Post by crypted on May 18, 2023 1:07:29 GMT
[attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;border-radius:15px;background-color:#444267;border:3px #8D383B solid;color:#4b0101;padding:8px;font-family:high tower text;"]THE CRYPTID
Code by Illirica
Code by Illirica
[googlefont="georgia"][attr="style","display:grid;grid-template-columns:16px auto 16px;grid-template-rows:16px auto 16px;grid-template-areas:'CornerTL Top CornerTR' 'Left Main Right' 'CornerBL Bottom CornerBR';background-color:#444267;padding:6px;border:1px #4b0101 solid;"]
[attr="style","grid-area:CornerTL;padding:4px;"]
[attr="style","grid-area:Top;padding:4px;"]
[attr="style","grid-area:CornerTR;padding:4px;"]
[attr="style","grid-area:Left;padding:4px;"]
[attr="style","grid-area:Right;padding:4px;"]
[attr="style","grid-area:CornerBL;padding:4px;"]
[attr="style","grid-area:Bottom;padding:4px;"]
[attr="style","grid-area:CornerBR;padding:4px;"]
[attr="style","grid-area:Main;color:#DFD0B7;padding:9px;"]
[attr="style","grid-area:Left;"]
Columbus, Ohio.
14 months ago.
A dark alley. At one end, a man smoking. From the other, someone in dirty clothes, walking with purpose. As one turned to face the other, there was a murmur of voices, conversation that most wouldn’t be able to make out. As far as they were aware, there wasn’t anyone to hear them anyway.
They weren’t aware of the monster in the alley.
The Cryptid listened to the hushed conversation. There was a cold feeling in his chest as he watched both buyer and dealer, saw merchandise and money exchange hands. He could already tell this was part of something bigger. Just a gut feeling. Not as important as the other feeling in his gut as he measured up the pair from his perch on the building corner above the dealer. While the junkie seemed smaller, the dealer definitely wasn’t working alone. He could be followed, or tracked later.
Columbus was supposed to be a stopover. It was just supposed to be another city to pause in, to resupply, stretch the ol’ legs. No more than a month or two. Any longer, and someone might start to notice the disappearances. Plus, he was a little strapped for cash. Maybe he’d work part time for a while.
He almost didn’t notice the sound of padding feet coming from a side alley, even narrower than the main one. He almost didn’t see the small movement, so the others definitely didn’t. He let himself be distracted for that one moment, long enough to squint into the dark and make out the dull shape.
She was wearing a blue full-body leotard, glitter spangled mask, and new sneakers. Her hair was braided up and back tightly off her face. She looked more like a ballet dancer than a criminal. It took him a second too long to register what else she might be here to do, and even then he almost couldn’t believe it. Not in that getup, right?
Even as that crossed his mind, though, she decided to make her move. Todd’s brain spiraled just long enough to watch her hop up into the air and give the addict a spinning kick. Then he clicked back into work mode.
She went for the wrong one first. She had to be new at this. The addict wasn’t a threat – maybe he had a switchblade somewhere, but he was knocked to the ground in one hit. She wouldn’t have had time to turn around before the other one had his gun drawn.
Good thing Cryptid didn’t need to turn. Just drop, and let gravity do the rest as he let his whole weight go into the downward kick.
The dealer’s head hit the ground with an ugly cracking sound. Annoyed, Cryptid stood up, watching for shallow breath. He saw it after only a moment of study. Then he turned his masked face to the addict, who was staring at the unlikely pair and blanched when he saw the toothy smile of his mask.
“What’re you lookin’ at?” he growled. “Get lost.”
Todd watched him scrambled to his feet, and then held up a hand. “Wait a second. Drop the package.”
“B-but–”
Todd closed his fist, and used the clawed blades of his weapons to point to the crumpled, unconscious dealer. The package hit the ground with a soft thump, followed by the thuds of feet on asphalt. Todd took a breath of the man’s scent disguised as a deep sigh, then turned toward the new vigilante.
“Whaddya call yourself, kid?”
“Uuuh…” The girl blinked down at the gun, her eyes seemingly drawn to the slight trickle of blood from the drug dealer’s forehead before she shook herself back into the moment. “Breeze.”
Under the mask, Todd raised an eyebrow.
“Breeze.”
“Yeah. Breeze.” She folded her arms and puffed out her chest with what Todd knew was supposed to be a deliberate frown, but turned out as a pout. “You got a problem with that, Mister…?”
