Things had been going relatively smoothly for Pitch for almost a week since the last case he helped Black Eagle with. If there were any active cases in New Arkham, Pitch wasn't involved in them. Then he got a text from Ishwada asking to meet up to help him with an ongoing case connected to one Pitch was involved in. Since he only got involved in a few cases he wasn't sure what that meant. When Pitch got to the scene, a blocked off spot in the middle of a road, he still had no idea what to expect.
Despite being late at night the crime scene was crowded with people gawking at the scene, covering their mouths. When Pitch got there he had some difficulty cutting through the crowd to get to the scene. The moment he sees it he understands why it drew such a crowd at an ungodly hour. On the road lay a woman, her belly torn open and her insides pulled out. The opening on her gut as well as her face had clear claw marks and what remained of organs looked torn as if by the teeth of a predator.
Pitch leaned down to look over the corpse, the scene looking somewhat familiar. Pitch looked at Ishwada and the moment their eyes met us was as if the two had communicated telepathically. The pop culture variant Wendigo that attacked and infested Vance was still at large. Pitch gloved his hand before reaching out to the corpse with his eyes closed. He whispered to Ishwada who got closer to look for himself. “I can still feel the lingering aura of the victim and her attacker. The body is still warm. This kill is fresh, an hour or so at most.” Pitch then tilted his head, and suddenly despite his anatomy nearly threw up as he gagged. “Make that victims.”
Pitch took a few steps back feeling dizzy and covering his mouth. “Oh god. It… it aimed for it. Targeted it specifically.” Ishwada also has to back away and overt his gaze. “That’s atypical. Normally they act like wild animals. Clean the bones and move on unless interrupted.” Pitch then pointed at the ground in front of the body. “If it got interrupted then there would be bloody front claw marks from it bolting away or at the interrupting person on all fours. Also, though I'm not sure if it's relevant, the victim is a NHC. Non-human citizen. Can't tell the exact type.”
Ishwada rubs his face with his hands. “If this is the same one that bit Vance, is it possible the flesh it ate when it took a bite out of him mutated it somehow?” Pitch shrugged. “You'd know that better than I. I'm still relatively new to this.” Pitch crouches back down and checks the body for an I.D, eventually finding one in the victim's purse. Pitch takes the I.D and goes to the crowd, spotting the familiar face of someone he saw at the Identity Crisis speakeasy bar and grill. He shows them the card. “Do you recognize this woman?”
The man looked at the card, then at the crowd. “She used to frequent a bar I go to. Stopped showing up a while back.” Pitch put down the card. “Do you remember when that was?” The person thought for a moment. “About five months ago.” Pitch frowns. “That matches the timeline well enough.” The person tried to look past Pitch to the victim. “Do you mean that… oh god.” Pitch nodded before pulling the person to the side to talk privately. “What can you tell me about the victim?”
“She was a regular at Identity Crisis, her and her husband. They were one of two Dopple succubus couples in New Arkham. Her husband was an incubus and they had been trying for a baby for years. Although it's not officially against the rules, the Dopple counsel frowns upon and heavily discourages Dopples from having intimate relationships with non Dopples. It's essentially soft banned.” Pitch puts his hand on his chin. “Why is that?” The person sighs. “I imagine it's for similar reasons that some people don't like interracial relationships. They say it's to help protect us. Did you know many contortionists are the result of Dopple human breeding?”
Pitch chuckled softly. “Yeah, I read that in a set of files on different Cryptids. Many successful politicians and cult leaders have a strong Succubus lineage that boosts their charisma. Thanks for your information, you've helped this investigation greatly.” He then returned to Ishwada. “The victim was a Dopple and her baby a hybrid Cryptid with the father being an Incubus. Apparently this is the first successful pairing between the two as far as is known because such a relationship is soft banned.”
Ishwada knitted his brow. “What do you mean by that?” Pitch explained. “Apparently the local Doppelganger counsel as well as most if not all others heavily discourage and frown on Dopples having relationships with non Dopples. So basically they really don't like it when interracial couples exist but they haven't outlawed it.” Ishwada hummed. “That's… oddly human actually. Seems they've copied our flaws along with everything else. They really are just like us.”
