Mimicry Trickery

                One murder after another and each more brutal than the one before it.  Taekwoon rubbed his forehead and glared at the pictures on his desk as if he could somehow change the image by sheer force of will.  Torn to pieces, mauled to death, nothing but bloody pulp…  He stifled a disgusted groan and shoved them away to lean back in his chair.  There were pitifully few monsters around that could do that sort of damage and most of them were on good terms with Animal Control, as they had been rather snidely termed by their observed populous.

                Perturbed by who he saw in the picture, more than the actual deaths themselves, Taekwoon crossed his arms over his chest and chewed roughly on his top lip.  He had thought they were friends, but pictures didn’t lie – mostly – and it was hard to deny witnesses had spotted that idiot in the area.  “What the hell are you doing, Hakyeon?” he growled, threading his fingers through thick, black hair and holding tight.

                Personally, he wouldn’t have even thought the creature had it in him if he hadn’t seen some of his more accidental incidents – it was safe to say the results were somewhat catastrophic.  Were-creatures were a mess in general and it was Taekwoon’s dumb luck that a werejaguar had decided to settle in this district.  For being as scrawny as he was, Hakyeon commanded a strange amount of respect and after boning up on the history of his kind, Taekwoon could understand why: incredibly long lived, almost impossible to kill, no known weaknesses, and exceptional abilities…  They could almost be described as perfect.  Which made him all the more suspect with the recent string of killings.

                “But you’re not usually like that,” the hunter murmured to himself, tapping his fingers against his chin while he stared at the wall with narrowed eyes.  Deftly, he traced the path of the attacks and couldn’t see any pattern yet; everything seemed random still.  His shoulders twitched with tension when the phone on his desk rang.  “Taekwoon,” he stated as he immediately picked up the secure, magically resistant line.

                “I figured you’d be in your office,” Jaehwan’s often annoying voice flowed over the receiver, making Taekwoon want to put the phone down.  But he didn’t.

                “And?” the hunter prompted the easily distracted Seer – not in the mystical sense either.  He was literally a person who could see long distances without equipment.  It was weird.

                “Got a bead on the killer,” he announced, rather proud of himself.  Taekwoon grabbed a pen and paper and waited for the hastily rattled off address so he could follow suit.

                “Thanks,” he announced, just about to set the phone down before the other man spoke up again.

                “Be careful!” Jaehwan announced shrilly, almost like he was worried he wouldn’t have time to say it.  “There might be another creature in the vicinity.  I didn’t get a clear view but there was definitely movement,” he went on, his voice steady and earnest.

                “I will,” the hunter agreed softly, setting the phone down at last before he rose fluidly from his seat and snagged his Hunter’s Pouch from under the desk.  “Let’s get to work,” he nodded, patting the container to reassure himself.  If it came down to it, he wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to kill the werejaguar, but he would figure something out.  Hopefully…

                His city continued on as if nothing was wrong: people walked around in the chilly night air, arm in arm or in small groups, smiling and laughing; cars streamed by in a never ending flow of headlights and constant motion; the buildings nearby threw dim illumination into the streets, bolstering the efforts of the ornate lamps lining the roads.  And Taekwoon had to pretend that he was just another human making the rounds that evening.  A couple times, he overheard the comment of ‘man purse’ thrown his way and his lips thinned but he declined to spare the ignorant fools his attention.  He had more important things to worry about than their perceptions of him.  Like the building under construction Jaehwan had said the perpetrator was currently residing in.

                Taekwoon eyed the dark mess of unfinished walls and rebar beams and frowned.  It reeked of a trap and he loathed having to walk into it without some sort of backup in the wings.  The other two hunters in their department had been called out to another district to help deal with a massive vampire outbreak and Taekwoon had volunteered to stay behind just in case.  Looks like that was a good idea after all.

                Taking a deep breath as he hefted his bag into a more comfortable position, Taekwoon carefully made his way around the fence meant to keep people out and headed in.   A lack of lighting set his hair on end and his feet crunched surprisingly loud over the ground.  Nerves coiled in his stomach and he could have sworn that someone was watching him by the way his skin crawled.  “I know you’re there,” he called out softly, well aware the other creature would be able to hear him just fine even if he whispered.

