Utter blackness. A point of light in the distance, drawing rapidly nearer, glowing, as if on fire. It draws closer at an unbelievable pace. It is the garou symbol for the Wyrm. You turn to run. Burning pain erupts in your back. Blackness again, then white light that fades to an outdoor scene, looking up into the sky through the autumn leaves on the trees. Many familiar faces, Garou faces, performing a Gathering. Looking down towards the ground at you. The vision ends.
Andrea pages: How'd I get the word? :)
Long distance to Andrea: Glissa finds the +mail to Patrick: A rather nervous Glissa leaves a message. "Hello, this is Dr. Glissa Nicholson [phone #]... I'm not sure if we've met. My husband was Michael Powers. I, um. Kaz said I should get in touch with Ms. Wyatt. I've been having some odd dreams. Would you mind letting her know? Thank you."
Glissa's new address is not too far from the old one, an odd little one-story house a block farther east on Osprey Drive. There's suncatchers on the porch and a "Come on in!" post-it note stuck to the front door.
Andrea touches one of the dangling decorations, smiling to herself, before passing toward the door. After reading the note, she reaches for the handle and pushes the door open. "Glissa?" she calls. "It's Andrea."
From afar, Andrea remembers flirting with you, long and long and long ago. :)
Long distance to Andrea: Glissa does too, rather fondly.
The front door actually opens onto a small square entryway with a windchimes hung at just the height for people to bump into it; a poor man's burglar alarm. There's the sound of footsteps, a series of thumps as if a stack of books had just fallen over, and Glissa opens the inner door, a nervous but hopeful smile lighting her face. "Andrea! Come in, come in!"
Andrea deliberately touches the chime, setting off a series of soft tones. "I like your home," she says, then ducking down past the alarm.
Glissa's house(#3505RJ)
Glissa's modest digs are tastefully furnished in Scandinavian wood, then littered with so many papers and books (carefully stacked on sideboards or shelved two deep in a vain attempt at tidiness) that she appears to be conserving energy by lining her walls like a nest. Prints of a distinctly pagan flavor, with goddess, animals, and Native American motifs line the upper walls.
The front door from the porch opens into a cozy den with sofa, chairs, and a small entertainment center; a laptop and half a dozen dusty tomes have been forgotten on the sofa. A hallway leads off immediately to the left of the doorway, where closed doors suggest closet, bathroom, bedroom at the end.
A large open doorway on the lefthand wall leads into the small dining room, its cherrywood table currently set with votives in two beautiful spiralling glass candelabras, and a rich burgundy tablecloth set with fine china-- clashing somewhat with rather ordinary metal flatware. Fresh-baked bread, wine, a cheese platter, and a foil-covered glass pan exude delicious aromas.
Opposite the entryway is a door leading into the kitchen.
Glissa smiles. "Thank you." As Glissa ushers her in, the gentle strains of Enya drift from the entertainment center: "Strange how my heart beats to find myself upon your shore..."
The woman's unease, by contrast, is betrayed by an awkward burst of words. "It's so good of you to come. You're one of the few I ever really trusted and I'm sorry to--" she pauses, gives a self-deprecating laugh, "Well, I'm sorry to bother you. I know you must be terribly busy right now. I wish I could give you a little break from all that. Good food, good cheer, nothing to worry about but whether the lasagne's going to give you indigestion."
Andrea's face gentles into a smile, perhaps to try to put the kinfolk at ease. "I love lasagne, actually," she replies. "I get city food so rarely that I find myself always gravitating toward pastas and the like. And what you've dreamed could be important, Glissa. It may not be me doing you the favor, but you doing it for us." The Gaian sighs and admits, "Though I do wish the circumstances were better, yes."
Glissa shakes her head. "Well... I don't know many of you any more, but I saw some young people trying very hard to be brave grown ups the other night, and my heart really goes out to them." She moves into the dining room, beckoning her to a chair. "So how are you? Or dare I ask?"
"Better than I would have been had this happened a few years ago," the Gaian admits. "I had...a strengthening experience. It was still not something I ever wanted to deal with."
Glissa looks at her closely. "Goodness. That sounds like one of those things I'd better not ask about," she says with a wry smile. She uncovers the foil from the lasagne pan with a flourish, and commences carving it with a steak knife. "Ta-da. Hope you like portobella mushrooms."
