Bayou Body Snatching (open)

The word was finally out. People were disappearing in the backwoods of Louisiana. Dressler had known for a while now that he could not keep up his abductions indefinitely and now his time in the area was growing short. For months now he had been disguising himself as different bayou game animals, alligators, snakes etc. When a hunter or fisherman or what have you would come up on him he would strike, injecting the victim with a paralytic and dragging them off to his lab for work on their form. It was brilliantly simple. People disappeared in the backwoods often for one reason or another so as long as he was careful there would be no issue. Unfortunately his creations' hunger grew more insatiable with every passing mutation and so he had to ramp up the abductions. As many of the beasts preferred the taste of human flesh, by his own choice not some random act of evolution, more bodies were needed and so he got sloppy. That sloppiness ended his exploits up in the news. "The Croc Killer" they called him after finding the remains of one of his feeding victims. It was asinine really. He wasn't feeding these people to "crocs" but to his ascended beings. But regardless of the semantics, the feeding had to continue.

That was why Dr. Dressler, the vain, proud doctor was lying nose deep in putrid murky water as an alligator. His snout and eyes barely poked above the surface of the water. With all the attention on the news, there would most certainly be people in the swamp looking for "The Croc Killer" their most recent serial killer, so assuming his human form was out of the question. He'd have to stay their in the murk waiting for someone stupid enough to still be hunting alligators in the current climate. It just so happened that their were just such people. You see, below the surface, Dressler had made some modifications to his reptilian form. Along his snout he had the electromagnetic sensing organs of a hammerhead shark. With these he could feel all the living things in the swamp and he could feel multiple human shaped figures moving through the swamp. All he had to do was wait to see what exactly kind the kind of people were that he was dealing with. With any luck, it would be the next meal of his creations. If not, well, he might just have to come up with a creative solution to not get caught.

A Bayou where people were disappearing was the perfect place to make a getaway for a group of four darkly dressed commandos. Mercenaries they were, in the employ of a faceless contractor who paid good coin so to speak, for their services. They had murdered their way to their target and now carried a secured briefcase with them. Unfortunately, their getaway was not clean.
On a Bayou hovercraft, or Airboat, or whatever those things were called, they were rapidly fleeing a relentless pursuer. Their engine roared and the fan blew at its full power, as it made its way through the water, making lots of noise. The hot sun shone above, while the humid air made their black body gear cling to them with sweat and heat.

One of the gunmen turned to glance behind, only to see the swamp flora being swept aside by a strong breeze. A figure flitted in and out of cover, stalking the mercenaries in their boat. "She's gaining on us!"

Panicking, he stands up and opens fire with his gun, but his aim was way off.
"Idiot don't shoot blind!" His comrade scolds him, when suddenly a sudden vortex of air temporarily lifts it out of the water.

That was all it took for the boat to flip into a roll and falls into the waters near Dr. Dressler. One of the men was not more than four feet away from him in the murky water. he struggles to swim to the surface, but his heavy gear and the presence of an angry aerokinetic. His companions were out of sight, but he could hear them lifted out of the water.

"I won't ask again. Surrender peacefully and there won't be any more trouble." A woman's voice could be heard, strong and assertive, but unaware of the greater danger beneath the water.

When you take on an animal's form, sometimes the instincts come with it. In this case the thrashing and struggling of a prey animal kicked in the alligator's strong predatory instinct. Without a thought, Dr. Dressler sunk into the water, his eyes giving a quick blink of the water proof lenses as he silently submerged. The poor unsuspecting man, his struggle had kicked up quite a bit of sediment from the bottom of the swamp and water was now thick with it. It was doubtful that he could see even a few feet in front of him. With a powerful swing of his muscular tail Dressler was on the man, his vice-like jaws snapping hard around his torso. Blood began to turn the water a sickly mixture of brown, green and red and the man was violently thrashed around in a death roll. Death would come to the man quickly as the doctor consumed his meal, leaving odds and ends of the body to float to the surface. It was only once his prey had been consumed that Dressler realized what he had done and the presence of others the others in the swamp.

A pontoon, it had buzzed by only moments ago, dumping his latest victim into the water. Looking over the man's garments it was clear that he was some sort of military, perhaps militant. Had a task force been sent in to sweep for the latest problem? That seemed a bit of overkill. Resurfacing his eyes and snout above the water he decided to investigate the situation unfolding near him.

It appeared that the boat had been forcefully lifted from the water, though there were no signs of a large rock or tree root in the way that it might have flipped over. That was odd. Looking then to the men from the boat, it appeared that they were...floating. Dressler looked about furiously to find the source of the levitation and found it in a rather intense woman. She was in control of the situation, put together and composed. Dressler's mission suddenly changed as he swam silently closer to her, but ensuring to keep hidden in the thick green swampy slush that permeated the area. He would watch the woman carefully, analyzing just what she could do. And then, well, he had always wanted to test his skills on a metahuman...

The adrenaline of combat and the presence of high powered firearms proved distraction enough that the grisly demise of their fellow did not get noticed by either party. The men, proving their grit, attacked with handguns and knives, but were knocked out one by one by Zafira, whether by a gust of wind or a timely palm strike uppercut to the jaw. The last man took aim in the scant seconds Zafira took down two trained mercenaries; gunshots rang out three times, but Zafira hastily vacated by reaching into the air.