                There was no answer and, for a moment, Taekwoon was worried he might have thought wrong, but then something moved at the base of the building.  He blinked when it seemed to just appear from behind one of the steel beams holding up the structure, and calmly started walking his direction.  In the dim light, it was nigh on impossible to tell what he was dealing with except for the golden eyes glinting in the half-moon light.

                “Hakyeon,” the hunter hissed under his breath, taking a half-step back while his fingers curled under the edge of the flap to open his pouch.

                “I knew you’d come,” the familiar voice rolled over him, sending a flicker of hesitation down Taekwoon’s spine.  The werejaguar’s face came into view, crowned by a soft sheen of warm, brown hair.  In the light, he could better make out the well known features of the young man he’d come to call friend.  Foolishly so it would seem.

                “Why are you killing people?” the hunter asked softly, stepping to the side to keep the distance between them equal without having to give ground.

                “I’m not,” Hakyeon shook his head, hunching his shoulders and glancing around somewhat nervously.  “I need your help,” he went on, holding his hand out imploringly as he tried to get closer to the other man.

                “Witnesses have spotted you fleeing the scenes, Hakyeon,” Taekwoon reminded him flatly, letting his eyes dart to either side just in case.

                “There’s a mimic in the area,” he offered, pausing for just a second to look around as if he heard something.

                Taekwoon’s skin crawled and he shivered involuntarily at the thought.  His dark eyes settled back on Hakyeon and he opened his pouch, slipping his hand inside to grasp one of the vials within.  Hakyeon’s eyes followed his movements but didn’t seem concerned.  “So how do I know you’re you?” the hunter asked, every muscle tensing in preparation.

                “Of course I’m me,” Hakyeon snorted, crossing his arms over his chest in irritation.  “You’d be dead already if I wasn’t.”

                The hunter weighed the thought over in his mind, relatively sure he was right.  “Then you won’t mind if I do this,” he murmured, drawing the vial free to place it against his neck.  Hakyeon’s eyes followed him intently, nostrils flaring as one eye twitched.

                A palpable sense of anger rolled up behind Taekwoon and he stiffened when Hakyeon looked over his shoulder.  “He’s coming!” the other man yelled, lunging towards Taekwoon.

                Reactively, the hunter depressed the trigger to inject himself with the enhancing agent, but was caught in a split second of limbo when his sense sharpened exponentially and every nerve in his body came to burning life.  It mattered little when that same something of anger came up behind him and growled, deep and low.  “Move!” it commanded, shoving Taekwoon aside as if he was nothing at all.

                “Taekwoon!  Help!” Hakyeon screamed as he was caught up in the hands of the creature that had come rampaging onto the scene.

                For a couple precious seconds, the hunter had to reorient himself.  Nearby yowls echoed off the partially completed walls and the sounds tore at his sensitive ear drums.  But the enhancing agent worked quickly and despite the attack that had sent him flying, Taekwoon jumped up to see what was happening instead.  “Hunter’s Courage,” he blinked, acute vision sighting on two werejaguars climbing the metal tower.  That wasn’t possible…

                Scrambling to react more appropriately, Taekwoon snatched his pouch and yanked two cesti free, jamming them onto his hands and engaging the retractable claws so that four, silver talons curled out over his fingers.  Without another word, he jumped forward, spanning nearly ten feet in the first leap.  Gaining momentum, he jumped another fifteen and then launched himself towards the second floor where the monsters were currently scrambling around.  Beams bent and broke entirely under their onslaught and Taekwoon was very nearly hit by a flying piece of debris as soon as he reached them.

                “!” he cursed under his breath, falling to the ground with inhuman speed.

                The werejaguars were faster still, crashing together in a blur of flying fur and snarling fangs while outstretched claws flashed at each other.  Both wore wounds, various gashes running down their bodies, but one seemed more hurt than the other.  He fled briefly, hiding behind a beam and shouted out, “Help me, Taekwoon!”

