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Post by skyeknight on Jun 12, 2017 18:39:48 GMT
Jane couldn't put it off any longer. She needed to go hunting. It was one of those urges - a thing she attributed to her troll half. She liked going out and hunting. It was fun and not to mention it had pissed the living daylights out of her 'foster parents' particularly her foster mother. It was unladylike after all. But Jane enjoyed it. At first, it was an act of rebellion, but it became one of those things she happily embraced. Her prey today, were the large Burmese pythons that had been set lose in the bayous. They weren't particularly edible, but they were a nuisance species. Even better, was that there was a bounty on the head of each snake brought in so the wildlife research facility could study them and try to curb the species' invasion.
She could happily say she had bagged three so far. Not easy work considering one of them tried to take a bite out of her. Omar would never let her live it down if she let the snake win so she snapped it's jaws and broke it's neck before a bullet to the head killed it dead. For good measure. Each of them had a bullet to the head. To keep the snake mostly in tact. It was only the stomach they wanted to see anyways. She hauled her dead snakes over to her truck and headed back to the research facility to cash in on her bounties. |
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Post by Zuyuri on Jun 12, 2017 19:19:30 GMT
After nearly got Croc as a team, Shadow was back at the bayou. He was openly defying Anna's pleas to stay at his desk. But looking after criminals was second nature. Besides, the officers had search warrants in the bayou. The pain in his shoulder was slowly dwindling; Sunshine had applied her sun healing and his aim was getting better. This time, he had just the tranquilizers armed. There was no need to upset people today.
He hopped up a tree to scope out the bayou, narrowing his eyes for any traces of the reptile. One type of reptile found him, and it wasn't the kind he was looking for. Most people freaked if a snake got upbthem, but not Shadow.
His response? Shrug it off like a coat. The Python did a graceful lope before slithering down the trunk.
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Post by skyeknight on Jun 12, 2017 19:31:06 GMT
Jane was driving along when she saw something move in one of the trees. She rolled to a stop and stopped to see what it was. The snakes could get up that high if they so chose, or it could have been a bird. She did have a hankering for wild bird. Maybe she would get lucky and find herself dinner as well. So she picked up the rifle scope off her gun and peered through it, to see if she would need to pick up her weapon and take a shot. She was given pause though when she saw a dark figure - an Other - in the marsh with a Burmese python slithering towards him. Jane swore and clamored out of the truck.
"Hey, moron! Get out of there! That thing will eat you and then I'll have to save your dumb ass!" she shouted.
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Post by Zuyuri on Jun 12, 2017 19:37:43 GMT
Crap. A park ranger. So much for getting a good scope. Besides, if the Python did try to eat him, it'd choke. Shadow rolled his eyes before jumping down. The snake would have no luck getting him now. Maybe a meal of a bird would suffice. He bit back the annoyed response of what would be worse; a snake or half crocodilian getting you. Guns the rangers carried would do nothing except make Croc mad. As his feet made impact on the ground, he inaarsly sighed in relief. At least the sound waves wouldn't give away his position
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Post by skyeknight on Jun 12, 2017 20:07:56 GMT
The snake was going right for the guy. She rolled her eyes and leveled her gun atop the roof of the car. She took a deep breath and looking through the scope, she pointed it at the snake. A gunshot rang out, missing both the Other man and the snake, but deterring the snake from taking a bite out of the person in the marshes. She was not going to drive some stupid hunter to the hospital because he lacked the common sense not to get eaten by a giant snake.
"C'mon, get in the truck!" she shouted, motioning for the person to get inside. Safer in the truck than it was outside.
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Post by Zuyuri on Jun 12, 2017 20:46:56 GMT
A gunshot rang through the bayou. The good news was the bullet had not been a kill shot. The shot was a scare tactic. Rangers used it to keep wildlife from getting a taste of unsuspecting tourist. The snake darted away, a dark ribbon in the trees. Shadow watched it leave, and looked at the female beckoning him. Anyone who used a gun responsibly impressed him. In a state where any redneck could buy one and abuse it, that wasn't saying a lot.
He approached her with his badge and a picture of the reptilian man he was hunting. Plus, she could get a glimpse that the python's she was afraid of hurting him would gag or get impaled by his red and black spikes.
"With all due respect, ma'am, what I'm dealing with a bit more dangerous than an invasive species. I'm looking for Waylon Jones, better known as Killer Croc..."
No sooner had he said that when a guttural roar echoed from the bayou. Shadow cocked his tranquilizer, his red eyes scanning the waters.
"And those pythons are just an appetizer to him. So, you have to ask the same question I did. What's worse? Letting pythons roam free or have dozens of innocent people die?"
