
Shrouded by boughs overhead and sticking out like civilization itself marked a patch of road in defiance of the forest itself, this route appears utterly mundane in its construction. Little effort seems to have gone in making this area little more than something functional for the occasional car or passerby on foot. At the very least, it is utilitarian in that it does seem to be keeping the encroaching woods at bay, at least for now.
It is night, about 80F(26C) degrees, There is a new moon.
(A group of supernatural hunters is out to get your target. Maybe for sport, maybe from ideology, in either case they need to survive for long enough that their allies can come and help them deal with the threat.
)
The western Haven forest is shrouded in darkness at this morning hour, the first light of the sun just barely touching the horizon, and far from making its way down past the canopy. Here, all is still and silent, shadows dancing amongst the ancient trees, their gnarled branches intertwined and only allowing the barest slivers of waning moonlight to pass through on the brightest of nights - this isn't one of them. The moon is new and the world is cloaked in gloaming. The din of the town is nowhere to be seen or heard from here, Nikolai having left even the stragglers of the red light district behind on his drive out into the forest.
The underbrush rustles with the subtle movements of nocturnal creatures tending to their burrows and nests, and the scent of pine needles and damp earth wafts through the air, soaked in the fragrant warmth of summer. Here and there by the roadside, wildflowers with dewdrop-laden petals stick out with their bright, energetic coloring against the otherwise green and black that surrounds Nikolai, and the road comes to an end here. Camp White Oak set up nearby seems lifeless, not a sign of movement to be heard from that direction - it's likely whoever manages it is asleep at this hour.
To the northwest, the bark of the trees are marred with golden flakes, subtle but discernible for those who have an eye for the supernatural, and those who know what lies beyond there. His workplace isn't far from here, just a few steps into the Fae Other to reach the bustling commune nearby, lively at all hours of the day, but there's not a sign of it right here, right now.
The silence is broken with the low hum of the engine as Nikolai pulls his car to a stop, the sound of the door opening and closing echoing around. He's probably not bothered by the darkness any - those with his skill at seeing through the darkness rarely would be. He's been around here long enough though, both in darkness and in light, to tell that something is subtly off today. Maybe there's just /too/ much stillness in the air, like someone holding their breath in anticipation. Maybe it's the rustling of the bushes, not quite what he's come to get used to - but really, how often does one spend a lot of time hanging around in the middle of the woods before being on their way? It's hard to figure out what it might really be, without a more thorough look around the surroundings, and really, this close to the Other, there's weird shit happening in the woods all the time, right?
Maybe he should be on his way now, go through the gate as he had originally planned on, without paying too much heed to it. Or maybe, maaabye, there's a glint of dangerous metal in the corner of his eye, while he's getting out of his car, hidden away amidst the bushes.
"My architect know Japanese,"
"Your girl, she jockin' these."
"No hands like soccer teams, and y'all fuck boys like Socrates."
Comfortable in his disturbing the quiet of the early morning, Nikolai hadn't really been paying too much attention as he cruises up Suncrest Lane, music drifting unsubtly from his opulent car as he comes to a park. He lets the radio run as he steps out, glancing around for witnesses before he crossed into the Other. He did care about not upsetting Venice with a breach of secrecy, after all - and that's what lets him catch that glint of metal, and he frowns. He glances towards the woods opposite, making sure that he's not about to be ambushed, then reaches into his jacket to grab a weathered and beaten-up ball-peen hammer from his jacket. It was hardly his preferred tool to fight with, but it would let him channel his inner fire better than if he had nothing at all.
"Reveal yourselves," he calls, white-knuckling the hammer in his grip. No overt use of powers until he knew these people were aware. It could be some of King's thugs from Boston, unhappy with increased Bratva presence, after all.
Utter stillness sets in again - suspicious. Very suspicious. Now that Nikolai's actually paying attention, he can figure out the silhouette of a figure ducked down behind the bushes, though maybe he may not have noticed the /other/ figure - a noisy approach, for what it's worth - who jumps in right from the opposite direction to throw a grenade at him. As far as greetings go, this is proving to by abysmal.
It's not a /grenade/-grenade, of course. It's better or worse, depending on how Nikolai feels about this, and whether he can stop himself from getting caught up in the dangerous hissing of a neutralization grenade that's thrown in his direction with a loud, "HAIYAAAH!", because everyone knows shouting really loud improves your aim.
Whoever these people are, they aren't complete amateurs, and they're certainly supernaturally aware, considering the grenade. The aim is slightly off, mostly due to Nikolai behind behind his car - it bounces right off the windshield, leaving a massive crack upon the surface and heading right for the large Russian man's direction if he doesn't manage to back away in time.
"Nikolai Ku- uhh- Mister Nikolai! You are under arrest by the authority of the Hunters! We will have your head!" says a feminine voice - the figure he'd spotted first, and both of them are headed right for him now.