                Snarling, the other werejaguar hurled his body at his target, tearing through the metal like it was butter.  “Fake!” the monster howled, his voice slurring in his anger.

                There was no time to figure out which one was the real Hakyeon so Taekwoon jumped in swiftly, landing on the monster’s back with an awkward hold.  It stalled and yowled when claws sank into his lower back, making the beast spin briefly.  Further enraged by the attack, the werejaguar reached around and yanked Taekwoon free, ignoring the blades that dragged through his flesh as a result.  “Away!” he snapped, throwing the hunter aside before snarling as the other monster pounced on him.

                Taekwoon hit a central beam and spun in the air until he hit the ground and slid towards the edge.  His body slipped over the side but he dug in with his claws and hung suspended for the briefest of seconds.  Gathering his strength, the hunter pulled up and jumped back to the platform only to find that the werejaguars had moved on.  The sounds of combat above drew him upward and Taekwoon jumped to the next story, pulling himself up and crawling onto the third floor.  “Dammit!” he snapped when he found they’d gone higher still.

                He was just about to climb up again when movement at the edge warned him to get out of the way.  Taekwoon wasn’t quite fast enough when a seething ball of wounded anger swung down and rammed into him with his shoulder.  In no time at all, the hunter found himself slung over the werejaguar’s back with a hand anchoring him in place.  He was about to dig his claws in again until he heard the beast speaking, “Stupid hunter can’t tell friend from foe.”

                “Hakyeon?” Taekwoon guessed, not at all enjoying be carried off like some damsel in distress.  A perturbed growl was his answer and then neither had time for more.  The mimic made its move and both were bowled over, a massive, dark body bearing them to the ground.

                The hunter slashed out but his claws felt like they missed or only grazed the thing.  Hakyeon shoved up to roar at the mimic that was already shifting again, making it nearly impossible to hit.  Only brief marks marred its shifting body and Taekwoon realized it could probably avoid their attacks by changing shapes at will when needed.  The mass of roiling flesh surged forward.

                Both were ready until it solidified into a new shape: Taekwoon’s.  Hakyeon grunted in confusion, briefly stalled from attacking, but Taekwoon was under no such sway.  He reacted swiftly, meeting the mimic head on and glad to finally be able to fight something.  “Cursed creature!” he spat, exchanging blow after defended blow as they danced while the werejaguar circled on the outside, unsure of which to attack.

                Another claw swipe missed, skimming through the air where flesh had been.  One of the mimic’s cesti got through and ripped Taekwoon open on his side, spilling crimson down his leg.  High on the enhancer and adrenaline, he barely felt it.  Gaining his footing, he planted himself and drove forward, shoving the mimic away and towards the edge.  It fought him for a moment and then went willingly.

                The lack of resistance confused the hunter until they reached the edge where Hakyeon grabbed them both.  “Hakyeon!” Taekwoon snapped, realizing too late it was what the mimic wanted.  Even as he was yanked back by the werejaguar’s efforts, the mimic allowed itself to be pulled towards safety only to turn and shove its opponent off the edge.  Hakyeon yowled and flailed in the air as he plummeted three stories with an aggravated look on his face.  “!” he scowled when the mimic turned its attention back to him with a leering expression, the look odd on his own face.  He didn’t leer…

                “Fooled ya,” it laughed, morphing with sickening speed into Hakyeon’s form again.

                With a shallow breath, Taekwoon looked at his cesti and frowned thoughtfully.  They were made of a silver alloy blend and blessed by a holy man, coated in holy water, with religious symbols etched all over them.  But he had no idea if they were of any use against a mimic.  The damn things were notoriously difficult to actually identify and then kill since they had too many forms to count.

                “Congratulations,” the hunter muttered dryly, wondering what the game of cat and mouse was for.  If it wanted Hakyeon, it would have followed him, wouldn’t it?  So why was it still here?  The mimic smiled and lurched towards him, the raging monster of death once more.

