ZFRP 2021 - Number Nine

Akira and Ann Kurusu travelled the world together. Her modelling career took the pages of the magazines by storm. Nobody was quite sure what her husband did - "a bit of everything" was the answer they most often got. But he never left her side, and their marriage was as sure as anything. They both cried at the altar. Morgana was an adorable ringbearer.

Ryuji Sakamoto busted his ass as a track coach during term time. Every evening, he came back to the little café Haru Okumura ran in the alleys of Tokyo. She gave him peace, he gave her laughter. They watched slasher movies together and wondered about their future.

Makoto Nijima became a detective. She had her wits, a keen sense of justice and a punishing uppercut. It soon became a saying that there wasn't a crime she couldn't solve. She went to her friends wedding, then looked at the photos of them, and of Ryuji and Haru, and cursed her mistakes.

Yusuke Kitagawa made art, made friends. Every time he contacted his old friends, he'd tell them about how he'd been whisked onto some new project in some new country by his girlfriend. He added cooking and music to his repertoire of artistic skills, although writing eluded him. He was happy, although sometimes he missed his childhood exploits.

Futaba Sakura refused to get a desk job. She made her own company. She coded revolutionary privacy apps and database management tools from the upstairs room of LeBlanc, where her father still made curry and coffee. He'd been getting a little slower at it. She didn't like thinking about that.

They were happy. They remembered being heroes fondly, but they could move on.

Rider School - Damon Calhoun

The city I once knew is teetering on the edge of destruction. The blocks are on fire and the darkness is full of eyes.

Rider School - Mariya

I'm recording this because it could be the last thing I ever say.

Notable Group #13 Overview

Notable Group #13
Aliases: Kobbers, the Clique, Upstairs, Star Folk
Threat Level: Universally Inimical

Overview
The Kobbers are a vigilante group of Metahumans. Although their make-up and nature has altered throughout the years, the group contains several repeating traits that define them as a whole;

• Almost all individuals within the group are either metahuman to some degree, or partially or entirely non-human.
• The group regularly seeks out and does battles with various threats to the communities they interact with, regardless of the threat level of whatever foe they encounter.
• A bi-yearly pattern of migration to new locations.
• A general love of alcohol, blood sports and other debaucheries.

The Kobbers are named after the pronunciation of "KOB", an abbreviation for the King of Beasts bar that frequented Zoofights tournaments (see Notable Group #05 "Zoofights Corp"). In memory of this now-defunct ritual, the group frequents different establishments, often choosing to make one a home. Notable establishments include;

• The ZFS King of Beasts, a star cruiser owned by a shell corporation of NG #05.
• The "King of Beasts" bar in Las Vegas, Nevada.
• Kuwahawi, an anomalous island chain in the South Pacifc (See Item #60)

Multiple Massively or Universally Inimical events have been recorded in association with the Kobbers, including the Midwich Valley Incident, the Megacorp Incursions, the Skeleton War, the Ghidorah Incident, the Society and more. See attached documentation for a full list of incidents. Additionally, the Kobbers have created or contain multiple other Notable Groups, including #14 "Kamen Riders", #19 "The Church of Variola Memera" and #20 "Triden Corp."

Notable Individuals
A sampling of individuals classed as Widely Inimical and above are listed below.

• Dawn Cosineau - artificial metahuman created by Sine Cosine. Appearances are brief and her current location is unknown. Appears to be interested in human interaction and psychology.
• "Giselle" - metahuman. Appears as a tall woman with the ability to teleport, cause rapid degradation of matter and to breathe fire. Currently a member of the Crimson Fist, a socialist/anarchist street gang operating in the undercity of the Olympia project.
• Vent Cosineau - artificial "reploid" and adopted son of Dawn Cosineau. Operates as a member of NG #14 under the aliases "Kamen Rider Build" and "Kamen Rider 01".
• Jumpropeman - spectral being with multiple para-causal abilities, including time manipulation.
• Item #54 - a mansion occupied by multiple metahumans known as "yokai". Also houses Person of Interest #098, "Scarlett," an artificial being of immense power.
• The ZFPD - a private police force of multiple metahumans and non-humans,including Persons of Interest #102 "Blasto", #103 "Niftu" and #104 "Caprice Nisei".
• NG #18 "The Planeswardens", a group of para-causal metahumans that handle threats of a similar nature.
• Mariya Sato - [INFORMATION REDACTED BY THE PATAPHYSICAL DEPARTMENT. DO NOT PROCEED].