Pitch nodded. “Just like us for real.” Ishwada gives a cocked eyebrow. Pitch cleared his throat. “I have a theory that the Wendigo was after the baby because it was a hybrid, and that it may now be hunting hybrids specifically after being mutated from its interaction with Vance who himself became a Chimera style hybrid. That or it's a territorial defense seeing hybrids as a threat after its encounter. Either way, it's atypical behavior is likely directly tied to that interaction.”
Ishwada nods in agreement. “Can you track it? If the scene is that fresh it might not be far.” Pitch looks at the road near the victim. “Well an hour is a while, it could be miles away by now. Wendigos usually go after isolated targets and avoid crowded areas and cities. This one is inside the city however, and has been since before it mutated. So odds are it has a nest somewhere in the city, treating at least a part of it as its territory.” Ishwada looks around. “Wendigo hunting grounds can be pretty big. Any idea what to look for?”
Pitch thought for a moment. “Abandoned buildings or maybe the sewers through an open entrance. It wouldn't want to stay anywhere it could be found while sleeping. Also I don't think it would have an easy time opening most doors.” Ishwada takes a moment to think. “Isn't one of the city’s old graveyards near here? The mausoleum might be a good spot to check. The only people that regularly visit that gravesite are the groundskeepers these days.”
Pitch nods. “It's as solid a place to check as any.” Ishwada instructs the people to finish processing the crime scene and takes Pitch to the old gravesite nearby. The two immediately start making their way towards the mausoleum. At the entrance they see blood and drag marks and even hear a short shout as they approach. They ran to see that the Wendigo was eating a groundskeeper who was still alive. Though not for long as the life left him shortly after the two arrived as the Wendigo continued to eat its new meal.
Ishwada lifted what looked like an electric tech shotgun and aimed it forward, keeping his distance. “I'll be depending on you to take it out, since you are immune to the infection.” Pitch rolls his eyes. “Now I see why you wanted me on this case so badly. By the way, what's the shotgun called? Since the electric tech guns all have electromagnetic scientist and inventor names.” Ishwada gestured for Pitch to go on already. “It's an Ohm scatter-shot. Great for when something likes getting close and personal.”
Pitch slowly gets closer to the Wendigo that seemed to be two distracted with its meal to notice the two intruders. Pitch was about ten feet away when it finally stopped eating and jerked its deer skull like fang-toothed head up to look at him, the small white dots in its otherwise vacant looking black eyes aimed straight at him. After a moment of staring at Pitch who didn't move it lowered it's head while still looking at him and took to steps back on all fours. Ishwada stayed at the ready. “What… is it doing?” Pitch tilted his head. “It's… offering me its food. I think. I read that although they are usually solitary hunters, Wendigos sometimes hunt in small packs of three to five in areas with lots of large open woodlands.”
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Ishwada continued to aim his weapon. “So you think that gesture is the same as what wolves do when offering food to the alpha?” Pitch groans. “I swear to god- Wolves don't have alphas. That entire idea started with a misunderstanding of wolf social structure and I don't know why people continue to perpetuate it. It irritates the crap out of me.” Pitch then puts his full attention back to the Wendigo that was still doing its bowing motion. Pitch slowly approached with his hand out till he was about five feet away, the Wendigo started mimicking a whimpering sound. “(Is it… scared?)”
The thought was a strange one, although thought to have the intelligence of an animal comparable to something like a dog or racoon. However even animals including but not limited to dogs could show signs of fear. “(Is this why the giant wasps kept clear of me? Since Cryptids can sense other Cryptids can they tell I'm something way higher up the food hierarchy compared to them?)” Pitch then thought about how the Onrio still attacked him. “(Maybe the Onrio was an outlier?)” Pitch slowly reached out and put his hand on the fresh corpse.
From what he could tell, the gravekeeper was human. Maybe he was simply in the wrong place or maybe he had a strong Cryptid ancestry. There was no way to tell at this time. The Wendigo backed up more, keeping its head low and its eyes on Pitch, until its back leg hit the back wall of the mausoleum. It looked at the wall, then back to Pitch, maintaining its stance. “(Actually, if they can tell I'm that dangerous, why don't Doppelgangers freak out around me?)” Pitch found himself a little lost in thought and distracted trying to figure out why the Wendigo was reacting this way.