Andrea chuckles and slides into a seat. "Well enough."
Glissa dishes out a generous helping for both of them with a spatula, then takes her own chair. "Now then. I--" she pauses, clearly mulling something over, but still stalling. "Gracious, this is so formal. How many years /has/ it been since those silly games at Dark Wine and Roses? So much has happened-- did you ever manage to have time for children, my dear?"
Andrea says mildly, "Not human ones. At least not yet. And it's been...oh, at least six years?"
Glissa's eyes round slightly at Andrea's wording, but she catches herself with a laugh. "Six-- of course. Julie's just turned seven. You know-- with everything going on these days-- if anything should happen to me, who would take care of them?" She sighs, pushing her chair back. "Hang on a sec. I totally forgot I'd lit the candles." She moves to the wall to turn off the overhead.
"Them?" Andrea asks, with a smile. "Did you have more than Julie? I didn't get to talk much to Tep about his home life?"
The music switches over to "close to home, feeling so far away" as Glissa flips the switch. "Little Mike was born nine months after Michael died," she says softly. "They tell me he may have the blood." The somber moment is abruptly broken as she trips over the corner of the carpet on the way back. She reflexively grabs Andrea's chair, bumping her chin against the woman's head. "Ack! I'm a positive menace!" she exclaims ruefully.
(Other lyrics from this song, "Evening Falls": Forever searching, never right / I am lost on oceans of night )
Andrea ducks forward, rolling with the hit. "Not a problem," she assures the woman. "My head is a lot harder than your chin. You okay?"
Glissa brushes her hand against Andrea's hair apologetically. "I think I sprained my dignity." And at that moment, all hell breaks loose. The window explodes inward with the unmistakeable blast of a shotgun; glass goes everywhere, and searing silver slams into Andrea's shoulder, throwing her back against her chair. Glissa screams.
Andrea pages: I activate Resist Pain.
Long distance to Andrea: Glissa looks rueful. And now, my dear, I need a +gm/okay.
Andrea has given you permission to view her +sheet.
Andrea pages: By the way, slug or shot? IE, do I still have silver in me? :)
You paged Andrea with 'shot. Yes. You do. Silver shot.
Andrea pages: Susan (whose player is here) is on her way from Wolf Woods and will be here in an hour. :)
From afar, Andrea likely has other pack converging, oh, too slowly. ;)
Long distance to Andrea: Glissa check.
Andrea gasps in pain as blood sprouts from her shoulder. She's going for the floor immediately, gritting her teeth against a pain she no longer feels.
Glissa goes down with her, but is suddenly moving far too fast for a frumpy woman with creaky joints. With a choking cry, she slams the steak knife into Andrea's back. At the same time, a huge hairy not-quite-man in muscle shirt and jeans wielding a shotgun leaps in through the window with a roar. And there's a definite commotion in the kitchen.
[some discussion on Pulse of the Invisible]
Andrea pages: Okay. I can /see/ into the umbra; that's why I can use the gift to reach. Is there anything really big and bad there, spirit-wise? :)
You paged Andrea with 'There seem to be a number of shadowy forms that look alarmingly like Crinos. How many, hard to say.'.
Andrea pages: Is the hole in the window big enough for a lupus to jump through?
Andrea pages: Sorry I'm really slow; I'm having to balance a load of gifts and a horrible tactical situation. :)
You paged Andrea with 'You are indeed. The opening will be big enough once there's not a glabro coming through it.'.
Andrea pages: All right! I've got a plan. :)
Andrea pages: Jam Tech this round, spending willpower. Cool? :)
You paged Andrea with 'Excellent call.'.
Andrea narrows her eyes, for whatever reason hardly reacting to the stab in the small of her back. "The Weaver isn't your bitch," she snarls at the man in the window, pushing herself off the ground even as she speaks. "She's mine."
Glissa reaches for Andrea's throat with both hands as the Dancer hurls himself around the table at rage-driven speed, lining up for another shot. Click. Nothing happens. Two Dancers in Seattle Seahawks jerseys burst into the room yowling gleefully and carrying baseball bats. "Paaaaaaaarty time!" giggles #42. "Knock her out, you stupid bitch!" screams #13, a shorter woman with bat ears that don't belong even in glabro.
Andrea pages: Jam tech now. :)
Andrea pulls back from Glissa's hands, vaulting toward the hole and escape. Her form blurs with expended rage as she takes this one desperate chance.