Handling
Remote observation is underway. Members of NG #13 are not to be made aware of the Federal Bureau of the Impossible under any circumstances. Any attempt to make contact will result in the offender undergoing complete wash-out from the organisation. Any attempt made by members of NG #13 to investigate or contact the FBoI is to be rebuffed with no limits, including lethal, memetic, paracausal and/or pataphysical methods.

Any Items related to NG #13 are to be immediately contained under the strictest measures until classification and full analysis is complete.

No aggression is to be enacted upon members of NG #13, except under Directive Bronco.

Research on methods to introduce to NG #13 to other Groups of Interest, including #06 "The Church of Mary Mallon", #01 "The Majestic Twelve", and NG #12 "The 80Scape" in an attempt to cause elimination of one or both parties is being considered.

A Leaked Document

Item #052
Object Type: Living, Loci, Spatial
Threat Level: Massively Inimical

Containment Procedure
Task Force Delta-7-Sigma ("Cape Cutters") and Bravo-9-Alpha ("Chain-breakers") are to be deployed permanently to the city of Olympia. They are not to engage in hostilities unless Directive Bronco is initiated. They are not to engage with the Item or any people associating with the item, and are to observe remotely.

Due to the Midwich Valley Incident, all agents in the assigned task forces are required to regularly take Yomi-level anti-memetics. Dosages are to be prescribed by task force doctors on an individual basis.

Links with Noteable Group(s) #13 "The Kobbers", NG #14 "Kamen Riders", and NG #19 "The Church of Variola Memera" are being investigated by ATLAS.

Physical Description
Item #052 is a small store that trades in comic books, hobby supplies, animated movies and electronic entertainment. The store has had multiple monikers (see note 1) during its operating period. No Employer Identification Numbers or trademarks have been filed for any of the names the store or owner trades under. The store is solely operated by one Vincent Simmons (age 26, Caucasian, born July 8th in -----, Nevada), who appears to live in the store and has no registered home address.

The store is regularly perused by both civilians and by members of NG #13. Vincent Simmons has been filed as a member of both NG #13 and NG #14.

Effects and Abilities
Item #052 shows multiple confirmed anomalous properties, including but not limited to;

• The ability to relocate, via an unknown method, to any convenient location.
• A defiance of regular spatial properties - the store can have much larger internal dimensions than is feasible for the space it occupies.
• Sale of multiple anomalous goods and services, many of which depict persons associated with NG #13 and NG #14. These goods are branded by trademarks and companies not registered in the United States or anywhere else in the world. A sample list of anomalous items is being filed for seizure and classification.

Unconfirmed anomalous properties include;

• Price tags and signage being written in a hieroglyphs or symbols not found in antiquity or current writing systems.
• Apparent telepathic communications with an outside being.
• Animation of inanimate objects, particularly the goods sold by the store. This may range from precise animation of a figurine, to sudden movement of larger items.
• Forced, immediate relocation or teleportation of people and items.

Reports of tentacular appendages appearing from the walls and floor of the store have not been corroborated by additional sources.

Vincent Simmons has access to a Transformation Device, marking him as a member of NG #14. He operates as a vigilante under the name "Kamen Rider Ex-Aid", and is currently hosting an informal class teaching other metahumans and members of NG #13 vigilante tactics and martial arts. This has placed him on watch-lists within the intelligence community as a possible militia ringleader.

Item History:
Item #052 was reported in Las Vegas in 2016, and has been sighted in close proximity to NG #13 and GOI #14 multiple times over the past four years. This includes the island of Kuwahawi and the Outer City of of the Olympia Project. The latter is believed to be linked to the creation of NG #19.

Notes:
1. List of trading names includes "Manga Carta", "Beach Episode" and "Sky High Comics".

A Noble Quest!

