Trouble in the Zoo [Tib/Open]

Of all places and jobs I could've undertaken ... this is ridiculous.


The night came over Steel City. After last rays of Sun died, more and more of the city succumbed into darkness. Darkness was when all of the slime came out. Hookers, druggies, dopers, queens, criminals, punks, robbers, rapists... That kind of lovely folk. One day a rain would come and wash all this filth off the streets, but now, and certainly not here.

Not in this private zoo. A small territory, surrounded by 3 fences with barbed wire on the top, cameras, guards... It looked more like a prison than a zoo, and it housed some of the exotic and unusual species. But it wasn't always that way, these measures were brought up recently. Due to ... unfortunate circumstances.

Someone, or something, was preying on this place. It began happening recently - a couple of weeks ago. An elephant was found dead in its cage, half-eaten. Then a panther... an ostrich... First they put cameras, but those went broken, whatever it was, it was smart enough to avoid these measures of securities. Several guards found knocked out. But 'victims' kept piling up...

Usually, Renee would never agree to this kind of work - not her profile. But the amount of money offered managed to change her mind. So she was here, at night, alone. Hidden in a bush, her camocloak concealing her from view. She decided to keep watch for the night. After all, she was hired not to trap or capture the culprit, but find out what it was. Sounds simple enough... Quietly, the girl looked at her watch. It was closing midnight. She yawned.

The place was prepared for the thief's arrival. There were cameras, as usual. She planned to see what it was, when it would disable them. The animals in the cages were specially prepared too - whatever it was, it seemed to like quadrupeds, so tonight's dinner was a deer. Should be enough. And every cage was within Renee's watch.

- I wonder when our animal lover will show up... This place wreaks of dirty animals...

There was a distinct click and then a camera's wire was dangling loose. It had nearly panned over Tiberius as he emerged from the concealed tunnel. He scanned the set up quickly seeing only two new cameras. He quickly took out the cameras he needed to shooting the wires with the poison soaked bones to cut them. Tiberius saw the guards starting to move and began taking them out as quickly as he could.
Tiberius knocked out the ones he needed to, he noticed they had tightened security where he'd been planning to go. So instead he figured, why not just get something else. He took out the cameras on his new path and found the guard shack. He grinned and fired into the breaker box destroying the power source to the zoo. Tiberius smiled at the now dark zoo and ran toward the giraffe pen and leapt over the fence into the exhibit where he began chasing one down. It took only a moment and he'd sliced through the leg bone and started eating.

Guess it begins...

The lights coming down was the signal that the mysterious intruder was here. The area was engulfed in complete darkness, and only sounds of restless and frightened animals were breaking it. For a few moments, Renee was not able to see anything, waiting for her eyes to adapt to darkness. It did not take long. But the diversion was ... very well-planned.

Smart, whoever it is, they managed to render us completely blind. Where are the guards?

To find them, Renee began moving, her magic cloak rendering her nigh-invisible to naked eye, especially in the dark. She prowled towards the cameras that were supposed to cover the path to the powerbox. But found them, again, deactivated. Something cut the wires. Well... I can say for certain it is not a wild animal. No animal knows how electrical machinery operates...

And yet, the projectile was ... peculiar. Like a bone of some sort... Quietly, Renee continued to look for the guards, until, eventually, finding them on the ground. Out cold. They weren't dead, which was another point towards the culprit's sentience. It did not want to kill humans. But if said creature is so sentient... why brutally kill animals instead of going to shop? But there was something else... Once the girl stepped away from the body, she felt herself trip over some sort of a hole in the ground... Or was it a hole at all?

Huh? Is that ... a footprint?

But it was. Renee shined her flashlight at the footprint. It was comparable to that of a giant lizard... Or a dinosaur... There were absolutely no animal on Earth that would leave such a mark. And by the depth of it into the ground, one could guess it weighted a couple of tons...

- Wait... does it mean...