                Taekwoon tensed up and took a breath but jerked in surprise when a steel beam flew across the floor long ways.  The sound screamed in the confined space and sent up sparks but neither he nor the mimic were able to react in time to avoid being knocked off their feet by the improvised tripping weapon.  Suspended in midair, the hunter flailed and then watched with wide eyes when another steel beam swung through the dim light and connected with the mimic in the process of falling.  The dull thunk of metal meeting flesh was followed by a solid thud as an impaled Hakyeon pinned it to the unyielding floor.

                “Kill it!” he commanded through bared fangs with both hands pressing the beam down so that the mimic wouldn’t be able to wriggle free.

                Freed from suspension, Taekwoon rolled from the ground and pounced on the downed mimic.  With his cestus pulled back, he landed on its back, grabbed a handful of fur, and slammed the claws of his weapon through the creature’s head.  It keened and thrashed, sending both Taekwoon and Hakyeon skidding away from its violent reaction.

                Once more, the hunter found himself dangling over the edge of the building with a tenuous grip on the platform.  “I’m getting tired of this,” he muttered, digging his claws in to anchor himself until the monster stopped thrashing.  Vibrations from its death throes shivered through Taekwoon and made his teeth chatter.

                And then everything fell eerily silent.  He waited for a moment more, just to make sure it was safe, but was surprised instead when a large, clawed hand reached down to haul him up by the back of his durable, leather jacket.  The hunter hadn’t even heard the werejaguar coming, never mind the beast was at least seven feet tall and had to weigh around three hundred pounds.

                “,” he muttered when Hakyeon set him down gently on his feet.  The werejaguar didn’t respond and Taekwoon took a moment to look him over.  Already healing cuts peppered his body and he looked surprisingly good for having fallen from three stories, aside from the three prongs of rebar jutting out from him.  Taekwoon reached to pull the first one free, yanking hard with his enhanced strength.

                “Ow…” Hakyeon groaned as his lips peeled back to reveal more fangs.  Before Taekwoon could pull the other two free, he did it himself in quick succession, throwing the metal prongs over the side in disgust.  He stood up straighter, stretching his back, and then leaned forward, shrinking in size as he did so.  Taekwoon took a step back and watched as Hakyeon reverted to his human form, shedding the brown, black spotted fur of the jaguar, tail included, and donned the regular brown hair and slightly yellowish eyes he couldn’t quite hide entirely.  “How did you not know it was me?”  He seemed hurt by the lack of recognition.

                Taekwoon shrugged.  “It looked the same.”

                “It was a mimic!” the werejaguar pointed back towards the now unshaped mass of flesh pooling under the beam.  “That’s so gross,” he wrinkled his nose at the dispatched beast and then glared at Taekwoon again.

                “Why was it imitating you anyway?” the hunter asked, feeling the first warning signs that the enhancer drug was starting to wear off.

                Hakyeon shrugged and threw his hands out wide.  “How in the Heavens should I know?!  It was probably someone I pissed off back in the day, if I had to guess,” he rolled his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers.  “At least allowing it to go after you finally brought it out,” he shrugged, waving his hand dismissively.

                “That it- What?!” Taekwoon snapped, turning to level his formidable glare at the werejaguar.

                Unphased, Hakyeon nodded in unabashed agreement.  “It couldn’t find me and I was having a hard time tracking it so I let it ‘figure out’ we were friends and you can imagine the rest.”

                “I don’t like you,” the hunter muttered with a flat expression as he pointedly took off his cesti with short, clipped motions.  He didn’t know where his pouch was at the moment so he gripped them tight in one hand and let the werejaguar feel his displeasure instead.

                “Of course you do!” Hakyeon grinned, stepping forward and ignoring the fact that Taekwoon tried to move away.  “We’ve gone on missions together, had lunch together, and we’ve even seen a movie together!” he grinned, practically wriggling in place.

                “That was your idea,” Taekwoon glared.  Hakyeon simply nodded emphatically, obviously pleased with himself.  “I’ve half a mind to take you in…” he trailed off, one finger pointed at the other man.  Like a switch that had been turned off, Taekwoon exhaled with a groan and swallowed the brief feeling of nausea that accompanied the enhancer drug running its course.  His eyelids fluttered when his vision reverted, leaving him slightly disoriented and he swayed for just a second.