The grand parade moved through the pillars of stone that made up the strange lands in this kingdom. A quest was underway! Their lands had to be defended, and who else could personally right the wrongs of man but the wise Duke himself? And so it was that he gathered his best and set out to see the state of his new lands.

Ahead, as always, rode his trusty herald, clad in iron and bearing a trumpet. With each blow of the horn, a sonorous cry rang from the buildings, and between each blow he would cry -

The three gangers froze, spray cans held in their hands like warding symbols.

"The fuck was that?"

"I dunno, dude, I only came down here to tag the place -"

Ahead of the pack were the hounds, a finer pair never seen by the likes of man. With jet black coats and keen eyes, they would sniff out wrongdoers! Keeping them under control was the gentle lady Valreek, a lowly hunter that the Duke had brought into his court (the tale was a good one, but too long to tell here!). She would be responsible for gathering food on their long journey, for there was game in these forests and they had brought wine aplenty.

Of course, no good would go to waste with the Duke's own cook, a butcher from the town whom had impressed his Lordship with a trick involving pies. And Talon, the master of hawks, was there too - overeager as always to prove his worth. As they rode, he pointed and cried out -

"I thought you said the gargoyle lady didn't hang around here?"


"I'm pretty sure she doesn't make noises like that."

"How the fuck do you know?" 

"Alright, fuck this shit. Lets get out of here."

The young men dropped their cans and ran, following their path back through the maze of alleys in the dense residential areas of the Undercity. They were in areas close to the Green Hell Zone. Most of the buildings and homes laid empty, since people did not like the idea of living near something with that name, but some enterprising souls had found that, with preparation, a lot could be done with the spaces that people didn't want. The destruction of the Curse had helped in that regard.

The three had taken what they had hoped were anti-radiation tablets. They were starting to wish they had taken other things. Like firepower. Or their boss. She'd have known what to do. They'd heard the stories, of how she -

"The fuck?" The cry came from up ahead under the leathery sound of something flapping, and a chitter.

"It's the gargoyle lady!"

"No it's not!"

"The fuck was it?"

The flutter and chitter again, like a sniggering child. They couldn't stop to find out. They had taken the last turn, and ahead was the street and their car - 

"My duke! Behold! Some villain most foul hath besmirched the lands!"

Indeed it was so! Foul symbols, insults to the Duke and supplications to dark gods, were daubed on the side of the peasants huts. A clear symbol of this place being infested by traitors to the dark gods. And look! They ran now, almost skeletal with tattered rags, hissing as they went!

"I shall smite them, mine liege!" This was the cry of noble Gristlewel, a knight of true loyalty! He leapt forward, brandishing his greatsword -

Crack. The man at the rear went down with a cry. The other two got to the car. One of them was stupid enough to look back.

It had been a man, but it was clad in long, greasy hair and rags. Chains hung from its green-grey, clammy skin. It carried an oversize bone in both hands, brandishing it like a sword, standing over their fallen friend. Blood caked the end of the weapon. It hissed and gibbered, white eyes glaring.

"Avoi, thou crimināl!"

"Get in the car!"

The one who had looked back couldn't move. There were more shapes back in there, back in the alley. Lanky, gangly, low to the ground. He saw a flash of wings. And at the rear, light glinted off of metal.

 "Fie to thee!"

The Duke's voice rang through the town square. 

"Fie to thee, thou villaine! Get thee from this place hence, or suffer doom at my hand!"

It was screaming at him. He felt a hand yank him back into the car, felt the rumble of the engine, the scream of tires.

The pale eyes followed him.

Curses! A foul spell, a trick typical of the minions of Chaos. They had summoned a great beast to sweep them away. 

"The hounds may pursue them, my lord Crakmarrow," came Valreek's soft tones.

"Nay." The Duke raised a hand. "The ruffians have learnt their lesson. They will not return to this place. You have done well, Gristlewel."

"Thank you, my lord."

Their grunts echoed in the alley over the still body.

"My lord!" The butcher approached the fallen form, surprise on his features. "The criminal! He has... Food on him! He must have been stealing from the peasants here..."

Crakmarrow's brow furrowed. Food? Did that make sense? Why would the ruffian have...?