It's a man and a woman with similar facial features - blonde-haired, both, with brown eyes and freckles dotted across their skin. Neither of them look like they're in their twenties yet, if Nikolai had to guess, and they really don't seem very good at being Hunters either if they think they carry any actual authority in the Supernatural world which lets them... arrest and behead supernaturals, apparently. There might be some wires crossed here. Whatever the case is, they're both definitely armed, with long blades each, and both seem ready to take him down right here.
"Blyat," Nikolai swears, throwing his hands up and summoning plate armour to shield his body at the sight of that lobbed grenade - and, no, wait, that's a neutralizer. FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. The armour blasts off Nikolai's figure and dissolves into nothingness as that electric pulse runs over him and forces his blood into dormancy, which pisses him off pretty bad. The cracked windscreen would be expensive, too, but he was more concerned about getting stabbed while he couldn't heal.
"You know," he says, flipping his hammer end over end, "I hate small, amateur hunter groups like you the most out of anyone. People like you killed my parents when I was just a baby. Some breakaway Temple sect. I hope you don't expect this to be easy for you." He points his hammer at the woman and backs up a step, reaching up to innocuously scratch his neck with his free hand... which taps twice at the implant buried there, firing off a distress beacon for Jane to path to him in the next minute or two.
"You don't know how this town works, I expect, if you are attacking me with swords. It will make it hard for you to move. So few attacks you can make that will not injure me so badly that Sanctuary will stop you. Come on, then. The Hand could use a few more chipped slaves."
"Easy?" the woman scoffs - she's more just a girl, really, they're both definitely teenagers, and the boy even has a few pimples on his face to show for it. They advance further, trying to surround him from both sides; they've got /some/ experience fighting together, it would seem, even if they could use a lot more. The neutralization should help them, at least - assuming they can finish this in the next fifteen minutes, unlikely as it is if Nikolai's going to turn this planned ambush from a two-versus-one into a two-versus-two.
"Nothing in life is easy. We lost our mother too, to /freaks/ like you," she spits the word out with disgust, her face twisted into a scowl as she advances, the sword whizzing through the air as she attempts to clip Nikolai - she's definitely slower than him, her reflexes not as sharp even with his blood being forced into dormancy. A human with little special training, if he hadn't figured it out yet. "And now we're going to make our parents proud, by taking you and people like you down." Lofty goals.
Her face darkens at his last words, and it's the boy that's rushing at him from the side now, attempting to get in a strike of his own while he's focused on the girl. "We will make you eat those words," he tells Nikolai, all edgily. "Not so strong without your 'divine' blood, are you?" He says it like a taunt too, as though his blood is something to be ashamed of.
Dodge, duck and weave - Nikolai /is/ trained. Warriorhood hadn't been innate to him like his creative abilities or his inner fire, and many hours had been spent with mortal and supernatural teachers to get his technique honed. He demonstrates this by snatching the young man's wrist out of the air with his attempted strike, then twisting it hard until he drops the sword onto the ground. Oh, yes: his strength remained, all of it. He was no shifter. The power in his arms could not be sapped away, even by a neutraliser grenade. He twists the boy around then, one hand on his throat as he pins him against his own chest, facing outwards. Let this woman try to stab him now!
"Plenty strong," he informs the struggling man in his grip. His eyes remain leveled at the remaining threat, though.
"Who is he to you?" he asks. "You could hurt him by accident. Sanctuary won't stop an accident. Are you ready to risk his life?"
The woman's blade stops an inch away from the man as his own sword clatters to the ground, and two pair of sharp brown eyes are turned Nikolai's way. "You're disgusting," the woman informs him, not daring to hurt the man in Nikolai's grip, whether it be by accident or otherwise; given how alike they look, it's more than likely they're siblings - twins - without any sanctuary to each other. Killing the man while trying to hurt Nikolai would be a terrible trade. "Let him go. Fight like a man - with honor."
In his grasp, the man struggles to get himself free, and his knee flexes in an attempt to kick Nikolai backwards right where it hurts - or just his shin, if that's too hard to reach. His strength is no match for Nikolai's, though; even neutralized, there's not much a human can do against those muscles, especially considering more than half a foot shorter, closer to a whole foot, hopefully still awaiting a growth spurt or two. He's certainly not willing to give up, though, struggling against someone' hold and turning his neck to try and bite the man outright.
Behind him, Nikolai can sense the bridges of a path connecting from a distant, faraway place - Jane will likely be here soon to assist.
The woman's blade stops an inch away from the man as his own sword clatters to the ground, and two pair of sharp brown eyes are turned Nikolai's way. "You're disgusting," the woman informs him, not daring to hurt the man in Nikolai's grip, whether it be by accident or otherwise; given how alike they look, it's more than likely they're siblings - twins - without any sanctuary to each other. Killing the man while trying to hurt Nikolai would be a terrible trade. "Let him go. Fight like a man - with honor."
