Close Encounters (Open)

Marleigh had heard rumors. More than anywhere else in the city, it was in the park late at night where visitors from another planet would pay a little visit to the inhabitants of Earth.

Of course she did not need to go out of her way like this just to meet aliens. While not numerous, the city was in fact home to a few of them. Some were even heroes, while others chose to be part of the less pleasant crowd. What she was after was encountering extraterrestrial life who were visiting the planet for the very first time and had little if any knowledge about it: a meeting of curious minds stepping into new frontiers. If her sources were right, then there was a high chance to get such an encounter in the park at night.

Unfortunately for Marleigh, her source was the internet. But with information technology not exactly being a specialty of hers, she was blissfully unaware that there was a higher chance of her source being a hoax than a villain robbing a store somewhere downtown at this very moment.

Not one to give up so easily, Marleigh had already planned to stay out all night. And quite possibly for several more nights depending on when her schedule was free. She at least had the sense to think that it could not possibly be so simple or convenient. She sat on a park bench and started knitting to pass the time. She figured a gift would be good manners and leave a positive impression. She wondered if they would like wool scarves. It was a rather cool evening after all.

Zenro had not heard any rumors. Beyond his initial night in Jump City, he had not had much interaction with people or much of anything. Most of the time was spent hibernating to heal himself, and attuning himself to this new planet.

He had made the decision that this area with a abundance of trees, especially in comparison to the other areas of this new place, would be a good place to hibernate. There were most certainly better areas elsewhere, but at the time of this decision standards were sacrificed just to get started on his hibernating.

Straight ahead from the park bench that Marleigh sat on, in a cluster of trees, Zenro sat against a tree. His eyes were opened, but glazed over. He was clad in his leather clothes as his wolf pelt, his wolf ears twitching softly, responding to the various sounds of the night around him. His chest rose and fell slowly as he took in the air around him as he worked to commune with his element, needing to do so to work with his element in this new world. As his chest rose and fell gently, it caused the chains connecting the shackles around his arms to clank together.

For the two previous days he had been here, he had not been disturbed, something that was good for both parties involved. Then again, the people that were around here during those days most likely weren't looking to meet with people who didn't have the same planet of origin as them.

While she was busying herself knitting, an evening breeze would occasionally blow, ruffling her hair. It was really quiet and peaceful. It was around then that she began wondering if perhaps it was too quiet. There were no owls or bats flying about. No croaking frogs or buzzing insects could be heard either. Animals had much sharper senses than any human. Though Marleigh was no ordinary person, it was not like she could smell if something was amiss. Her pondering was answered by a strong wind, blowing not just her hair but even her skirt. Dust was being kicked up as well, and as she shielded her face with her arm, she tried to look around for the cause of the great disturbance.

But there was nothing that could be seen. The branches of the trees were shaking vigorously and the wind was picking up, but what should be causing all of them to do so was out of sight. Thinking this might be the event she was looking for, she pressed on towards the source of the strong wind. Surely there was something at the end of it, even if she could not yet see it.

Her destination was a clearing somewhere in the middle of the forested area. She quickly noticed that she was not alone. A little further ahead, two black Cadillacs were parked with a total of four men in black suits wearing black glasses standing beside them. They seemed to be looking up at something. Marleigh looked up as well but saw nothing, though it was pretty clear the strong wind was coming from that direction. And then she saw it.

At first it was just a few blinking lights, but soon enough the entire ship revealed itself. It was as big as around four buses put together. Though it was creating a lot of wind, its engines, if it even had any, were completely silent. It landed right in the middle of the clearing. Turning her attention back to the men in black, one of them was talking on some sort of communicator. She then heard a third car drive somewhere on her left, again carrying two men. These men however were staying out of sight behind the trees.

Marleigh of course did not understand what was going on. For now, she dared not step out of her own hiding place.

Zenro remained in his meditative state, his eyes seemingly peering off in the distance as he sat against a tree, the wind picking up around him. Before it was quite calm, but now there was a notable amount of noise being made as the wind started to shake all the branches of the trees in the area, only to grow more intense. This was certainly enough to rouse the male out of his current state.