Her move literally sucked the air around her, pulling the man towards Zafira, disorienting him and letting her land on his head knees first.

"Always the hard way." She murmured. That was an intense fight, and fit though she may be, Zafira was sure she felt her age in the form of joint pain for a second, reflexively massaging her knee. She ignores it for the moment and turned towards the one with the package... but was taken aback when she saw the man had been reduced to chunks. "Must be some alligator. Big one." She thought.

With one less enemy to deal with, she assumes a stance similar to Tai Chi. As her hands made their sweeping movements, it would feel as if to Dr. Dressler the very wind followed, a most rare and surely unnatural breeze flowing over the water and slowly moving the sealed container towards Zafira on the riverbank.

What an interesting specimen he had before him. Her abilities were strange, seemingly linked to some form of Chinese martial art. The very air around her seemed to bend and flow with her movements. Perhaps see was not a metahuman and had learned to somehow tap into the primal forces of...oh what was he thinking of course she was metahuman. Mysticism and such things were distractions to lesser man and he was not one to fall to such shortcomings. There was of course a logical explanation for what she could do, her movements simply must have been linked mentally to the control of her abilities, not an uncommon thing. Regardless, she dispatched the militants with her abilities with no issue. It was quite an impressive display. Top off surprisingly by her attempted retrieval of a package from the water. Funny, he hadn't noticed the container before, probably because he had been too busy literally ripping the man it was on limb from limb.

An eerie breeze worked its way over the water as the container drifted near Dr. Dressler. It appeared that this window to become acquainted with the woman had presented itself. Slowly he rose from the water, his reptilian appearance giving way to his more handsome human form complete with formal attire. As the sludge dripped from his body he reached out for the package, snatching it in his left hand. Very impressive my dear morsel. Your efficiency in dispatching those men, simply beautiful, like living art. He dusted off a bit of muck from his shoulder as he continued. Ah, where are my manners? My name is Doctor Dressler. He addressed her with a firm and shallow bow then gracefully extended his hand and raised an eyebrow. And you are? You see, I'd prefer that we be properly introduced before we continue with the matter at hand. His thick German accent came on stronger with the last bit. He was excited and it no doubt showed in his voice.

Zafira thought her day was nearly over when the package was finally in her reach. Just a matter of reaching down and grabbing... except, a reptilian being suddenly emerged from the water, assuming the form of a man in formal dress albeit with a slimy finish. He reached the sealed suitcase first, and, as an instinctive reaction to danger, Zafira leapt back in an air assisted spin, putting ten more feet between herself and Dressler.

She wasn't expecting a civilized welcome, but now that her package was in Dressler's hands, she was forced to stay and confront him. Going to a relaxed, standing position from her modified Northern Crane stance, she indulged his curiosity. "I am Zafira Yn' Bashr. I am a teacher, and you have something of mine I want."

What business had a teacher out in the bayou chasing mercenaries? Oh the tangled webs only further enchanted Dressler. A pleasure Miss Bashr. He rose from his bow, suitcase still firmly grasped in his hand. Now assured that this was indeed her goal he lifted it and tucked the case under his arm with a hand grasped around the bottom. Smiling with just the slightest hint of malice he once more addressed the woman. You see now Miss Bashr that we have a predicament. You clearly desire this case yet I have no knowledge of what is inside. Taking his free hand and tapped the side of the case lightly. For all I know you are here to obtain a dangerous weapon to be used against innocent people. Or perhaps its simply your life savings, stolen from you by these brutes. His head lowered, his eyes taking on an almost snake like quality as they stared daggers at Zafira above his ever-growing grin. It really doesn't matter to we what is in the case, only that you want it. He then straightened back up pride and joy in his current position over another pouring out of him. So tell me Miss Bashr, just what do you have to offer me in return for this case?

Zafira listened and observed the being before her, and drew some conclusions. He was not friendly for certain, and he was definitely something monstrous considering what he'd done to the thug that fell into the water. She was in no mood to negotiate.

"I can offer you no further disturbance if you hand that case over." She said bluntly, refusing to be intimidated. She extended an outstretched hand to receive it, but did not move closer to Dressler.

"But I have a feeling you're the type who looks for trouble. We can do this the easy way or the hard way." She gave Dressler the choice.

Well, clearly Zafira had no interest in bargaining. It was a shame really. He had hoped to gain something from the woman, some sort of leverage. But no matter, to fight in the animal kingdom was to prove one's dominance over their pack and their territory. Dressler was more than willing to do both.

The doctor let a dry chuckle escape from his lips as he drew the case to his chest."You cause me no disturbance Miss Bashr. But I'm afraid I will not be handing this over to you without a gaining something. If that something is your blood on my hands, then so be it. Immediately his body began to change. A thick bark began to form in large calluses on his skin. They would extend over his chest, engulfing the briefcase and sucking it into his ever elongating form. Up he grew, all semblance of humanity gone as he arms split and arched into the arms of a massive tree. From each of the branches that now stretched above the low hanging canopy, long vines began to descend. Each one thick and wiry like netting and coated in the human secondary attractants that lure mosquitoes. At the base of the massive tree, roots began to sink and bend deep into the earth, tightly rooting Dressler in place as he began to draw in methane from the surrounding swamp. All along the trunk, tiny spider eyes appeared. He now had a 360 view of the area and a plan. Go ahead Miss Bashr. The tree creaked and groaned out the deep and ominous call. Let's see how you get at your case now.