In his grasp, the man struggles to get himself free, and his knee flexes in an attempt to kick Nikolai backwards right where it hurts - or just his shin, if that's too hard to reach. His strength is no match for Nikolai's, though; even neutralized, there's not much a human can do against those muscles, especially considering more than half a foot shorter, closer to a whole foot, hopefully still awaiting a growth spurt or two. He's certainly not willing to give up, though, struggling against Nikolai's hold and turning his neck to try and bite the man outright.
Behind him, Nikolai can sense the bridges of a path connecting from a distant, faraway place - Jane will likely be here soon to assist.
"Hah!" Nikolai laughs, amused by the young woman's challenge - and then he grunts with that foot in the thigh, forcing him to tip his body aside to not get his goolies crushed. He punches the young man in the back, right in the kidney. He'd earned that. "You cannot tell me that /this/ is dishonourable," he taunts. "You attack me two on one, then stumble when your own blood is in the way. That is not dishonour. That's bad fucking strategy." He sniffs. "Besides - if you're not fighting dirty, you aren't really fighting." He shoves the man forwards into the dirt, taking another step back, but there's a smirk spreading along his features, now. With him and Jane together, there's not a chance these two kids could win. "You lost your mother; now your father will have lost her /and/ the both of you. You will be chipped and moved on. Not in America, no; we will probably send you to work in Asian sweatshops until they stop looking for you. Whether we keep you together or separate you for the rest of your lives, though... Well, that's up to me, isn't it?"
The man lets out a loud groan of pain and stumbles to the ground on all fours when he's shoved away from Nikolai he's gonna need a moment to recover from that punch, the pain making him regret many of his life's decisions at the moment. The girl, with her sword and one eye still pointed at Nikolai, reaches down to steady him - or more accurately, to pull him up so he doesn't have his back to Nikolai on the ground anymore, and he scrabbles for his sword on his way up, ending up with it back in his hand even if he's looking a little battered already.
Though they're more concerned with tending to each other for a few seconds, Nikolai can still sense the spike of fear in the air at his words, both of them taking on a more defensive stance instead of the initial aggressive one. They'd come in here foolhardily - or perhaps with not enough information to deal with him, expecting an easy fight once the demigod had been neutralized, and they're here now with the woman's hand clutching at the man's, who's just barely managed to stand upright once more - and they freeze once they glance back at Nikolai and catch sight of the svelte vampire woman in a suit behind him, stepping out of this end of the path.
They share a look with each other; meaningful, the way only a lifetime of knowing another person can being into being. A silent back-and-forth, and then a decision, mutual.
They run for the trees.
OOC: You can choose to end the encounter here and let them flee, or chase them down, if you wish!?
Absolutely not. Nikolai isn't about to let these two plucky teenagers grow into proper Templars who consider him 'the one that got away'. He bounds after them, faster and stronger than any human, and just to make sure, he issues a command over his communications: "Jane, get their legs. Couple of wannabe hunters." The young man would probably be machismo enough to stop and try to save his sister, he thinks, where the girl would probably regroup and come back with a real force to try and save her brother. Maybe that was sexist of him, but if he was wrong, then there was no real harm over going for the brother, instead. He kicks her legs out from under her and tackles her down to the ground as soon as he gets into range, pinning her by the throat and squeezing hard enough that she should black out if he isn't knocked off her in the next few moments.
The girl goes down with a scream that's shrill enough to hurt Nikolai's ears - maybe she's part banshee instead of being all human after all. Birds fly out of trees with that loud noise, but she's well and truly down and pinned beneath Nikolai's weight, all the air getting knocked out of her with the impact. The boy had barely been any far ahead - he turns back around immediately and leaps straight at Nikolai, aiming a fist for his face. If that connects, it's definitely going to leave a nasty bruise across his jaw.
"Alina-- Let go of her!"
Hook, line, and sinker, as they say.
Well, let it not be said that it wasn't a good call for them to have opened with that neutraliser - Nikolai's so used to his regular toughness that he simply lets the swing connect, crushing the meat of his cheek up against the bone; yeah, that'll bruise. For as long as it takes for his healing to kick back in, anyway. "Blyat," he spits, his lips turning down into a sneer. Then there's a whistle and a thipp as a tranquiliser dark buries itself in the boy's thigh, and Nikolai turns back to nod to his stealthy vampire assistant. "Da, good shoot," he grunts, his face purpling. He finally releases Alina's poor throat once she goes fully limp, then ties her hands behind her back to be transported later. They'd need a little time to be taken out of Haven, but the chips should teach them that it would be more pleasant to comply than be electrocuted repeatedly. The brother might take a little while longer, but he's sure to fall, too, and gets the same treatment once he does. Two young people that wouldn't be going to the Temple. Better than the trip to the Other he'd been interested in to begin with.