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Post by skyeknight on Jun 12, 2017 21:03:55 GMT
"A cop...?" she asked.
But he answered her question. He was looking for a criminal. The bayou was not the first place that Jane would have looked. Killer Croc. Jane hadn't heard of him, but he must be something fierce if he thought hiding in the bayou was a good idea. The roar set them both on edge. Jane reached for her gun, and she reloaded the rifle. For protection, she told herself. The snakes she killed were nothing compared to a giant monster. As long as she got out okay, she could care less what happened to the dead snakes in the back of her truck, though she wanted that to come out in one piece too. She just finished paying it off.
"Fuck..." she muttered. "A killer out here? What are the chances?"
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Post by Zuyuri on Jun 12, 2017 21:55:36 GMT
Well that roar said one thing. Both of them were incredibly close to Croc. Whether it was a smell or the scare shot, he was coming closer. The girl loaded her rifle. Shadow understood why; protection. He stepped forward, scanning the water for any signs of a sneak attack or him simply waiting. "The good news is he's easy to take out. The bad news is...well...they don't call him croc for nothing." He was narrowing his eyes, almost daring the killer to come out. H ealso positioned himself to so he could protect the person if anything funny happened.
A gurgling chuckle came from the bayou. Of course, it echoed, and it was tricky to pinpoint where it was coming from.
Shadow took a breath, and cocked his gun. So much for wasting a paralyzer dart. He aimed towards just above the surface of the water, where the water turned black. The shot rang over the water. As he had hoped to see, a large, muscular beefy arm swatted upward, coming back down as the dart managed to hit him. Well, crap; without a puncutre wound, the dart would do shit At least he knew where he was. Now it was a matter of getting to him AND dragging him to the trap he had set back up.
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Post by skyeknight on Jun 13, 2017 1:52:41 GMT
Jane popped out through the driver's side window again, her rifle pointed at the water, ready to shoot at the beast and be done with things. Her eyes trained through the scope. She doubted she needed it for a target that large and she was proven right. She gasped in surprise. He was absolutely enormous. Her truck wouldn't stand an attack from something like that. So much for being safe in the truck. She wondered if she shouldn't grab the police officer and drive for it, but how fast could this 'Croc' swim? Not a question she wanted to find out.
She took a deep breath, evening her breathing and forcing herself to relax. If she got jittery her shots would be off. She could get off nearly 5 rounds in a minute. Even with reloading. That beast had a reaction time of half a second. So two to three rounds before it would lash out. But Shadow's tranquilizer didn't even pierce the scales. If she could shoot, knock a few scales loose, then the police officer could shoot into the squishy bits. One. Two. Three. It had to work, right? He said it was a people killer. As much as she hated police officers, she couldn't knowingly let a killer go surfing around the bayou unattended.
"How many shots do you have?" she asked.
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Post by Zuyuri on Jun 13, 2017 2:41:43 GMT
An eleven foot tall behemoth? Yeah, facing him alone would be suicide. Like it or not, he needed this girl's help. At least she got a glimpse of how big he really was. A picture did nothing except show his nasty mug. Besides, driving off could lead to something far worse. Not just for her truck, but for innocent people. What if Croc got whiff of scents in the city? It was a mess he did not feel like cleaning up.
Shadow heard her breathe, and she asked how many shots were in his rifle.. Not counting the tranquilizer gun he had, he still carried his pistol. He had an idea of where this was going. Shoot the hide, expose the vulnerable skin when it peeled away. There was a fifty fifty chance it would work. He switched out his rifle and checked his rounds.
"Fifteen." He hadn't fired any since he loaded. "You?"
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Post by skyeknight on Jun 13, 2017 14:23:50 GMT
"Sixteen."
She had brought a full twenty rounds with her. Three were in her dead snakes. One had been a scare tactic to 'save' the police officer. Wasted. She scooped up the rounds for her rifle. With all the bullets as close to the chamber as possible, it might help her shots per minute. Except she had to reload her gun after every shot fired. Hell, she could even use her dead snakes as bait. This was just like alligator hunting, except she had to bag this one alive and she couldn't eat it. Easy, right? She slowly removed the scope. With a target that large, it would only get in the way. Thankfully, it hadn't noticed them yet. The element of surprise was on their side.
"So... I shoot a soft spot and you tranq it?" she questioned, wondering if they were indeed on the same page.
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Post by Zuyuri on Jun 13, 2017 17:06:12 GMT
"Okay."