Time slows to a crawl. You hear the footsteps of those closing in; the once-human woman's hands sear your neck like fire as you pull free. The first Dancer throws himself bodily at Andrea, bellowing. She reaches the window--
CRACK. Like a baseball bat, a crinos crouched against the outside wall swings what was formerly the fire escape ladder, and your rage-given momentum makes the impact more devastating. The splitting pain in your skull is only there for a second before blackness takes your vision, and consciousness.
You paged Tskilegwa with 'Now.'.
Andrea pages: Can I rage-heal please? :)
NOTE: Log of Julie summoning the cavalry on Yi's Page
Luc has arrived.
Tskilegwa has arrived.
Owen has arrived.
Seirian has arrived.
Eamon has arrived.
Yi has arrived.
You paged Andrea with 'You just blacked out. No.'.
Long distance to Andrea: Glissa winks. ;)
Eamon leads a group of garou to Glissa's home. He pauses in front of the house. "Hold on, I want to check it out first." He heads around the side of the house.
You paged the room with 'Okay, status, from the outside: The house looks innocent enough, with pretty suncatchers on the front porch, tasteful flowers, tasteless large plastic frogs in the yard. But in the narrow alley between this house and the next, there is a very large and very ugly crinos holding a fire escape like a bat, and you hear definite sounds of commotion within.'.
Tempered-Blade pages to Glissa and Tskilegwa: Susan and Elan are on their way on Elan's motorcycle. I realize that it'll take us a year and a day to get there, but please let us know when we make it.
You paged Tskilegwa with 'Andrea leapt for the open window with every last bit of rage she had, so I had him baseball bat her back into the room. CRACK. She's out. One large hairy glabro with a jammed shotgun and two with aluminum baseball bats and Seahawks jerseys are in the dining room. Also Glissa.'.
Luc pages to the room: Just let us know when we arrive.
Long distance to the room: Glissa thinks now is a very good time, Scotty. :)
Long distance to Andrea: Glissa thinks at this point you've taken 5, but nonagg until you shift.
Long distance to Tskilegwa: Glissa put 4 crinos in the umbra to discourage her from Reaching, but also had in mind that the woman with the heavy pistol is standing in the front entryway to block that exit (there's a small square entryway between front door and inner door to study).
Eamon nearly runs into the fire escape-wielding crinos. "Shit!" He shifts up to the warform.
As the Garou arrive at Glissa's house, they catch sight of the crinos in the alleyway. And it catches site of them and snarls an alarm. ~The enemy is here!~ It readies to smash the first Garou attempting to come down the alleyway.
You paged Tskilegwa with 'You taking over for me? (I'm only too happy if you are.) From afar, Tskilegwa has it from here. You take care of Glissa. She's probably hurt and needs help. STAB!STAB! :)
Long distance to the room: Glissa turns over Combat GMing to the more capable Tski at this point. Page him now. :)
From afar, to the room, Tskilegwa braces.
Luc launches himself after Eamon, staying in his current form for now. As he charges, the moonlight gathers around him and surrounds him with a glowing aura.
Owen half-snarls, even in his birth form. He doesn't go after the obvious target, instead he makes a bee-line for the door, preparing to barrel through it even as he shifts.
There's a shrill woman's scream from somewhere inside the house.
From afar, to the room, Yi asks a quick question: What part of town is this?
You paged the room with 'Osprey Drive somewheres. Weird little one story house.'.
Tempered-Blade has arrived.
Seirian, for her part, heads directly into the house to tackle the commotion inside, letting Owen tackle the door ahead of her. She holds back somewhat, though, not shifting until she can get through the doorway.
Ever-Grinning tries to drive his metal fist into the crinos's midsection before it can bring the escape down on his head.
Serf just charges after Luc, not yet calling on any gifts. If anything, the scream just makes him move faster.
Yi trails after the very last of the Garou, a few minutes behind and jogging. The sound of commotion, a woman's scream, and her jog speeds up into a run. The Gnawer sees the folks at the door, Eamon in the fire escape and just slows to a halt. At the moment, there isn't going to be a way she can fit through all of them. Breaking the door might not seem the best option as she glances around the street area in this part of St. Claire.