Zenro's eyes opened, his head turning off in the direction that the source of this wind was coming from. His eyes shifted back a forth, making him grumble as his stood up, his bare feet standing firm against the grass. The clanking of chains could be heard as he made his way towards the origin of the wind, with it being night, the chains allowed for an easier time moving. His ears twitched, taking in the sounds around him, though it was mostly just the sound of tree branches blowing in the wind, and the sound of the chains coming into contact with each other, an all too familiar sound.

With a visual of the clearing ahead, and the four men in black suits with their method of transit, Zenro slowed his pace. He now moved tenderly, enough to warrant the silencing of the chains with the minute movements. He watched from behind a few trees as a series of blinking lights started, followed by the sudden appearance of a large ship. His vision blurred for a moment as his eyes shifted their focus back and forth, the chains rattling a little as his arms shook for a moment.

As the ship landed in the middle of the clearing, Zenro looked over at the new vehicle that arrived and produced two men that looked to be included with the previous group already here. In terms of knowing what was going on, he was quite clueless, he wasn't sure what to have expected from this planet, but thus far these events proved it would certainly be interesting.

A hatch at the bottom of the ship opened, with a bright light emanating from inside. Three hooded figures stepped out from within. They were quite tall, standing at more than 7 feet. There was a hint of cautiousness in them as they approached the men in black who were at least a head shorter. You could say they had a more mysterious aura as opposed to intimidating, despite their size. Marleigh of course could not hear what they were saying from where she was but she could see very clearly that the two parties were conversing.

As this was happening, a fourth car had arrived, parking next to the third one hidden in the forest. There were also two men in black on board but only one of them stepped out of the car to speak to the other two men watching over the events in the clearing. Marleigh could just barely hear their conversation.

"Unregistered aliens requesting clearance?"

"Requesting clearance yeah, but not to stay."

"To leave? Heh. Kind of ironic they went through the trouble of coming here undetected only to be caught on their way out. Makes me wonder what's up with the guys on top. Someone's clearly doing a sloppy job."

"You're complaining to the wrong person. We're pretty much in the same boat. I just hope they don't give us any trouble. But just in case..."

"Yeah, headquarters gave us the go to take them down if things don't go well. If they don't cooperate, they aren't getting out of here period."

Were they from the government or from a secret organization? Those were the thoughts plaguing Marleigh's mind. She had found her aliens but it seemed they were in a very troubling situation. The logical thing to do would have been to get out of there as soon as she could without drawing attention to herself. This was not her problem. But the latter part was easier said than done. From what she had heard, the current state of affairs was very sensitive. These men in black were very much prepared to use force on the otherworldly visitors should discussions fail. The last thing she wanted was to be the cause of a misunderstanding.

Suddenly the sound of a gunshot snapped her back into reality. Looking quickly, the shot had come from the ones in the clearing. One of the men in black had his pistol pointed up in the air. A warning shot? Meanwhile the trio of aliens were backing away slowly, raising their hands up. The man holding the gun was talking with a raised voice but Marleigh still could not make out what he was saying.

"Oh boy"

"What's he doing? We weren't supposed to take out weapons unless the aliens did something fir-"

The man speaking was cut off as a bullet went right through his head killing him instantly. The man he was speaking to reached for his own weapon but the gunman put a bullet through his head as well. It was the man who had stayed behind inside the fourth car. He stepped out holding a pistol with a silencer on one hand and talking to a communicator on the other hand. The last man did not seem surprised at all that the two men just got killed. He was mostly likely in league with the perpetrator.

Meanwhile back at the clearing, the cloaked aliens were being made to kneel down and put their hands at the back of their heads. Something bad was about to happen.

Zenro continued to watch from the edges of the clearing, remaining behind the cover of a cluster of trees. His arms shook gently, but he kept them spread apart enough to make the chains on the shackles taut, as to not make them clink together and draw attention to his position. His eyes looked over at the hooded figures that stepped out of the large ship, they certainly seemed tall, though it was somewhat difficult to tell from his distance.