He checked the water again, just in case Croc had moved. With the darkness, it was tricky to tell if there was a moving shape. Croc knew they were there, but this was a strategy he used time after time when he found a likely target; he waited for the prey to come to them. Or, if he was hungry enough, desperately charging out and taking care of them there. Shadow checked the readings on his guns. One good thing about being ambidextrous, the plan Jane - he know realized where he knew her from, Omar's daughter whom he saved from Vanitas being a creep as usual - was proposing could actually work.
"...And yeah, for now that's the plan. I have a trap set up about six leagues from here and I can carry him to it once he's out."
The scary part was now. Becoming live bait. The jets in his skates started their quiet hum. He couldn't risk Jane going out there. Yes, she was a good shot and tougher than the average girl, but she was also delicate flesh and bone. The water swirled and swished as she skated out to the deep end, glaring at the water.
No sooner had gotten to te brink when he heard a huffed snarl. Even scarier, that snarl was speaking; "You think I'm scared of you, Griffiths? I'm getting hungry..."
About six feet away, Croc emerged. All muscle, a huge hide of thick green scales, sharp teeth and yellow eyes. The downside? No shock collar. Must haave gotten shaken off while in the bayou. Shit. There was only one thing to do. Start shooting with the gun to lure him. He backed up, looking at the meatier parts of the body. Those scales would be easier to shake off. One bullet. Two bullets. Three bullets. He wasn't close enough to see if was working, but it was getting Croc annoyed.
"Ready?!" he called out to Jane.
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Post by skyeknight on Jun 13, 2017 17:40:09 GMT
To her surprise, the man leapt out onto the water to lure the monster croc out. When it emerged, Jane didn't take her time. She fired a shot at him. Reload. Fifteen shots left. Fire. Fourteen shots left. Reload. Fire. Thirteen shots left. Reload. Fire. Twelve shots left. She was aiming at the softer underbelly of the beast. The scales, which dragged against the bayou bottom as he swam, were likely easier to lodge free than his tougher back. She just had to get a few scales loose. That was the only target. Well, that and not killing the crocodile which was a first for her.
"Ready!" she declared.
She fired again. 'Griffiths' had the more dangerous job of acting as bait. The idiot. Also, he called out to backup which gave away her element of surprise, though she supposed the gunshots did that as well. She fired again. Reload. Eleven shots. She couldn't tell without her scope if things were working. If not, there was always the old fashioned way - alligator wrestling. Her father would act like he disapproved but she knew better. She had a knife and a rope if things got down too messy.
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Post by Zuyuri on Jun 13, 2017 18:06:25 GMT
The bullets from Jane were hitting exactly where he wanted it to. Good. Even better, Croc was too focused on him to get mad and her and turning her truck into a video game level. Shadow knocked his gun, following her lead. The three bullets he left had him at twelve shots. Six shots from hoth side was starting to leave a patch open. Good. Only a couple more. Twelve. Eleven. Ten.
A scale was flicked off from Jane's gun,. It fell into the water like a discarded fingernail. Shadow had only one shot at this and one tranquilizer that would last three hours. Croc was coming over, exposing the weak spot. Shadow changed guns.
"Sleep tight."
That was the last words Croc heard before he got a fierce pierce in the soft underbelly. Shadow dodged as the arm swiped. The tranqulizer took fifteen seconds to kick in. The beast's eyes were starting to roll. The charge slowed to basically a slow crawl, head down, panting slowly. The hands came down, the breathing slowed, and he lay on the ground, the large chest heaving up and down.
Shadow panted, the adrenaline slowing in his own veins. Once he settled, he'd take Croc to the trap. For now, he had to cool down. "...You're Omar's daughter, right?"
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Post by skyeknight on Jun 13, 2017 18:30:41 GMT
Ten. Nine. And a scale fell. Jane's eyes widened when Shadow lunged in. She was almost afraid she would have to scrape him out of the bayou and drag his sorry ass to the hospital - snakes in the back of the truck and all. Now that would make for an interesting story. The tranquilizer struck a soft spot and Killer Croc went crashing down. Jane grinned. She was a good markswoman and she knew it. She supposed this was only proven because she hadn't shot to kill the serial killer crocodile man. Captured alive. And three giant snakes. It had been an eventful day.
"Not bad." she told the officer. "I guess we'll make a hunter out of you yet..."
She set her gun in the cab of her truck and went for the rope. While Shadow could have dragged him along by sheer strength alone, it was easier to hog tie Killer Croc first. She snapped the rope tight and smirked at the officer. She walked over to Croc, treading through the water since she couldn't run atop it like Shadow could. She started to wrap the rope around Croc's massive wrists. He really was a monster of a man.
"You a friend of dad's?" she asked.
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