With a screech of tires and the smell of nasty burning rubber, Susan and Elan pull up in a motorcycle. Susan leaps off the bike as soon as it comes to a halt, and yells quickly "There's four in the shadow; four others here. Glissa's attacking."
Eamon charges in to punch the crinos with the fire escape ladder, but gets whacked with it instead. It doesn't seem to do a whole lot of damage to the Fianna, but hinders his movements because now he has his head caught in the rungs of the metal ladder and gets a nasty clothesline to the throat from his own momentum--the same momentum that pushes the crinos backwards a few feet. Luc closes from below the ladder-entangled Fianna and launches a devastating attack on the crinos' lower body, managing to cripple one leg and bring the crinos down to one knee. Serf wastes time dodging around the struggling Eamon and linig up for an attack the next round. Owen, folowed by Seirian, makes it to the front door and smashes it open easily while shifting upwards. From inside, a neanderthal woman levels a pistol at him and fires off three rounds, two of which bounce off the Get. The third flies past the Get and zips past the Fianna's ear. ~Front door!~ she cries out over the gunfire. Yi doesn't spot anything out of the ordinary on the street with her quick look around. At least no apparent ambush coming from behind. Yet.
You paged Andrea with 'At this point, my dear, you can do one of two things. a) ask Tski if you wake up from being stunned or b) go to bed and let the cavalry mop up the dreadful mess, and ask Jorge what happened in the morning. I apologize for using you to rid myself of a no longer viable character. :} Andrea was magnificent.'.
From afar, Andrea nuzzles. I am SO getting lectured by my pack. :)
You paged Andrea with 'One small thing to be thankful for. Andrea hadn't taken a bite of the lasagne yet, had she?'.
Andrea pages: Nope. Didn't get the chance.
You paged Andrea with 'That's good. I timed that fairly carefully. :)'.
Luc presses his attack, shifting into crinos form and attempting to hold down his opponent while his companions dish out the damage. Ever-Grinning chokes on the entangling ladder and pauses in his attack, trying to bend the rungs away from his throat and shove the thing off his head so he can breathe. Serf shifts instead into hispo, his good ear flat to his skull as he snaps not once but twice at the held Garou, attemping to rip through major arteries and end him quickly.
Wildfire just plain doesn't stop once the door is down. Guns do nothing to deter him, obviously. He charges forward right into the armed near-woman, a big-fucking-axe in his hands, and lets loose with the weapon, intending to make this woman pay for daring to sully his fur with gunpowder. Seirian snarls something in Gaelic that at least -sounds- derrogatory as she nearly gets a piercing she'd rather not have and hustles into the house behind Wildfire, shifting and moving off to one side to keep from being hit in backswing and to assess the state of things.
Yi spots Susan and Elan, nodding with Susan's report. She looks inside worriedly as Owen goes in, twisting reflexively behind cover when the bullets fly. "Shadow?" she queries hurriedly to the other two. "Umbra," says Susan as she heads towards where she thinks Andrea fell, ducking low and trying to avoid the bullets as well. "Find Andrea." Elan shakes his head. "Haven't checked it. How many we got and where are they grouped?" He begins to grow up to Glabro, ready to keep the shift going into Crinos if they get to cover. He tries to look and pinpoint the nearest gunman. Yi points out in a hurry, "Eamon and two are in the alley. One crinos. More inside, with Owen and Seirian." Already the ragabash looks around for something to step sideways with.
Eamon frees himself from the ladder wrapped around his head. It clangs on the ground loudly, though not as loudly as the three gunshots from before. As Nightflash shifts up and grapples with the wounded Garou in the alleyway, a huge man inside the house points a shotgun out the window at fires into him at point blank range. Serf's attacks do indeed put a swift end to the already wounded crinos' life and its form goes slack--dwindling to that of a human in death. WIldfire continues his charge into the house and delivers two deadly chops with his axe, lopping off the woman's gun arm at the elbow and then sinking it halfway through her skull. The axe sticks and the woman makes strange noises, alive, but not for very much longer. Her arm on the floor reflexively squeezes the trigger twice more, recoil rotating the hand in its own growing pool of blood. The shots go wild and straight into the nearby wall. Inside the house, Owen sees the matronly Glissa backed against a wall and looking stunned, Andrea on the floor, a large man with a shotgun near the window, and two other large men in baseball uniforms and wielding aluminum baseball bats. They look ready to kill. Yi doesn't find anything immediately to serve as a means of stepping sideways. At least, nothing that wouldn't potentially be publicly witnessed.