The moment he let his guard down the Wendigo pounced, biting Pitch on the shoulder and clawing into his sides. Pitch backed up out of shock more than anything. He grabbed the monster on its sides and gripped tightly before tossing it off him. The monster hit the floor and quickly flipped to its feet, circling Pitch on all fours. He expected the monster to be snarling at him, with this being a combat stance mentally as a challenge to Pitch. However, something about its body language was off.
The monster kept its humanoid claws and head low but its digitigrade back legs with clawed human-like feet weren't in a ready-to-pounce stance but rather were already fully extended pushing its hind end into the air. It started using its toes to make little jumps with its hind end as it started to bounce back and forth. Ishwada moved to keep a clear shot but kept his distance. “What is it doing now?”
Pitch tilted his head as he observed the abnormal behavior from the Cryptid. “It looks like… bounding. It's what puppies do when trying to initiate play.” Ishwada lowered his weapon slightly. “It looked scared of you earlier, now you think it's trying to play with you?” Pitch kept his eyes on the creature and started to circle it. “It could be an adrenaline response. Wendigos have a bite strength comparable to an alligator or crocodile and claws that are sharp enough to rend a boar’s hide. They can break and sometimes even eat bones. It should have been able to rip through my shell easily. But it didn't.”
Ishwada lifted his weapon again. “Okay, but why would a fight if flight trigger cause it to try and play with you?” Pitch explained. “Actually there are four Fs for an adrenaline response. Fight, flee, friend, and freeze. Although sometimes the friend option is accelerated to fornicate. Predatory animals lean towards fight and flee while prey lean to flee or freeze. Only a handful of animals use the friend response including humans. It might even be at least partly responsible for Stockholm Syndrome. It was cornered and couldn't flee. I think it knows fighting would only lead to death so that left friend and freeze. The bow might not have fully been a display of fear but rather of submission.”
Ishwada kept his guard up. “So… what you're saying is… it's acting… submissive and breedable?” Pitch turns to glare at Ishwada. “Who the hell taught you to talk like that? Please never say anything like that again.” Ishwada gave a smug grin. “Hey man, I'm not the one who gets turned on by monsters here. If you want I can give you two some privacy. Not sure how Miss Smith would feel about that though.” The Wendigo leaps for another “play attack" nipping at Pitch's neck again as it claws at his ribs. Pitch is forced to bring his attention back to the monster. “Just because this doesn't hurt doesn't make it less annoying.”
Pitch, in his frustration, brought his hand to the monster's neck, and grabbed it. Once grappled, he forced the monster off of him and slammed it to the ground still holding it by the neck and squeezing. Pitch scowled as he held the monster down with a single hand and tightened his grip. The Wendigo flailed wildly as it realized Pitch wasn't playing around. It started to seriously claw at his ribs, tearing into the shell and letting small dar tendrils leak out the wounds. It swiped its claws through Pitch’s arm only to have the severed hand connected to the stump and continue to choke the monster as any new swipes simply passed through the fine sand like particles that kept the now disembodied hand in place.
Ishwada stood there in stunned silence. Even though Pitch had told him what he was, the former General could push the thoughts into the back of his mind and continue. He could put the mission first. But in this moment, as he watched Pitch manhandle a monster several times stronger than a human like it was nothing and the fact his metaphorical mask had now been literally torn, Ishwada was forced face to face with a monster. The same kind of monster that killed his daughter. Ishwada's aim moved up, at Pitch, despite his knowledge that an electric tech gun would be useless against an Umbran.
Ishwada closed his eyes and took a breath as the sounds of the Wendigo struggling continued. Flailing continued as the sounds of flesh and bones smacking into grass and dirt continued for a while until eventually it was quiet. Ishwada opened his eyes to see Pitch restore his shell as he took his hand off its neck. “It finally passed out. Call in the containment unit.” Ishwada hesitated for a moment before responding. “R-right.” He radioed in the request. “They'll make sure it stays sedated.”