He ignored the deliberate pause for his name, instead dropping down onto his heels to start patting the man’s pockets. “No, no. Just not very intimidating.”
He felt the burn of the kid’s gaze, and even smiled a little as he found what he was looking for.
“Fine, let’s hear yours.”
“My what?” His smile faded, and he spared her a glance before flipping back through the dealer’s wallet. Name, address— and the license had expired the month before. Might not be completely accurate, but it was a start he’d just about lost. And – score – some cash. Back to that later. For now, he stuffed the wallet back into the man’s pocket.
“Your- whatever you call it. Nickname. If you’re such an expert, what’s yours?”
“Alias,” Todd said, with no attempt to hide the dull exasperation in his voice. She clearly thought she was being clever. He didn’t want to have anything else to do with her, but maybe if he threw her a bone she’d just leave him be. “Mine’s Cryptid.”
“Cryptid?” She was trying to imitate his tone from before, judgmental and disapproving, but ended up sounding too inquisitive.
“Yep.” He reached down to heft the man up over his shoulder. “Y’know. Mothman, Bigfoot, skinchangers, Nessie, the wend-”
“Wait!” Breeze interrupted. She grabbed his free arm, as if to stop him. “Where are you going with him?”
Cryptid paused halfway to his feet, head tilted slightly. It’d been a bit since he’d last eaten, but he felt like if he really wanted to he could shake her off. That would be rude, though. Todd wasn’t in the habit of immediately making enemies.
“Well, I was going to follow him. Now I’ve gotta find out what he’s been up to the hard way.” He waved dismissively. “Don’t you have school or something tomorrow?”
Under the mask, Breeze’s green eyes went wide. “You’re going to torture him?”
“What?” Far better hidden under his own mask, Todd scrunched his face. The kid was getting too nosy. “No. I’m going to interrogate him. You know, just going to ask him some questions. Find out who he’s dealing for.”
“And you think he’s just going to answer your questions?”
Cryptid huffed. “Listen, kid–”
“Breeze.”
“Breeze,” he conceded, “I’ve clearly been doing this a lot longer than you. I can handle it from here. You go home before curfew, do your homework…”
“How old do you think I am?”
“I dunno, high school?” He shook his head and put his hand up before she could interject. “Look, it doesn’t matter. You’re in over your head. Let someone professional handle this.”
“Like the cops?”
He scowled. “You know what I mean. Thank you for the help.”
“You’re welcome. Where’re we going?”
“We’re not–” and he saw the look on her face, under the glittery domino mask. She had very warm green eyes, and she was doing her best to glare at him. He sighed. Food another time, then, fucking fine. He wasn’t that hungry anyway. (Untrue.) But he saw that unless he did something about this kid, directly or otherwise, she wasn’t going anywhere. Besides, if he left her alone again, who knew how long it’d be before she almost got herself shot again. He ran his free hand through his hair with a frustrated sound, then pointed at her.
“You’d better not get in my way.”
Her glittery domino mask didn’t hide her triumphant smile. “No, sir, Mr. Cryptid, sir. Where’re we off to?”
They weren’t aware of the monster in the alley.
The Cryptid listened to the hushed conversation. There was a cold feeling in his chest as he watched both buyer and dealer, saw merchandise and money exchange hands. He could already tell this was part of something bigger. Just a gut feeling. Not as important as the other feeling in his gut as he measured up the pair from his perch on the building corner above the dealer. While the junkie seemed smaller, the dealer definitely wasn’t working alone. He could be followed, or tracked later.
Columbus was supposed to be a stopover. It was just supposed to be another city to pause in, to resupply, stretch the ol’ legs. No more than a month or two. Any longer, and someone might start to notice the disappearances. Plus, he was a little strapped for cash. Maybe he’d work part time for a while.
He almost didn’t notice the sound of padding feet coming from a side alley, even narrower than the main one. He almost didn’t see the small movement, so the others definitely didn’t. He let himself be distracted for that one moment, long enough to squint into the dark and make out the dull shape.
She was wearing a blue full-body leotard, glitter spangled mask, and new sneakers. Her hair was braided up and back tightly off her face. She looked more like a ballet dancer than a criminal. It took him a second too long to register what else she might be here to do, and even then he almost couldn’t believe it. Not in that getup, right?
Even as that crossed his mind, though, she decided to make her move. Todd’s brain spiraled just long enough to watch her hop up into the air and give the addict a spinning kick. Then he clicked back into work mode.