He felt hungry...

The alley grew quiet as the figures looked at the body.

An hour later, there was only bones.

Rain

Three gunshots went off, and Aiko Kurusu opened her eyes.

Sleep cleared from her mind. It hadn't been gunshots. She was in bed in her apartment, and someone was pounding on her door. She could hear a muffled voice, and the drum of rain on the window. It wasn't real - condensation from the heat of Olynpia's engines.

"Babe?" Somebody shifted next to her, and Aiko felt skin on skin. "What's going on?"

"Don't worry about it," she whispered. The digital clock read 3:20 AM in angry scarlet. "Go back to sleep."

She reached over. In the bedside drawer were the cockroach bodies of two burner phones, and a pistol. She grabbed it and clicked the safety as she slipped out of the warmth. The hallway chilled her. She spied herself in the tiny circular mirror on the wall. Her black hair was wild and her eyes were tired.

"Aiko! It's me! Open up!" The voice was clear now. Aiko turned to the door, pressed an eye to the peephole. She saw a lanky young man, features made crazy by shadows from the one streetlight still working outside.

"Who is it," she called.

"It's me, it's Jared! Open the door, man!"

She recognised the name, and the logo on his t-shirt. Slow Weather Jamz. He was such a kid.

It was stained red.

"Jesus," she muttered. Her thin fingers fumbled the chain lock and the two bolts loose, and she wrenched open the door. She stared up at his too-young face. He'd been crying.

"Jesus, Aik," he stammered, "you're naked."

"You're covered in blood," she snapped back. "Get the fuck inside."

He ambled in, the red on his clothes and hands turning black in the light. Aiko peered out behind him, but saw nothing in the street to worry her. She shut the door and bolted everything.

"The fuck happened?" She turned back to him. Rain mixed with his tears and made Slow Weather Jamz cling to his torso.

"T-they hit up Ron," he gasped. "We were at the arcade, and -"

"Who did it?"

"Marco."

Things got... Hazy from there. She knew Marco. Marco acted tough but he didn't own shit. His most famous accomplishment was being apprehended by a Bioroid for hitting someone. How had he got the balls to do something like this?

"Let the bullets breath, Jared, dude." She saw brass casings slip into magazines. "Uzis jam a lot."

"Sorry."

Why was she good at killing? Would she find out why if they scanned the barcode on her neck? They'd find out how much she was worth, probably. Too much? Too little? It gave her away, and she'd spent too much failing to scrub the devilsd mark off.

She put the gas mask on. She could pretend to be someone else now.

"Transport?"

"Got a Cherokee outside." Jared was watching her. "I told Davey and No-Face but they didn't want any of it. Don't want no trouble."

Of course not. Cowards.

The drive was a blur. All the same. Packed houses. Dripping rain built by the engines of the city. Neon. Cleaning drones, the odd Bioroid, hookers and drunks and homeless. The people the upper city liked to pretend didn't exist. No transport. No services. No jobs unless you turned to crime.

She didn't know who to be angry at the most.

All of them.

He was there, suddenly, and she wondered why she even had a gun. What was the point? He was standing in the rain. He was talking to himself. Was he? Marco wasn't crazy, right? But Jared was behind her and he couldn't see her not be tough.

"Hey, motherfucker!"

He turned.

Oh, fuck.

Her finger hesitated. There was a song like this, wasn't there? East Coast rapper. She couldn't think. But he was holding her in his arms and she couldn't be even a year old, what was this shit? What if she'd pulled the trigger without shouting?

She could see his face, pale, scared. Marco was always a pretender.

The baby made a noise she hated.

Something in her head told her to pull the trigger anyway. But Nyalarhotep said something else. Everything was looking at her. So she did the one thing she could do to stop it. She thumbed the red blinking app on her smartphone.

"Mementos."

CANDIDATE FOUND

And then she was gone, into the swirl of red and train tracks and cogs and decay. She didn't have to pull a trigger. She didn't have to think about the fact that she had gone out to kill someone. She could ignore what Jared's reaction would be.

She needed a drink, but the human subconscious lacked bars.

But she knew one place that did good booze.