At the sound of the fourth vehicle approaching, Zenro's ears twitched as he began to pick up the conversation that two of the men began to have between each other. There was not much he was able to get out of the conversation, trying to understand what was being said was an endeavour that would take a little time and they were conversing a little too fast for him to follow.

In mid-thought, the sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the surrounding area, making Zenro's ears flatten down in response to the loud sound. He grit his teeth as he crouched down, the sound causing his ears to ring a little. Oh how he despised loud sounds such as that; he was certainly not keen on being near such a place if there was going to be a lot more sounds like that.

He peered out from behind one of the trees and watched the two men conversing. It was a rather grim timing because it was just a moment before the man he was primarily focused on went down from a bullet to the head. There had been a small noise that herald the bullet that took the man down and it came about again when the other man that was in the conversation met the same fate as the first.

Zenro began to creep around the trees, getting a better vantage point to see the other men in the area. The one talking on some device and wielding the silenced pistol was certainly the one who had done it, the sounds had originated from his vehicle. As the cloaked aliens were made to kneel and put their hands behind their heads, it was quite obvious that these remaining men were just the type of people that he did not like. He didn't need to understand what had been saying to realize that there was some sort of betrayal at hand. Whilst he wasn't operating near fully capacity, men like that shouldn't be scot-free.

Zenro began to move about the trees again, working towards the point surrounding the clearing where he would have the least distance to cover to get to the first of the men. It was at this point that he brought one hand down and retrieved his dagger, getting ready to deploy it once he was close enough.

The harsh interrogation in the clearing continued until one of the men asked one of the aliens to get up and show him the inside of the ship. With no other option available, they readily complied. The tall cloaked alien walked over to the side of the ship and pressed his hands against a few panels. A large hatch suddenly opened up revealing what looked like a cargo bay. It was mostly empty with the exception of two container-like objects.

The two men near Marleigh's location were using binoculars to get a better look at the containers. One of them radioed in to the others.

"Those containers don't match the description. What did they say was inside them? Food and supplies for travel? Have them open up the containers anyway just in case."

It sounded like the men in black were looking for something. Marleigh wondered if the aliens being accosted were mistaken for someone else. Whoever or whatever it was they were looking for, she could only conclude the men were desperate. Two men had already died that night and she was almost certain three aliens would join the fatality count later unless someone did something. In any case, Marleigh was now a bit more confident that the aliens' lives were safe for now as they were still useful to the ones detaining them. If she was going to do something about it, it was best to act soon.

She reached into her satchel and pulled out two cans. She then threw the cans as hard as she could in the opposite direction from the clearing. As the cans hit tree branches, making noises as they tumbled down to the ground, they caught the attention of the two men in the forest who were quick to draw their guns and point them at where the noises were coming from. One of them signaled to the other to cover him as he checked it out. Marleigh was hoping she would get both of them to move but this would have to do. Slowly, she got behind the man who stayed back and whacked him on the head with a mop she pulled out from her bag. The man in black dropped to the ground knocked out. She quickly dragged the body and hid it in the bushes before the man who left could return.

Zenro was not able to watch the harsh interrogation in its entirety as he moved about, which was most likely the best. He already was not feeling too fond of these men and their actions, so watching the whole interrogation would have just added more reasons for him to ensure these men could not do such things again. It was once he was in position that he saw the one cloaked alien opening a large hatch via some panels.

Once again there was something being said, and Zenro could certainly hear it, but trying to make it out was not on his mind right now. Suddenly, there was something flying across the clearing and the sound of some things tumbling through the tree branches near him. His muscles tensed as he readied himself to move, watching the two men as they readied their weapons, obviously not being the cause of the noise. There was only one of them going to investigate, it appeared that they were somewhat intelligent at least, though it seemed like not going together worked against them as the one that stayed behind was felled by someone else who was in the area.