Well, let it not be said that it wasn't a good call for them to have opened with that neutraliser - Nikolai's so used to his regular toughness that he simply lets the swing connect, crushing the meat of his cheek up against the bone; yeah, that'll bruise. For as long as it takes for his healing to kick back in, anyway. "Blyat," he spits, his lips turning down into a sneer. Then there's a whistle and a thipp as a tranquiliser dark buries itself in the boy's thigh, and Nikolai turns back to nod to his stealthy vampire assistant. "Da, good shot," he grunts, his face purpling. He finally releases Alina's poor throat once she goes fully limp, then ties her hands behind her back to be transported later. They'd need a little time to be taken out of Haven, but the chips should teach them that it would be more pleasant to comply than be electrocuted repeatedly. The brother might take a little while longer, but he's sure to fall, too, and gets the same treatment once he does. Two young people that wouldn't be going to the Temple. Better than the trip to the Other he'd been interested in to begin with. (fix)
That spike of fear earlier had already shown Nikolai how pliable they'd be with the other as hostage - isn't that the downside to all relationships in Haven? - and once the tranquilizer starts working its way through the boy's muscles, he goes down as well, though not without a lot of clawing and scrabbling at Nikolai while trying to his his sister free - the poor girl's going to wake up with a necklace of ugly, purpling bruises. And now Nikolai and Jane are left here to clean up the mess.
Running an investigation on the two of them would reveal their names to be Alina and Adrian Ashford, who had been named briefly in the paper after the tragic, violent passing of their mother a dozen or so years ago, after which their father had fallen into deep depression and alcoholism, leaving them practically fatherless as well. They'd been handled poorly, without a proper round of amnesia and hypnotism that would surround such an incident, and all the trauma would eventually lead to them knocking on the door of a branch of the Hunters, who certainly had not approved a mission for them taking on a veteran Demigod before even completing their training; this seems to have been the result of some stolen intel on a Nikolai Kuznetsov, and the overconfidence of two teenagers desperate to prove themselves and start the climbing of a ladder on their way to avenging their parent.
Well, at least they don't have to worry about that anymore.
(Your target and their allies have been tasked with extracting a piece of information from a member of an opposing faction or subfaction but they cannot break the understanding to do so.
)
As Korina wanders through the upper-class clothing store, filled with all kinds of haut couture and other fashion terms that she neither knows nor cares about, her earpiece crackles to life. The sound quality is a little grainy, so it's probably been patched through at least two repeaters before reaching her.
"Privet," crunches out a Russian accent. It's much thinner and reedier than Nikolai or Konstantin's. "This is, eh, Artyom. I work with Nikolai. He ask me, eh, look into Hunter activity nearby. So I do and I see some in town there in Haven. I'm thinking, you go capture, Nikolai tells us both good job for getting information from them, right?" He pauses, then adds, "They attack him just earlier. He's in room with no signal, dealing with them, so I cannot just tell him do it. You want revenge for him?" There's just a little knowing touch to his voice - if he works for Nikolai, he probably knows of Korina through reputation, and how to bait a hook for her.
Korina certainly doesn't /look/ like she belongs in here, what with having absolutely no eye for what pieces of clothing are The Good Ones, and the older woman in an elegant gray skirt suit who assists customers nearby might be feeling generous because she hasn't been kicked out yet. Or maybe she thinks Korina's a sugar baby out to be outfitted, since she's certainly got credit and/or debit cards on her, and really, why turn down an easy commission like that?
Either way, when her earpiece crackles to life, Korina casts a quick glance around the place before she reaches up surreptitiously for it to talk back, letting out a very articulate: "... what."
She needs another few moments to figure out what the hell Artyom is talking about through that thick accent of his, but 'they attack him' is explanatory enough to have Korina storming out of the store immediately - fuck shopping. "Where is he?" she asks, getting on her bike with her voice steely - she's definitely talking about Nikolai instead of the Hunters here. There's a pause to reconsider, and then she asks, "Where are /they/?" Might as well knock the Hunters out first so she can drag them to Nikolai for double the praise. Genius.
"I don't know, some Hand cell to block signal," sighs the Russian on the other end of the line. "He is the boss, I do not ask question. He is fine." His sniff is audible through whatever microphone he's using to patch in to Korina, and the sound of his snotty cold is made all the crispier and chunkier by having the sound quality deepfried through the long transmission. RF is truly the superior form of communication. "There seems to be small Hunter cell in the docks. I have no details on what set-up they have, only that they are there. You ask me, is probably using shipping container and going rough. Only named command is James Knowles. Ex-Temple who has since gone more independent. Anyone else, small potatoes. I mean, unless this is bad intelligence, but I am probably right."
This must be a highly trustworthy Russian man in the chair, here. He's /probably/ right. Regardless, he didn't seem to be too concerned for Korina's safety. It wouldn't be too hard to track people through the big industrial dock; there would be plenty of scents around, but that just meant that the Hunters would have to be in one of the quieter areas to have any privacy.
The encounter concludes not with the expected confrontation, but with the Ashford siblings' realization of their precarious position, leading them to a desperate flight into the forest. Instead of pursuing direct vengeance, Nikolai chooses a more merciful path, one that involves capturing rather than harming the siblings, thereby preventing them from becoming the vengeful figures they sought to be against him. This resolution highlights Nikolai's growth from a potential victim of revenge to a figure of authority, capable of showing mercy where none was afforded to him. As the Ashford siblings are subdued and taken away, Nikolai muses on the cyclical nature of violence and the importance of breaking it, hinting at a deeper narrative of redemption and the possibility of change, not only for himself but for those he encounters.