Pitch got up from his lowered position and took a few steps to Ishwada who instinctively took a step back and raised his weapon. Pitch put his arms into the air and frowned. “Woah there General, I'm not going to attack you. We're on the same side here.” The General slowly lowered his shaking hands. “I know… I know. It's just that… it's one thing for you to say you're an Umbran in disguise, it's another to see it in action. When I saw the shadowy tendrils leaking out of your body, it was like I was back in that forest on that horrible day. I know it wasn't you, but I-”
Pitch took a step backwards. “You don't have to explain yourself to me Ishwada, you can't help how you feel. My true form is indistinguishable from that of the monster that killed your daughter, it's only natural for your body to become hostile when reminded of that day.” Ishwada holstered his gun. “Jiryu.” Pitch tilted his head. “Excuse me?” Ishwada let out a loud sigh. “My given name, is Jiryu. Ishwada Jiryu.” Pitch nodded. “When in private, I go by Pitch Black rather than James Holden since technically James died. Just Pitch is fine. But only between us and Kat.”
Ishwada nodded. “Nice to properly be introduced, Pitch.” The two waited for a bit more when a containment team with special tranquilizers came to properly sedate and move the Wendigo with Kathryn assisting them. “Hey guys, I see the latest monster hunt went well. Is this the same one that attacked Vance?” The two guys both nodded. Kathryn put on gloves and started a brief field examination. “Subject is a female, estimated age mid to late twenties. No visual signs of mutation outside the norm for the pop culture Wendigo.”
Kathryn then moved up and down the Wendigo, checking various parts of the body. “Bite mark on the neck has scared, based on how it has mended the subject was bitten around seven years ago. Subject has a musk, I'm guessing she's currently in estrus. We'll definitely have to keep her cell as far away from any male Wendigos for at least a month.” Ishwada groans. “I made a joke earlier about it being in the mood to breed, I completely forgot that Wendigos can in fact still reproduce sexually. Explains why it started acting strange to P-”
Ishwada paused and looked at the containment crew. “To James. It sensed not only that he was a Cryptid but she could possibly even tell that relatively speaking he was higher on the food hierarchy. So when adrenaline kicked in it displayed submissive behaviors in the hopes he'd respond positively and at least keep her as a pet if not a mate rather than kill and eat her.” Kathryn tilted her head. “Wait, the Wendigo tried to seduce James?” Ishwada shrugged. “Maybe. I'm not an expert in animal or Cryptid body language but it did start trying to play-fight like a puppy once it was cornered by James.”
Kathryn puts a hand on her chain. “Ah yes, the four Fs. With its other options removed it attempted to befriend or perhaps more. So how exactly did you two knock it out? I don't see a tranq gun.” Pitch held out his hand. “I choked it till it passed out.” Kathryn’s eyes widened for a moment as the realization of how strong Pitch is relative even to other Cryptids is re-established in her mind. “R-right. You didn't have to be as careful as normal since you are immune and it was just the two of you. Well I'll go with the containment crew and get started on the more invasive analysis. I'll see you boys later.” Kathryn does a loose salute gesture as she takes the loaded vehicle and heads back to the lab.
With her and the containment crew gone it was just the two guys left who walked to the General’s Humvee. “You know General, if you feel uncomfortable sharing a car with me, I can make my own way back.” Ishwada closed his eyes and sighed before stepping into the Humvee. “No, no. Get in. I just… need time to adjust is all. Knowing what you are makes my skin crawl but you're my best shot at getting to the monster that killed Yuri.” Pitch got into the Humvee as well. “You don't have to force yourself, General. It doesn't hurt my feelings if my true form makes you uncomfortable.”
Ishwada sighs. “I know. And you don't have to be so formal when it's just the two of us Pitch.” Pitch nods. “Alright Jiryu. I'm ready to go home.” Ishwada drove Pitch home and dropped him off before giving him a salute-wave and driving off. Pitch walked into his house and sat around for about an hour before dropping his mask and going out an open window to hunt. As much as he hated it, it was still a necessary part of his existence.