Zenro sat back behind a tree, watching the one man that moved towards his location, looking for the source of the noise. Once the man came close enough, Zenro rushed him, letting out a snarl, accompanied by the sound of rattling chains. Gunshots or not, Zenro slammed into the man, proceeding to wrap one arm around the man's neck, bracing his arm with his other hand, constricting the man's blood-flow.  "Roh'Sin vest Nah'Vek." Zenro growled into the man's ear, as he waited until the man passed out before he would show any signs of relaxing. He was ready to move as needed if this man managed to get himself together enough to try and use the weapon he had before.

The man Zenro grabbed struggled, managing to fire off a few shots to the ground before losing consciousness. He did not hit anything of course but he successfully got the attention of his comrades in the clearing. The men pulled out their own weapons and had the aliens lie down face flat on the ground. One of them tried to contact the men in the forest through their communicator but got no response. Looking at each other and nodding, they were now aware someone was out there in the woods.

From her hiding place, Marleigh heard the gunshots as well from the man who had left. She quickly took cover behind a tree, knowing that the commotion would have definitely alerted the other men in the clearing. She wondered if there was someone else out there targeting the men. The one who left never returned and he was the only one who could have fired those shots. From her vantage point, she could see two of them stayed to stand guard over the aliens while the other two moved into the forest... heading in her direction.

It was bad. She could either risk getting shot by moving or pray they did not find her when they walked by. Guns were very troublesome to deal with. She held her breath as they drew near. As they got closer and closer, she suddenly heard more shots being fired. It was risky but she tried to sneak a peek at what was going on. Luck was on her side as the two men had turned around as well.

Back in the clearing, two of the three aliens had grabbed the wrists of the men guarding them, trying to wrestle the guns from their hands while the third alien was rushing up the ramp of the ship to get inside. One of the men broke free from the grip of the alien holding him and shot the third alien on the leg, causing him to trip and fall on the ramp.

Those aliens were braver than Marleigh thought. But now the two other men were heading back. Things did not look good for them. She had to do something. She reached into her satchel and took out another can. Aiming carefully, she threw it as hard as she could, hitting one of the men at the back of the head. As soon as it connected, she ran in the opposite direction, brushing against bushes while staying low.

The man who got hit was bleeding but told his partner to go on ahead into the clearing while he would go after the perpetrator in the woods. Marleigh was able to put some distance between her and them while they were distracted and so they could not just randomly fire and waste bullets. She hoped whoever else was in the trees would take advantage of the chaos as well.

Zenro grimaced as the sounds of the gunshots rang in his ears. His ears folded against his head, his grip around the man's neck tightening. The infernal weapon these men were using was most irritating. Once the man lost consciousness, Zenro simply released him, letting the man's limp body collapse on the ground. Now it seemed like the others needed to be dealt with. If there was the same amount of men from the vehicles that arrived, there should be four more to deal with, at least.

Now there were even more gunshots; Zenro winced at the sound of them as he looked around and spotted one of the men going into the clearing, alone, and his partner running into the woods, most likely after the other person who was around here. The clanking of chains could be heard, the sound of bare feet padding against the ground accompanying it as Zenro ran towards the man who was left alone. Zenro worked to approach from the man's rear left side, to give a small window of opportunity for the man.

Zenro's ears were already flat against his head, expecting more shots to be fired during he encounter with this man. Once he grew close enough, he would slam into the man's lower ribs, wanting to take him down to the ground so he could employ the same measures he did to take out the first man. His arms moved into position again, working around the man's neck and bracing against one another, constricting the man's blood-flow. If it proved more difficult than the first man, there was always the less subtle route of beating the man into unconsciousness with the shackles, they certainly could do the job if needed.

As Marleigh ran, she could hear more movement from the woods, approaching the man chasing her from the side. Confused that there were now two targets moving in the bushes, the man hesitated to shoot until finally he was tackled on the side. The impact caused him to drop his gun on the forest floor. It would be near impossible to find it again in the dark. He did not have time to worry about it as his attacker proceeded to choke him out.

