xp_logs | Xbalanque

Elpis tries to get Duarte to give them the helicopter. Instead, Duarte has them arrested for possession of a mysterious dead body.

"~What is the meaning of this?~" Duarte called as he came out into the courtyard where the jeep had been parked. His guards circled warily, but he waved them away. His pistol was clearly visible in his shoulder holster, however.

Great, it doesn't speak English and it's got a gun. Kevin was not seeing the appeal of this country at all. "Uh, yeah. So we found this guy, who's all burnt up and last night we were attacked by this weird, kinda mutated lookin' jaguar thing, which we burned." 'We' was a pretty loose explanation but Kevin didn't want to tell them John did it because crazy Spanish people with guns were not ones he wanted having people to point fingers, or barrels, at. "So, um, yeah, we think he killed the doctor..." he looked to John for some sort of help. He was all college guy, he had to be more articulate, right?

Duarte blinked momentarily and then recovered. He gestured for some of his guards to block the gate out of the courtyard, effectively surrounding the Elpis people and Berta. He blew out a frustrated sigh. "Can you care to explain, again, please?" he said in thickly accented English. "This ..." he gestured at the body in the jeep. "Was your jaguar?"

"Look, I know what it looks like." The one thing John hated was being made to look like a fool and judging by the way Duarte was looking at them; he clearly didn't believe a word of what they'd just told him. "There were three of us out there in the jungle last night and we saw what we saw, alright? Three pairs of eyes! We can't all have been wrong. It wasn't this man. It was... some kind of a fucking animal." John ran a hand through his hair and glanced over at Kevin before letting out a shake of his head. "So really, we don't know what the fuck happened to Mr. Crispy here. It's... We can't explain it."

"It's true, Duarte, I swear it," Berta said, sticking to English for the Elpis' staff's convenience. "We were attacked last night by a jaguar and fought it off, and then, in the morning, he was here." She nodded to the body. "The burns are the same. I do not understand it, but it's true." They really couldn't afford to spend time explaining this all, needed to return for Julio, but Duarte could not be avoided.

Duarte stepped closer and examined the body, turning the man's head. A brief flicker of something crossed his face. Surprise? Recognition? But it passed quickly and he scowled.

"Are you saying you killed this man?" he said mildly, stepping away from the jeep and gesturing at his men.

"Whoa." John stepped forward and shook his head. "Back the accusations up, man. No one's saying that." He turned back to look at Berta. There was no fucking way he was going to believe that the dead guy was the jaguar that had attacked Julio. That didn't make any sense. "This is just... a coincidence somehow. We've got nothing to do with this man's death."

"We did not kill a man." Nash's rumble was restrained, his expression calm, but the way he moved away from the jeep was far from casual. Duarte's men immediately started to look rather nervous. "We defended ourselves against an attack by an animal. We're bringing this to you as the authority in this area. Would we be dropping a body on your doorstep if we'd committed murder?"

"You are foreigners. You come in my town and there are two deaths in two days. What am I supposed to think?" Duarte snapped. He turned and gave out a series of rapid-fire instructions in Spanish. More men came into the courtyard. Suddenly it was a little clearer where most of the citizen's tax dollars were going. Hiring Duarte his own personal army. The body was removed from the jeep and it disappeared through a doorway.

"So," Duarte said, turning back to the assembled mutants before him. "Now I arrest you for suspicion of murder. You can either be quiet or not," his guards raised their weapons.

"Usted hijo de una cabra y de una puta, le cortaré." The words were clumsy but Kevin figured Julio said it was the thing to say if he ended up as a human sacrifice so being arrested counted too, right? Didn't they have rights as American citizens or something? No, that was probably only if they were diplomats, which they weren't. Great, arrested twice in less than twelve months. "Ah'm too young to have a rap sheet this long," he grumbled under his breath.

Berta's eyebrows shot up as Kevin started to speak, but it was too late and she silently cursed Julio, even as she stepped forward. "~Duarte, he doesn't know what that means - a friend of his taught him that as a prank. Please, you must listen. We don't know what's going on any more than you, but we didn't kill this man.~" She knew the chances of them getting out of this easily were non-existent. Switching into English so the others could understand she said, "We'll come along with you quietly, but there's an injured boy still up on the mountain. He needs medical help."

"I am supposed to believe you?" Duarte said, flustered at what Kevin had said. "You have threatened me! Now either go nicely or I will have you shot."

"Threaten? When'd we do that?" Kevin had no idea what he'd said to Duarte but he didn't think it was a threat. Julio wasn't that evil, was he? Instead he looked at Berta and spoke in a whisper to her, "Why'd you go and threaten 'im?" Obviously if he hadn't done it and John hadn't done it that left only her, right?

"Whenever we get back to Julio, he and I are going to be having a serious talk," was Berta's answer as she scowled. "I said we would come with you quietly and we will," she added to Duarte. "See," she said, holding her arms out, hands open to show they were empty. "We're just worried about our friend."

Nash's eyes were narrowed, and he was looking around at Duarte's men. Very obviously assessing them, and the gray of his visible skin darkened a few shades as he shifted his skin to super-dense. "Whatever you think of us," he said to Duarte finally, "there's someone on that mountain who needs medical attention. Are you going to see to it?"

Duarte seemed to pause and consider Nash's words. "No, that is not my care. Idiot foreign tourists are not worth time or money of mine." He said mildly. "Now, if you please," he gestured with his pistol. His guards advanced.

"Well, I'm sorry," Nash said, and actually sounded like he meant it. "But that's not acceptable." As soon as the words were out of his mouth he moved, impossibly fast for a man his size. All at once, half a dozen of Duarte's guards were down as Nash grabbed the two closing in on them and flung them bodily at their closest compatriots. Hard.

Unfortunately for Nash, two of the guards had decided that the big man was probably the biggest threat. Jumping into the jeep, they started the engine and revved it loudly. Before the big man could react, they rammed into him at full speed.

So much for going quietly. Berta had no chance to protest before Nash was moving and the smartest thing she could think of was to get out of the way. Diving sideways she cried out as she saw the car rushing at Nash. "No! Don't hurt them!"

Another guard took the opportunity to hit Kevin over the back of the head with his rifle, and the boy crumpled to the ground without a sound. Another took aim at John.

"Like I said," Duarte smoothed his shirt, looking at the scene before him. Nash and Kevin on the ground and unconscious, Berta and John cornered. "You are under arrest."