(Nikolai's odd encounter(SRKorina):SRKorina)
[Sat Jul 6 2024]
On Suncrest Lane
Shrouded by boughs overhead and sticking out like civilization itself marked a patch of road in defiance of the forest itself, this route appears utterly mundane in its construction. Little effort seems to have gone in making this area little more than something functional for the occasional car or passerby on foot. At the very least, it is utilitarian in that it does seem to be keeping the encroaching woods at bay, at least for now.
It is night, about 80F(26C) degrees, There is a new moon.
(A group of supernatural hunters is out to get your target. Maybe for sport, maybe from ideology, in either case they need to survive for long enough that their allies can come and help them deal with the threat.
)
The western Haven forest is shrouded in darkness at this morning hour, the first light of the sun just barely touching the horizon, and far from making its way down past the canopy. Here, all is still and silent, shadows dancing amongst the ancient trees, their gnarled branches intertwined and only allowing the barest slivers of waning moonlight to pass through on the brightest of nights - this isn't one of them. The moon is new and the world is cloaked in gloaming. The din of the town is nowhere to be seen or heard from here, Nikolai having left even the stragglers of the red light district behind on his drive out into the forest.
The underbrush rustles with the subtle movements of nocturnal creatures tending to their burrows and nests, and the scent of pine needles and damp earth wafts through the air, soaked in the fragrant warmth of summer. Here and there by the roadside, wildflowers with dewdrop-laden petals stick out with their bright, energetic coloring against the otherwise green and black that surrounds Nikolai, and the road comes to an end here. Camp White Oak set up nearby seems lifeless, not a sign of movement to be heard from that direction - it's likely whoever manages it is asleep at this hour.
To the northwest, the bark of the trees are marred with golden flakes, subtle but discernible for those who have an eye for the supernatural, and those who know what lies beyond there. His workplace isn't far from here, just a few steps into the Fae Other to reach the bustling commune nearby, lively at all hours of the day, but there's not a sign of it right here, right now.
The silence is broken with the low hum of the engine as Nikolai pulls his car to a stop, the sound of the door opening and closing echoing around. He's probably not bothered by the darkness any - those with his skill at seeing through the darkness rarely would be. He's been around here long enough though, both in darkness and in light, to tell that something is subtly off today. Maybe there's just /too/ much stillness in the air, like someone holding their breath in anticipation. Maybe it's the rustling of the bushes, not quite what he's come to get used to - but really, how often does one spend a lot of time hanging around in the middle of the woods before being on their way? It's hard to figure out what it might really be, without a more thorough look around the surroundings, and really, this close to the Other, there's weird shit happening in the woods all the time, right?
Maybe he should be on his way now, go through the gate as he had originally planned on, without paying too much heed to it. Or maybe, maaabye, there's a glint of dangerous metal in the corner of his eye, while he's getting out of his car, hidden away amidst the bushes.
"My architect know Japanese,"
"Your girl, she jockin' these."
"No hands like soccer teams, and y'all fuck boys like Socrates."
Comfortable in his disturbing the quiet of the early morning, Nikolai hadn't really been paying too much attention as he cruises up Suncrest Lane, music drifting unsubtly from his opulent car as he comes to a park. He lets the radio run as he steps out, glancing around for witnesses before he crossed into the Other. He did care about not upsetting Venice with a breach of secrecy, after all - and that's what lets him catch that glint of metal, and he frowns. He glances towards the woods opposite, making sure that he's not about to be ambushed, then reaches into his jacket to grab a weathered and beaten-up ball-peen hammer from his jacket. It was hardly his preferred tool to fight with, but it would let him channel his inner fire better than if he had nothing at all.
"Reveal yourselves," he calls, white-knuckling the hammer in his grip. No overt use of powers until he knew these people were aware. It could be some of King's thugs from Boston, unhappy with increased Bratva presence, after all.
Utter stillness sets in again - suspicious. Very suspicious. Now that Nikolai's actually paying attention, he can figure out the silhouette of a figure ducked down behind the bushes, though maybe he may not have noticed the /other/ figure - a noisy approach, for what it's worth - who jumps in right from the opposite direction to throw a grenade at him. As far as greetings go, this is proving to by abysmal.
It's not a /grenade/-grenade, of course. It's better or worse, depending on how Nikolai feels about this, and whether he can stop himself from getting caught up in the dangerous hissing of a neutralization grenade that's thrown in his direction with a loud, "HAIYAAAH!", because everyone knows shouting really loud improves your aim.
Whoever these people are, they aren't complete amateurs, and they're certainly supernaturally aware, considering the grenade. The aim is slightly off, mostly due to Nikolai behind behind his car - it bounces right off the windshield, leaving a massive crack upon the surface and heading right for the large Russian man's direction if he doesn't manage to back away in time.