Marleigh heard the scuffle and circled around to see what happened. She arrived at the scene just in time to see a tall mysterious figure finish the job of rendering the man unconscious. The one responsible was not a man. The first thing the maid noticed was his wolf ears and tail. A werewolf? She was not sure. But it looked like he was the one hiding in the woods and attacking the men who ventured in it.

Unfortunately, there was no time to get acquainted. More shots were fired in the direction of the clearing. The aliens were in trouble. She nodded her head at the wolfman and then headed for the ship. The scene she saw was not pretty. There were now two aliens who were shot in the leg, slumped against the side of the ship. The third was handcuffed and being interrogated by one of the remaining men. Most likely they were asking about what was going on in the woods. Marleigh felt slightly guilty that they may have done more harm than good, seeing as the aliens got hurt.

A shot was fired into the air as one of the men shouted quite audibly. It looked like they were done playing hide and seek.

"Whoever is out there, you have one minute to show yourselves or we will terminate one of your friends! For each succeeding minute, another will be terminated!"

"I don't know why you are meddling in our business! But do know that we will not hesitate to take lives to guarantee our success!"

His words were dark and cold. Marleigh contemplated if showing herself would really save them. She had a feeling she would be shot at as soon as they spotted her. She was not sure if the wolfman heard this announcement as well and what he would do about it. Unlike her, he did not seem as bothered going up against men with guns. She decided to wait and see what he would do, at least until before the first minute was up

"Roh'Sin vest Nah'Vek." Zenro growled into the man's ear as he proceeded to render him unconscious by restricting the man's blood-flow to his head. After feeling the man grow lax, he stood up and looked down over at the female, the other one who had been working against the men no doubt. Once he stood up, it made it all the more apparent that he was rather tall and he was more humanoid in profile, the dearth of a muzzle being a good indicator. The rattle of chains could be heard as his arms shook as he regarded her, his tail moving gently back and forth behind him.

Once again, there were more shots fired. Zenro's ears flattened against his head as he let out an annoyed growl, he was quite ready for those to not be fired again. Once the female nodded at him, he returned the gesture and went along with her towards the ship, keeping a fair distance between them as he ran off to her side. Looking into the clearing, he took note of the remaining men, and the current condition of the cloaked aliens, along with the fact that one of them was being interrogated again.

Suddenly another shot, followed by the muffled sound of some man shouting something. Were the only thing these men did was fire off their guns multiple times, it was very likely that Zenro would still wish to deal with each of them. Zenro stood by a tree as he stared off into the ground, working out what part of whatever was said. The mix of all the gunshots and the language were not helping him try and piece together what had been said. Enough had crossed over to get a basic understanding of what was said, the men were going to hide behind their captives, how cowardly.

Zenro looked over at where the female had been last, nodding off in the direction. He was not sure if she saw but regardless, he proceeded to go out towards the clearing. He did not expect a calm or orderly conversation with these men, that would be difficult enough as it is right now, even without a desire for each party to fell the other. As he came into the clearing, the men would be introduced to the sight of a seven foot tall figure clad in a wolf pelt and leathers. If that wasn't enough to cause them to pause for a moment, the wolf ears, tail and the large shackles that formed across his arms and legs might help as well.

"Gash Fenth." Zenro spat out in a hostile tone, ensuring it was loud enough for the men the hear him as he glared at the closest one that had done the yelling. His eyes quickly shifted around the scene, looking to count all the remaining men and track their position. There should only be three remaining and keeping a track on them would be best. He wasn't sure what the female in the woods would do to aid the situation, but he assumed her to be of value. Should the men not instantly point their weapons at the aliens or say something that sounded like they would do so, he would precede forward until such a state was met.

The men were noticeably surprised at the appearance of the seven foot tall wolfman suddenly emerging from the trees. Their shock though was only momentary. They were the kind of people who dealt with all sorts of aliens and creatures. This much would only remotely intimidate them. Quickly regaining their composure, they immediately pointed their guns at him and opened fire.