But the loud sound of a dying giraffe came from the opposite side of the Zoo. She wasn't at the right place! The creature must have used all of this to trick her! Swearing, Renee ran towards where the sounds were coming from... It wasn't too far off...

Tiberius was halfway done with the giraffe already, he was on the other side of the body though. The massive corpse hiding him quite well due to his red shell. The sounds of the flesh being stripped from the bones gave him away though. His talons were stuck in the dirt to give him more stability.
Tiberius rose up peeking above the body to see what was going on, he didn't see anything so he went back to his meal. He was nearly full and so he pulled his talons out of the ground with a sick popping. He walked around the giraffe and jumped back over the exhibit's fence. He sniffed the air wondering if they still had the coffee machines going. He'd developed a taste for the acrid bitter water.
Tib ran toward the stand where they had the coffee machines for the guards on patrol. He pushed one with a talon and it sloshed. He put the nozzle in his mouth, his tongue opened it up giving him the reward he was after.

The noises were getting closer and closer.

Sounds of rippled flesh, crunching bone, loud thumping of clawed feet... A bash against metal... Renee felt her guts being wrenched with each step she made. Fear creeping into her. It was already obvious that whatever plagued this place was a huge carnivorous predator that weighted enough to put dents in the asphalt when merely walking. The girl's cautiousness screamed to bail out, for her own sake, but something kept her from simply running away.

Not going to happen. I took the job, I am going to finish it...

And with that Renee kept sneaking closer. Sounds of jarred metal and loud slurping were coming from a ... a coffee machine? That was surely ... unusual. Raw meat and coffee... That ought to mix well... - Renee thought, leaning against the wall, and moving, wrapped in her cloak-o-magic. Something was there, she could already see the big, scary shadow. She swallowed, a sweatdrop appearing at her forehead. Closer, closer... On tiptoes, she approached the corner, and leaned out a bit to see what it was... And the result was...

Jesus Christ... or what was the name of that entity...

Renee pulled away, slamming her back against the wall she hid behind, eyes wide from horror. What she was ... was a lot worse than she expected. It wasn't even an animal, but an abomination from Lovecraft or something similar. Even Warhammer looked harmless compared to it... Her entire body trembled... That red shell, monstrous appendages... Scary jaws... the tubes... Renee barely held herself from vomiting. Blood and guts all over muzzle of the creature... She breathed heavily for a few moments, trying to calm herself down... What the hell was that creature? Where did it come from?

Doesn't matter. My job was to find out what was causing this, not where it came from or anything... I should get out of here...

And with that Renee slowly stumbled away, into shadows, but accidentally, her foot kicked away a small stone, which went rolling down and in the open, making sounds as it hit the boardwalk... Renee's eyes widened open. She knew what that would mean...

Sh*t...

Tiberius bit down shearing through the metal nozzle and rounded the corner quickly. He felt the presence but couldn't feel it. He growled out a very bestial sound that fit perfectly with his image. Then came a choked voice that said. "show yourself. I can feel you here." Tiberius started walking forward sniffing the air. His claws clicked against his arms and his tongue cleaned his face off. Tiberius looked at the rock for a moment before going back to looking. He spun around purely by chance the barrel of his rifle pointed right at her but he kept turning as he searched.

Tib knew if he was caught he'd have to find a new place to eat. This was not acceptable it'd taken him quite a while to find this place and there was plenty here.

Eeep!

Renee froze in one place when the monster had sensed her presence, and started moving towards her. She quickly looked around. Crap, the only thing in front was the fence, and with all the barbwire, she would never make it across! Fear crept through her body, clouding judgment, and it only became worse when she heard that blood-chilling growl, followed by the crude voice...

Oh crap, that thing can talk too?!

The girl stood in the dark shadow, when the beast had appeared, sniffing and looking for her. Some weird tube was pointing directly at Renee, and she didn't feel comfy because of it at all! She didn't know what it was either, but it surely looked like some sort of evil weapon to her. What if it spits acid?! - she thought and swallowed. Right now the only thing protecting her was darkness, and camouflage her cloak provided. Slowly, she knelt down, wrapped up in the materials of her cloak, and a hood on her face. Should the beast go away...