"Nikolai Ku- uhh- Mister Nikolai! You are under arrest by the authority of the Hunters! We will have your head!" says a feminine voice - the figure he'd spotted first, and both of them are headed right for him now.
It's a man and a woman with similar facial features - blonde-haired, both, with brown eyes and freckles dotted across their skin. Neither of them look like they're in their twenties yet, if Nikolai had to guess, and they really don't seem very good at being Hunters either if they think they carry any actual authority in the Supernatural world which lets them... arrest and behead supernaturals, apparently. There might be some wires crossed here. Whatever the case is, they're both definitely armed, with long blades each, and both seem ready to take him down right here.
"Blyat," Nikolai swears, throwing his hands up and summoning plate armour to shield his body at the sight of that lobbed grenade - and, no, wait, that's a neutralizer. FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. The armour blasts off Nikolai's figure and dissolves into nothingness as that electric pulse runs over him and forces his blood into dormancy, which pisses him off pretty bad. The cracked windscreen would be expensive, too, but he was more concerned about getting stabbed while he couldn't heal.
"You know," he says, flipping his hammer end over end, "I hate small, amateur hunter groups like you the most out of anyone. People like you killed my parents when I was just a baby. Some breakaway Temple sect. I hope you don't expect this to be easy for you." He points his hammer at the woman and backs up a step, reaching up to innocuously scratch his neck with his free hand... which taps twice at the implant buried there, firing off a distress beacon for Jane to path to him in the next minute or two.
"You don't know how this town works, I expect, if you are attacking me with swords. It will make it hard for you to move. So few attacks you can make that will not injure me so badly that Sanctuary will stop you. Come on, then. The Hand could use a few more chipped slaves."
"Easy?" the woman scoffs - she's more just a girl, really, they're both definitely teenagers, and the boy even has a few pimples on his face to show for it. They advance further, trying to surround him from both sides; they've got /some/ experience fighting together, it would seem, even if they could use a lot more. The neutralization should help them, at least - assuming they can finish this in the next fifteen minutes, unlikely as it is if Nikolai's going to turn this planned ambush from a two-versus-one into a two-versus-two.
"Nothing in life is easy. We lost our mother too, to /freaks/ like you," she spits the word out with disgust, her face twisted into a scowl as she advances, the sword whizzing through the air as she attempts to clip Nikolai - she's definitely slower than him, her reflexes not as sharp even with his blood being forced into dormancy. A human with little special training, if he hadn't figured it out yet. "And now we're going to make our parents proud, by taking you and people like you down." Lofty goals.
Her face darkens at his last words, and it's the boy that's rushing at him from the side now, attempting to get in a strike of his own while he's focused on the girl. "We will make you eat those words," he tells Nikolai, all edgily. "Not so strong without your 'divine' blood, are you?" He says it like a taunt too, as though his blood is something to be ashamed of.
Dodge, duck and weave - Nikolai /is/ trained. Warriorhood hadn't been innate to him like his creative abilities or his inner fire, and many hours had been spent with mortal and supernatural teachers to get his technique honed. He demonstrates this by snatching the young man's wrist out of the air with his attempted strike, then twisting it hard until he drops the sword onto the ground. Oh, yes: his strength remained, all of it. He was no shifter. The power in his arms could not be sapped away, even by a neutraliser grenade. He twists the boy around then, one hand on his throat as he pins him against his own chest, facing outwards. Let this woman try to stab him now!
"Plenty strong," he informs the struggling man in his grip. His eyes remain leveled at the remaining threat, though.
"Who is he to you?" he asks. "You could hurt him by accident. Sanctuary won't stop an accident. Are you ready to risk his life?"
The woman's blade stops an inch away from the man as his own sword clatters to the ground, and two pair of sharp brown eyes are turned Nikolai's way. "You're disgusting," the woman informs him, not daring to hurt the man in Nikolai's grip, whether it be by accident or otherwise; given how alike they look, it's more than likely they're siblings - twins - without any sanctuary to each other. Killing the man while trying to hurt Nikolai would be a terrible trade. "Let him go. Fight like a man - with honor."
In his grasp, the man struggles to get himself free, and his knee flexes in an attempt to kick Nikolai backwards right where it hurts - or just his shin, if that's too hard to reach. His strength is no match for Nikolai's, though; even neutralized, there's not much a human can do against those muscles, especially considering more than half a foot shorter, closer to a whole foot, hopefully still awaiting a growth spurt or two. He's certainly not willing to give up, though, struggling against someone' hold and turning his neck to try and bite the man outright.
Behind him, Nikolai can sense the bridges of a path connecting from a distant, faraway place - Jane will likely be here soon to assist.
The woman's blade stops an inch away from the man as his own sword clatters to the ground, and two pair of sharp brown eyes are turned Nikolai's way. "You're disgusting," the woman informs him, not daring to hurt the man in Nikolai's grip, whether it be by accident or otherwise; given how alike they look, it's more than likely they're siblings - twins - without any sanctuary to each other. Killing the man while trying to hurt Nikolai would be a terrible trade. "Let him go. Fight like a man - with honor."