She went for the wrong one first. She had to be new at this. The addict wasn’t a threat – maybe he had a switchblade somewhere, but he was knocked to the ground in one hit. She wouldn’t have had time to turn around before the other one had his gun drawn.
Good thing Cryptid didn’t need to turn. Just drop, and let gravity do the rest as he let his whole weight go into the downward kick.
The dealer’s head hit the ground with an ugly cracking sound. Annoyed, Cryptid stood up, watching for shallow breath. He saw it after only a moment of study. Then he turned his masked face to the addict, who was staring at the unlikely pair and blanched when he saw the toothy smile of his mask.
“What’re you lookin’ at?” he growled. “Get lost.”
Todd watched him scrambled to his feet, and then held up a hand. “Wait a second. Drop the package.”
“B-but–”
Todd closed his fist, and used the clawed blades of his weapons to point to the crumpled, unconscious dealer. The package hit the ground with a soft thump, followed by the thuds of feet on asphalt. Todd took a breath of the man’s scent disguised as a deep sigh, then turned toward the new vigilante.
“Whaddya call yourself, kid?”
“Uuuh…” The girl blinked down at the gun, her eyes seemingly drawn to the slight trickle of blood from the drug dealer’s forehead before she shook herself back into the moment. “Breeze.”
Under the mask, Todd raised an eyebrow.
“Breeze.”
“Yeah. Breeze.” She folded her arms and puffed out her chest with what Todd knew was supposed to be a deliberate frown, but turned out as a pout. “You got a problem with that, Mister…?”
He ignored the deliberate pause for his name, instead dropping down onto his heels to start patting the man’s pockets. “No, no. Just not very intimidating.”
He felt the burn of the kid’s gaze, and even smiled a little as he found what he was looking for.
“Fine, let’s hear yours.”
“My what?” His smile faded, and he spared her a glance before flipping back through the dealer’s wallet. Name, address— and the license had expired the month before. Might not be completely accurate, but it was a start he’d just about lost. And – score – some cash. Back to that later. For now, he stuffed the wallet back into the man’s pocket.
“Your- whatever you call it. Nickname. If you’re such an expert, what’s yours?”
“Alias,” Todd said, with no attempt to hide the dull exasperation in his voice. She clearly thought she was being clever. He didn’t want to have anything else to do with her, but maybe if he threw her a bone she’d just leave him be. “Mine’s Cryptid.”
“Cryptid?” She was trying to imitate his tone from before, judgmental and disapproving, but ended up sounding too inquisitive.
“Yep.” He reached down to heft the man up over his shoulder. “Y’know. Mothman, Bigfoot, skinchangers, Nessie, the wend-”
“Wait!” Breeze interrupted. She grabbed his free arm, as if to stop him. “Where are you going with him?”
Cryptid paused halfway to his feet, head tilted slightly. It’d been a bit since he’d last eaten, but he felt like if he really wanted to he could shake her off. That would be rude, though. Todd wasn’t in the habit of immediately making enemies.
“Well, I was going to follow him. Now I’ve gotta find out what he’s been up to the hard way.” He waved dismissively. “Don’t you have school or something tomorrow?”
Under the mask, Breeze’s green eyes went wide. “You’re going to torture him?”
“What?” Far better hidden under his own mask, Todd scrunched his face. The kid was getting too nosy. “No. I’m going to interrogate him. You know, just going to ask him some questions. Find out who he’s dealing for.”
“And you think he’s just going to answer your questions?”
Cryptid huffed. “Listen, kid–”
“Breeze.”
“Breeze,” he conceded, “I’ve clearly been doing this a lot longer than you. I can handle it from here. You go home before curfew, do your homework…”
“How old do you think I am?”
“I dunno, high school?” He shook his head and put his hand up before she could interject. “Look, it doesn’t matter. You’re in over your head. Let someone professional handle this.”
“Like the cops?”
He scowled. “You know what I mean. Thank you for the help.”
“You’re welcome. Where’re we going?”
“We’re not–” and he saw the look on her face, under the glittery domino mask. She had very warm green eyes, and she was doing her best to glare at him. He sighed. Food another time, then, fucking fine. He wasn’t that hungry anyway. (Untrue.) But he saw that unless he did something about this kid, directly or otherwise, she wasn’t going anywhere. Besides, if he left her alone again, who knew how long it’d be before she almost got herself shot again. He ran his free hand through his hair with a frustrated sound, then pointed at her.
“You’d better not get in my way.”
Her glittery domino mask didn’t hide her triumphant smile. “No, sir, Mr. Cryptid, sir. Where’re we off to?”