And, in total disregard for the chaos, the sweet sounds of Enya's Storms in Africa play from the entertainment center.
Nightflash yelps in pain as the buckshot tears through him, even through his protective Gift. ~Silver!~ he growls through clenched teeth. As he stumbles against the wall, he puts a hand to his wounded chest and murmurs a soft prayer to the Mother. Ever-Grinning grabs for the shotgun, trying to crush the barrel with his metal hand, while he reaches through the window with his other hand to grab the man and yank him out the window. Rides-Fire barely has time to fling the blood of the first Dancer from his jaws before he leaps fluidly in the air and seeks to plant a quarter-ton of biting dire wolf right into the gunman's throat, above the level of the shotgun.
Yi curses under her breath as more bullets, and a shotgun (!) get fired off. But she sees the window on the side of the house. And points Susan and Elan thataway. The Gnawer ducks low to go around and find a spot where she can launch herself inside through the window. Elan nods and scampers that way, to Aid Nightflash in whatever way he can. He owes the Gaian his sanity, after all. On the way, he concentrates on his spirit gifts. 'Weaver... no work' he growls, and that growl seems to have Power behind it. Tempered-Blade gives up on the veil and shifts into the greater wolf form. With the blessing of the pack link, she trusts to Elan's gifts and launches herself towards the spirals with a snarl of rage. Avoiding the window, she goes instead for the door.
Wildfire moves on past the fallen woman, no longer paying her any heed. Instead he rushes on into the next room with the Louisville Sluggers, perparing to show them his brand of baseball. Both hands on the axe, he swings at them, careless if the woman is still stuck to the axe or not. Luna-Singer also focuses on the minor leaguers, growling lowly as she books towards them, claws more than prepared to pitch them one hell of a curve ball.
As Glissa lays eyes on Wildfire and Luna-Singer, she finally seems to regain her senses--and then vault right past them into madness. She screams and lunges at Seirian rushing past her with more speed than a human really should have, slashing with a bloody steak knife.
Nightflash begins to heal himself while Elan goes for, and grabs the shotgun. The barrel does not crush under his metal hand, but the as the BSD pumps the gun to load a new round, the mechanism rams into the hand and fails to cock a new round. The gunman's form grows larger as Rides-Fire launches at him, clipping Eamon in the process as the three large garou try to fight in such a small area. Batter One taunts Owen with ~Batter batter batter SWING!~ and connects with his left elbow, shattering it. But Owen dishes it out like he receives it as his right arm slashes over Batter One's chest. Sierian connects with Batter Two, who takes the opportunity to beat on the back of Owen's head. *CRACK!* At least three bases with that one! Glissa sinks the steak knife into Seirian's kidney up to the hilt. The blade sticks in and doesn't want to come out.
Yi dashes forward and crashes through a window on the front of the house. In the next room she can make out one of the baseball players. Elan runs and joins Nightflash in the alleyway outside the window. Susan passes through the doorway where the severed arm, still firing rounds into the wall, twitches with fading life. The woman with her head cleaved in half slowly topples over into the wall, brains and blood leaking from her skull as her mouth moves without speaking. Her form grows larger to that of a crinos and hooves form from her sneakers.
Nightflash reverts to his natural form as the silver shot continues to burn him from the insides. Snarling, he turns to stare balefully at the shotgun-wielder inside the window, but doesn't attempt to charge him immediately. Rides-Fire indulges in a short snarl before launching again at the window and gunman. Bloody spittle gleams on the son of Unicorn's bared teeth. Ever-Grinning tries to grab hold of the shotgun with both hands and yank it out of the gunman's grip.
Wildfire staggers from the blow to the head, some sense knocked out of him. But he's a Get. He doesn't need that right now. Instead, he becomes a blur of action, no longer a pleasant person. Snarling in pain at feeling that much metal sinking into her back, Luna-Singer rakes her right hand across Batter Two before her and uses the momentum to sweep her left back low behind her, claws held back in preparation for a swing in the other direction as she twists to face the source of the stabbing pain.