In his grasp, the man struggles to get himself free, and his knee flexes in an attempt to kick Nikolai backwards right where it hurts - or just his shin, if that's too hard to reach. His strength is no match for Nikolai's, though; even neutralized, there's not much a human can do against those muscles, especially considering more than half a foot shorter, closer to a whole foot, hopefully still awaiting a growth spurt or two. He's certainly not willing to give up, though, struggling against Nikolai's hold and turning his neck to try and bite the man outright.
Behind him, Nikolai can sense the bridges of a path connecting from a distant, faraway place - Jane will likely be here soon to assist.
"Hah!" Nikolai laughs, amused by the young woman's challenge - and then he grunts with that foot in the thigh, forcing him to tip his body aside to not get his goolies crushed. He punches the young man in the back, right in the kidney. He'd earned that. "You cannot tell me that /this/ is dishonourable," he taunts. "You attack me two on one, then stumble when your own blood is in the way. That is not dishonour. That's bad fucking strategy." He sniffs. "Besides - if you're not fighting dirty, you aren't really fighting." He shoves the man forwards into the dirt, taking another step back, but there's a smirk spreading along his features, now. With him and Jane together, there's not a chance these two kids could win. "You lost your mother; now your father will have lost her /and/ the both of you. You will be chipped and moved on. Not in America, no; we will probably send you to work in Asian sweatshops until they stop looking for you. Whether we keep you together or separate you for the rest of your lives, though... Well, that's up to me, isn't it?"
The man lets out a loud groan of pain and stumbles to the ground on all fours when he's shoved away from Nikolai he's gonna need a moment to recover from that punch, the pain making him regret many of his life's decisions at the moment. The girl, with her sword and one eye still pointed at Nikolai, reaches down to steady him - or more accurately, to pull him up so he doesn't have his back to Nikolai on the ground anymore, and he scrabbles for his sword on his way up, ending up with it back in his hand even if he's looking a little battered already.
Though they're more concerned with tending to each other for a few seconds, Nikolai can still sense the spike of fear in the air at his words, both of them taking on a more defensive stance instead of the initial aggressive one. They'd come in here foolhardily - or perhaps with not enough information to deal with him, expecting an easy fight once the demigod had been neutralized, and they're here now with the woman's hand clutching at the man's, who's just barely managed to stand upright once more - and they freeze once they glance back at Nikolai and catch sight of the svelte vampire woman in a suit behind him, stepping out of this end of the path.
They share a look with each other; meaningful, the way only a lifetime of knowing another person can being into being. A silent back-and-forth, and then a decision, mutual.
They run for the trees.
OOC: You can choose to end the encounter here and let them flee, or chase them down, if you wish!?
Absolutely not. Nikolai isn't about to let these two plucky teenagers grow into proper Templars who consider him 'the one that got away'. He bounds after them, faster and stronger than any human, and just to make sure, he issues a command over his communications: "Jane, get their legs. Couple of wannabe hunters." The young man would probably be machismo enough to stop and try to save his sister, he thinks, where the girl would probably regroup and come back with a real force to try and save her brother. Maybe that was sexist of him, but if he was wrong, then there was no real harm over going for the brother, instead. He kicks her legs out from under her and tackles her down to the ground as soon as he gets into range, pinning her by the throat and squeezing hard enough that she should black out if he isn't knocked off her in the next few moments.
The girl goes down with a scream that's shrill enough to hurt Nikolai's ears - maybe she's part banshee instead of being all human after all. Birds fly out of trees with that loud noise, but she's well and truly down and pinned beneath Nikolai's weight, all the air getting knocked out of her with the impact. The boy had barely been any far ahead - he turns back around immediately and leaps straight at Nikolai, aiming a fist for his face. If that connects, it's definitely going to leave a nasty bruise across his jaw.
"Alina-- Let go of her!"
Hook, line, and sinker, as they say.
Well, let it not be said that it wasn't a good call for them to have opened with that neutraliser - Nikolai's so used to his regular toughness that he simply lets the swing connect, crushing the meat of his cheek up against the bone; yeah, that'll bruise. For as long as it takes for his healing to kick back in, anyway. "Blyat," he spits, his lips turning down into a sneer. Then there's a whistle and a thipp as a tranquiliser dark buries itself in the boy's thigh, and Nikolai turns back to nod to his stealthy vampire assistant. "Da, good shoot," he grunts, his face purpling. He finally releases Alina's poor throat once she goes fully limp, then ties her hands behind her back to be transported later. They'd need a little time to be taken out of Haven, but the chips should teach them that it would be more pleasant to comply than be electrocuted repeatedly. The brother might take a little while longer, but he's sure to fall, too, and gets the same treatment once he does. Two young people that wouldn't be going to the Temple. Better than the trip to the Other he'd been interested in to begin with.