Marleigh did not have the time to see what happened as she was also on the move. She had to do her part too. With this act, the wolfman just confirmed he was on her side. So she had to support him taking the lead. She finally reached her destination: the cars parked behind the trees earlier.

It was purely a guess, but Marleigh inferred that these sort of people would usually drive vehicles that were tougher than normal if not bulletproof. She got inside one of them, finding the keys still in it. She then started it up, revved the engine and drove it straight at the clearing where the group of men were. She made certain not to hit the wolfman or the aliens. She was skilled enough a driver to do so. She had the car drift, slamming its side to any of the men still left standing.

Zenro leapt to the side as soon as he saw the men starting to trail their weapons towards him. This whole ordeal would have been much easier were he able to use his powers, but there was no time for complaining about that now. As rolled on the ground from the leap, he took his dagger and tossed it at one of the men, aiming for the man's chest. It was times like this when he was some vague sense of thankful for the shackles' usefulness, ensuring to cover his face and part of his side as he ran to the side, running back toward the outskirts of the clearing.

It wasn't a fully successful run as he felt two bullets decide they wanted to occupy the same place as parts of his body. One had hit him in the upper thigh whilst the other one embed itself into his left side. He grimaced at the searing pain as the gunshots were soon interrupted by the sound of the vehicle slamming into the men. He glanced past his shackles, to see that the men had been taken out by the vehicle.

With his ears having a rather dampened ringing party, Zenro slowly made his way over to the vehicle, walking to put less pressure on his injured leg as he brought one hand down to feel at the wound on his side and proceeding to keep his hand there to help mitigate the bleeding. As he approached the vehicle, he looked down at the men as his arms shook noticeably. Despite the injuries, he seemed calm. He didn't seem shaken or perturbed, just rather irked with the men.

"Kro'Kah." Zenro snarled towards the fallen men, before spitting onto one of them. Were they to show any signs of getting up, he would be more than willing to bring his shackles against their skulls.

It was not perfect but it did the trick. The men were put out of commission. Marleigh stepped out of the car and saw that the wolfman was indeed injured from the engagement. He seemed calm and unworried about it though and so she went to check on the aliens first. As expected they were wary of her approach. They huddled with each other against the side of the ship. The two who were shot in the leg were still bleeding from the untreated wound. If they were not really tall, they might have looked really pitiful in their current state. To Marleigh, the scene seemed rather odd and out of place.

"There is no need to worry. I am on your side."

She reached into her satchel for her first aid kit and began to work. She was not sure if human methods of treating injuries worked for them but there was nothing else she could do. She was relieved when they allowed her to treat them once they understood her intentions. In a way that also confirmed human medicine would work fine on their injuries.

"If you do not mind me asking, what did those men want with you?"

The uninjured one was the one who spoke in reply.

"We are refugees. Illegal yes, but we truly mean no harm to any humans. They detected our ship while we attempted to leave the planet, threatening to shoot us down if we did not comply with their demand to land and be questioned."

"I... do not know what it was they were looking for. They seemed to have mistaken us for someone else. We tried to explain this many times but they thought we were just playing dumb."

Marleigh was no detective but she could tell there was more to the story. Her curiosity got the best of her, deciding to press on with the conversation. She hoped she did not make them feel too uncomfortable though.

"That is rather strange. You were able to enter the planet just fine but they caught you on the way out. Either they just allowed you to enter the first time or you were careless with your departure this time..."

"We were in a hurry!"

The alien Marleigh was treating blurted out, catching her by surprise.

"If we did not leave right away we would have been caught up in-"

The other alien silenced his anxious companion with a gesture before turning his gaze back to Marleigh. There was a certain coldness to it.

"I would not consider ourselves enemies of humans but neither are we allies. We appreciate your kindness but we cannot say anything more. Though I will tell you this. Earth will soon undergo a great trial from beyond the stars."

They were ominous words. Something was coming from space? And these refugees intended to leave before it arrived? That was all she could infer out of it as she continued to bandage their injuries.