I'm getting out of here... - she thought, as she silently reached for a minibomb and a smoke bomb in her pouch, in case things would go bad really quick. She wouldn't answer the predator - if it made a meal of an animal, what stops him from doing the same to her? Renee silenced her breathing, no matter how much she needed air. The bead of sweat flowed from her temple down her jaw, and dropped unto the ground.

Eerie silence was held in the air...

Tiberius snorted and said. "I'm not going to kill you, I don't kill humans unless they hire me to." His eyes swiveled slightly looking for even faint traces of movement. He saw a leaf twitch and his rifle spun, he swung it above the leaf obviously having intended to knock whatever was there down but not hurt it badly. He seemed curious, Tiberius cursed when his new friend didn't appear to be there. So he turned around and began moving the backs of his claws through the air along both walls sweeping for her. It wouldn't be long, his claws were able to almost hit both walls due to his size.

He's lying...

Renee only became more scared when the creature talked again, and began feeling the stuff around itself in order to find her. With his sure size, and approximate idea where she was, it would not take long indeed. The girl's heart beat fasted, and she felt herself suffocating a bit from holding her breath for so long. But she knew that one loud gasp, and she would be in the claws of that ... that monster.

She did not trust the creature's claims. If it was smart enough to talk, disable guards and break into security systems, it was smart enough to lie. And Renee really did not want to put her trust in claws of something that just ate a whole giraffe in one go. [i] It will chow me in one bite and wouldn't even notice... Unfortunately, the monster was getting closer and closer... The claws swiping just inches away from her. The smell of fresh blood and coffee hit her nose... Something had to be done. Renee felt herself beginning to panic... And when the claws were about to touch her...

*BANG!*

She dropped the smoke bomb on the floor, it immediately shrouding everything within 10 meters in blinding smoke. That was her chance! Using the confusion it was ought to bring, Renee made a run for it, past the beast, and around the corner. Dropping her minibomb in her wake to bring more confusion and mask her steps. She ran as fast as she could, scared, towards where the only exit out of the zoo was - the gates! Through this labyrinth of cages and wailing animals. But who's to say she took the right or wrong turn? In her panic, the girl wasn't thinking at all, and in her run, only distanced herself further from the entrance, taking the longest root instead of the shortest one...

Heart beating so fast she thought it would jump out of her throat.

Yes, Renee certainly wasn't a paragon of bravery...

Tiberius was unable to see but had been here many times, he took the shortest route to the exit, the only exit and waited in hiding just outside. He had seen others fly but this one couldn't he'd heard the footsteps, and surely she would believe he was right behind her leading her here, it was odd that she hadn't beat him but she was going the wrong direction. He settled back to wait, he double checked making sure he wasn't casting a shadow that would give him away.
Tiberius was ready and as soon as she crossed the thresh hold the rifle would be swung around at the shins to take the feet out from under her. Tiberius would then be standing over her to figure out what he was dealing with.

For a while, Renee thought she was lost.

And wasted much time sneaking through the cages, trying to find the way back, and fearing that the animals would give away her position. But the predator seemed to have lost her track, which was ... a big relief. Sighing, the girl hid behind the box, and stayed there for a while, trying to calm herself and her nerves down a little bit. Renee held her hand in front of her face - it was shaking. Putting another hand over it, she forced it to stop.

- Goddammit...

But it was time to move on. Renee did not know where the beast was, or what it was doing, but she needed to get out of here. She listened to sounds, but it was impossible to track anything with the rest of the animals being restless. Still, how hard it is to track a 2-ton truck-sized monster? It probably got back to eating that poor animal... I hope...