                “Easy Taekwoonie,” the werejaguar soothed, there in an instant as he held the hunter steady with gentle hands.  At a fuzzy glare, Hakyeon amended, “Taekwoon,” with an unapologetic smile.  He kept one hand on the hunter’s shoulder and then pointed at the mess behind them.  “You should probably call this in.  Get your little seer person to do his thing or something like that,” he gestured fluidly, evidencing nothing but disdain for the mess leftover.

                “Jaehwan’s probably already on it,” Taekwoon retorted, shrugging his shoulder once in a useless effort to dislodge the other man.  He was not unlike a limpet: when he chose someone to stick close to, it seemed he stayed there.  No matter what.  “I think the bigger concern is how to get down – no!” he yelped when Hakyeon picked him up in his arms.  “Put me down,” Taekwoon stated icily as he pointed at the metal floor just under him.  Not only did it look awkward with someone Hakyeon’s size carrying him bridal style, but it felt awkward as hell and Taekwoon did not like it.

                “I will,” Hakyeon grinned and headed for the edge.  “When we get to the ground,” he added, to the obvious irritation of his companion.

                “Hakyeon!” the hunter snapped, tempted to put a cestus back on just so it would hurt more if he hit the other man.  He didn’t, but the thought was dangerously close to the surface as the were-creature hopped off the edge and plummeted swiftly.  The landing was cushioned by Hakyeon absorbing the shock with his legs and holding Taekwoon close so the impact force dissipated through his body instead.

                “Tada!” the werejaguar beamed, letting Taekwoon go and raising his arms up in a sign of excited success.

                “Go away, Hakyeon,” Taekwoon grumbled without looking at the other man.  His cheeks burned from the unwanted ‘rescue’ and he took a couple steps away to put distance between them.

                Hakyeon opened his mouth to say something but then paused, head cocked as if he was listening to something.  He nodded quickly and clapped his hands together once.  “It is getting late and you’re probably tired so get lots of rest, take care of yourself, and I’ll see you tomorrow!”

                “No!” the hunter snapped, whirling around with a perturbed glare.

                “Night Taekwoonie!” the werejaguar whispered while he jumped close and grabbed the taller man in a bear hug.

                “Ugh…” he sighed, relaxing and rolling his eyes.  The changes in his temperament when he wasn’t in his were form were legendary.  “Night,” he finally muttered when it seemed apparent Hakyeon wasn’t going to let go until he said something.

                And he was right.  As soon as the word left his mouth, Hakyeon freed him, waved in a rather childlike fashion, and turned around to run off, disappearing into the night even as sirens wailed in the distance.  Of course he could hear them before they got close enough for Taekwoon to.  Of course…

                Brushing off his dirty coat and doing his best to get rid of the worst of the grime on his person, Taekwoon winced when the bruises from hitting several metal beams and being tossed around like a ragdoll made themselves known.  The cut on his side hurt more than anything else and he’d probably need stitches but he’d worry about it later.  He simply put a hand on his side to staunch the bleeding and muttered profanities about heavy handed werejaguars under his breath.  Locating his pouch nearby, he snatched it off the ground irritably, frowning at the broken strap.  At the point where it was just one more thing to add to the pile, he stuffed his cesti inside and carefully made his way to where he figured the police were going to show up first.

                “Someone’s gotta handle damage control.  And it certainly isn’t going to be a bipolar werejaguar!” he grumbled, adding emphasis on the second sentence.

                From the distance, “I heard that!” echoed off the buildings.

                “Dumb… creature,” the hunter laughed once as he tried to think of something inventive to call him and failed.  “Next time, warn me when I’m being used as bait,” he grumbled, brushing himself off some more while the first of the patrol cars pulled up.  It was going to be another long night.

(a/n: If you enjoyed this story and/or this world, feel free to check out the chaptered fic "Keeping the Balance" that begins before the events you see here and expands upon their relationship as well as further intrigues in the world at large.  Thank you!)