Well, let it not be said that it wasn't a good call for them to have opened with that neutraliser - Nikolai's so used to his regular toughness that he simply lets the swing connect, crushing the meat of his cheek up against the bone; yeah, that'll bruise. For as long as it takes for his healing to kick back in, anyway. "Blyat," he spits, his lips turning down into a sneer. Then there's a whistle and a thipp as a tranquiliser dark buries itself in the boy's thigh, and Nikolai turns back to nod to his stealthy vampire assistant. "Da, good shot," he grunts, his face purpling. He finally releases Alina's poor throat once she goes fully limp, then ties her hands behind her back to be transported later. They'd need a little time to be taken out of Haven, but the chips should teach them that it would be more pleasant to comply than be electrocuted repeatedly. The brother might take a little while longer, but he's sure to fall, too, and gets the same treatment once he does. Two young people that wouldn't be going to the Temple. Better than the trip to the Other he'd been interested in to begin with. (fix)
That spike of fear earlier had already shown Nikolai how pliable they'd be with the other as hostage - isn't that the downside to all relationships in Haven? - and once the tranquilizer starts working its way through the boy's muscles, he goes down as well, though not without a lot of clawing and scrabbling at Nikolai while trying to his his sister free - the poor girl's going to wake up with a necklace of ugly, purpling bruises. And now Nikolai and Jane are left here to clean up the mess.
Running an investigation on the two of them would reveal their names to be Alina and Adrian Ashford, who had been named briefly in the paper after the tragic, violent passing of their mother a dozen or so years ago, after which their father had fallen into deep depression and alcoholism, leaving them practically fatherless as well. They'd been handled poorly, without a proper round of amnesia and hypnotism that would surround such an incident, and all the trauma would eventually lead to them knocking on the door of a branch of the Hunters, who certainly had not approved a mission for them taking on a veteran Demigod before even completing their training; this seems to have been the result of some stolen intel on a Nikolai Kuznetsov, and the overconfidence of two teenagers desperate to prove themselves and start the climbing of a ladder on their way to avenging their parent.
Well, at least they don't have to worry about that anymore.
(Your target and their allies have been tasked with extracting a piece of information from a member of an opposing faction or subfaction but they cannot break the understanding to do so.
)
As Korina wanders through the upper-class clothing store, filled with all kinds of haut couture and other fashion terms that she neither knows nor cares about, her earpiece crackles to life. The sound quality is a little grainy, so it's probably been patched through at least two repeaters before reaching her.
"Privet," crunches out a Russian accent. It's much thinner and reedier than Nikolai or Konstantin's. "This is, eh, Artyom. I work with Nikolai. He ask me, eh, look into Hunter activity nearby. So I do and I see some in town there in Haven. I'm thinking, you go capture, Nikolai tells us both good job for getting information from them, right?" He pauses, then adds, "They attack him just earlier. He's in room with no signal, dealing with them, so I cannot just tell him do it. You want revenge for him?" There's just a little knowing touch to his voice - if he works for Nikolai, he probably knows of Korina through reputation, and how to bait a hook for her.
Korina certainly doesn't /look/ like she belongs in here, what with having absolutely no eye for what pieces of clothing are The Good Ones, and the older woman in an elegant gray skirt suit who assists customers nearby might be feeling generous because she hasn't been kicked out yet. Or maybe she thinks Korina's a sugar baby out to be outfitted, since she's certainly got credit and/or debit cards on her, and really, why turn down an easy commission like that?
Either way, when her earpiece crackles to life, Korina casts a quick glance around the place before she reaches up surreptitiously for it to talk back, letting out a very articulate: "... what."
She needs another few moments to figure out what the hell Artyom is talking about through that thick accent of his, but 'they attack him' is explanatory enough to have Korina storming out of the store immediately - fuck shopping. "Where is he?" she asks, getting on her bike with her voice steely - she's definitely talking about Nikolai instead of the Hunters here. There's a pause to reconsider, and then she asks, "Where are /they/?" Might as well knock the Hunters out first so she can drag them to Nikolai for double the praise. Genius.
"I don't know, some Hand cell to block signal," sighs the Russian on the other end of the line. "He is the boss, I do not ask question. He is fine." His sniff is audible through whatever microphone he's using to patch in to Korina, and the sound of his snotty cold is made all the crispier and chunkier by having the sound quality deepfried through the long transmission. RF is truly the superior form of communication. "There seems to be small Hunter cell in the docks. I have no details on what set-up they have, only that they are there. You ask me, is probably using shipping container and going rough. Only named command is James Knowles. Ex-Temple who has since gone more independent. Anyone else, small potatoes. I mean, unless this is bad intelligence, but I am probably right."
This must be a highly trustworthy Russian man in the chair, here. He's /probably/ right. Regardless, he didn't seem to be too concerned for Korina's safety. It wouldn't be too hard to track people through the big industrial dock; there would be plenty of scents around, but that just meant that the Hunters would have to be in one of the quieter areas to have any privacy.