And with a flighty stance, she continued to make her way to the gates. Skulking in the shadows, blending and hiding, afraid to make a stray sound, images of the predator pursuing her. Renee was expecting it to leap out from around any corner, but, as the gates were closer, and nothing happened, she stopped being so cautious. It was just there! Closed. Looking around, and seeing no one, The girl attempted to quietly open the gates, which she succeeded in, only a quiet creak of it signifying her escape... Or was it an escape at all? With a relieved sigh, she made a set forward, two, three, and then...

- AAAAAAAAAAAAH!

It happened. The girl was on the floor, knocked on the ground by the powerful appendage, still wrapped in her cloak so only her legs and face was not blending in with the ground. She looked absolutely scared, face frozen in a mask of sheer horror, as the monster walked over to look at her. His jaws... blood and coffee and saliva dripping down from them... Without any venom, the girl was already paralyzed by fear, mouth opening in soundless screams... Hand feverishly trying to reach into the pouch... for something. Anything!

I'm doomed...

Tiberius looked down at her and said. "Hmm younger than I thought, well now that I know you know I guess I'll have to find somewhere else to eat. I mean I'd never eat a person after all." he paced slightly and said seriously. "Your very good at hiding, normally I find all the guards before they see me."

Tiberus offered his thumb claw which was rounded off to help her up and said. "Come on don't run, I can't come back here anyway." He watched her wondering if she would take his help.

Renee's eyes were held shut as she prepared for the worst - a creature with jaws that scary would never wait before tearing her to shreds...

Which was why she was much surprised that the blow did not come. Carefully, and timidly, the girl opened one of her eyes, but closed it back immediately. Maybe he thought she was dead? Or didn't eat dead people or something? It worked on bears... Unlikely... it can talk, it doesn't have such primitive instincts...

However, when he began talking again, reassuring her safety, Renee finally dared opening both eyes and breath out. She was still scared, with the two-ton monster towering over her, a subconscious wish to just curl up in a ball and pretend he doesn't see her never left ever since the beginning of the encounter... It was even ... offering her help to stand up?

Renee's facial expression slowly changed to that of credulousness and curiosity. Just ... what the hell was going on? Something was incredibly weird here... Because the vicious monster exhibited more ... manners? More than some humans, at least... But it was still hard to get used to a big monster acting relatively harmlessly. It almost reminded her a certain cartoon she watched here, on Earth... Slowly, Renee grabbed the thumb and put herself up, tumbling a bit.

- W... who are you? And wh... why did you stop me?

If he did not want to harm her... then what was the point of looking and chasing her?

Tiberius asked seriously. "First off are you hurt? My name is Tiberius, and I stopped you because running like that is dangerous." Tiberius stretched and looked around asking. "What were you doing out here anyway seems like a strange place for a pretty young girl."

Renee was slowly coming over her shock, but still was vary of the beast, taking a few steps back just for the sake of distance. He was ... hideous, and his breath alone smelled of blood and acids, it was enough to make her wanna puke. The only thing that kept her right now from running away was the fact that this creature was sentient, and ... asking if she was hurt? Renee blinked, looking at the monster in a bout of disbelief.

That's ... considerable of it to ask...

- Uh... n...no, I'm alright... - she shook her head. The only thing aching was a spot on her back, because she fell over a stone when the monster tripped her. Not that it mattered. Inching a bit away, and still looking rather frightened, Renee thought about what to answer to the beast's quarry.

I can't tell him I am here to find out what was devastating the zoo, can I?- a thought came soon enough. But ... if she can't tell the truth, then what? She was afraid to anger so far relatively benevolent alien, but then, she had to come up with a story. Which she did, in a blink of an eye.

- I ... I came here to visit the zoo... I heard there was a rare b... bird in here, and wanted to take it away... But then heard loud sounds and decided to see what it is... And then I saw y...you... - she shivered, and looked away, hoping he would believe her words. She looked like a thief, clothed the way she did. There was no reason not to believe her, right?

- And ... w... what are you... uh... how can you talk? - she didn't even know what to ask, tongue tying in a knot every time she saw those bloody jaws of his.

That thing was definitely not from this planet. And would it let the girl go?