Yi rolls with her successful crash through the window, back up on her feet soon after and already checking around. She shouts to Susan when she too finds Andrea conked on the floor, "Get her out of here!" Yi charges forward on her way to Glissa, seeking to either restrain the kin or knock her out, whichever way is easier to get the crazed woman out of the way without killing her. Ignoring the chaos around her, Tempered-Blade focuses her attention of finding her alpha and getting her the hell out of the area. Elan grows up to the war-form in order to better fight the thing the alleyway, hopefully taking the gun from the guy and using it as a club before raking with his claws and biting. Patrick runs down the sidewalk then turns up and rushes in through the front door, heedless of any neighbors as he enters the house and looks around at the ongoing carnage.
Glissa snarls, abandons the knife, clenches hands into fists, and starts to swing a credible right hook towards Luna-singer as the woman twists around.
From afar, to the room, Ever-Grinning has to go after the next pose, guys, sorry.
Eamon's metal hand makes a shriek of metal on metal as he pulls on the barrel, lack of friction between the two resulting in only his hand sliding down it's length. Nightflash's gaze freezes the shotgun wielder in his tracks as Rides-Fire plows into him, knocking him to the ground on his back. This nets Eamon the shotgun, his metal hand grasping the very end of the barrel. The gun does not have a round loaded and is facing the wrong direction. Batter One, squaring off with Owen, swears as he is attacked--~Fuck!~--guiding the blinded Get towards his target. Owen lands the first blow, resulting in Batter One swinging like a girl--and hitting like one, too. That was an attack? It might leave a bruise. ~Fuck! Frrkl~ Batter One goes down in a frenzy of right handed clawings from the Get, form reverting to a crinos with snake scales all over its belly and chest. Batter Two swings again, taking out the overhead light in the process, and connects with the Get's left shoulder, again to his back, and a third with his head. Owen collapses on the floor. Luna-Singer's claws miss, but uppercuts into Batter Two's lower jaw, pulling it at a very unnatural angle. Luna-Singer's spin allows her to partially block Glissa's punch, deflecting most of the damage that might have resulted from the deceptively small middle-age woman. Yi plows into Glissa from behind, grappling with her and ending up on top.
Tskilegwa pages to the room: Andrea is unconscious under the window. For those who asked.
Ever-Grinning charges around the side of the house and into the front door, loading a round into the shotgun as he runs. Rides-Fire continues to dig his muzzle toward his enemies throat, seeking for a finishing grip with his jaws. Nightflash leaps through the (now cleared) window, landing near his packmate and attempting to take a bite from the downed gunman.
Glissa struggles to get her legs under herself and use her hips as a pivot to throw her assailant. Scholar's glasses fall to the floor with a crunch beneath her as she struggles.
Wildfire seems to be down for the count for a moment, but in that time he shrugs some of the damage he's taken off. With a glare of hatred, he fires the other batter a look of pure hatred from where he lies on the ground. Luna-Singer makes a strange sound somewhere between surprise and relief as she blocks and then has that section of things taken out of her claws. Pulling the knife out of her back with her left hand, she turns back to Batter Two with a snarl. Her right hand sweeps back along the path it just took, and her left follows it, trying to take it across the bat-wielding ugly's throat.
Long distance to the room: Glissa notes that there used to be a nice dining room table with a sumptuous feast and wine glasses in the middle of the room where Andrea's slumped. I imagine food and tableware is flying. Feel free to break chairs or something. :)
From afar, to the room, Elan Hey, wait, nobody said nothin' about food being in danger.
Player Name On For Idle Doing
Glissa 04:40 0s The Secret's in the sauce
Long distance to Tskilegwa: Glissa points to my @doing.
Yi fights with Glissa, working with her knowledge of using an opponent's movements to restrain the woman's right arm behind her. The Gnawer lets the woman get up to her feet, twisting with her as she tries the throw. "So sorry!" is what Yi utters before flowing with the motion of the woman's hips, grabbing for Glissa's shirt collar to knock her headfirst against the doorway or wall. Tempered-Blade launches herself towards her Alpha, dodging through the massive melee as quickly as she can. Once there, she picks up Andrea gently in her teeth and backs the hell out of the fight. Once outside, she calls her pack together and shifts up to glabro. "Let's get her out of here." Patrick gets the Hell out of the way of the metal-handed wild-eyed gunman, dodging instead towards his pack alpha to help Tempered-Blade. Elan stands upright, noting through the link that Andrea has been retrievied. He begins to form up with the rest of his new packmates, claws flexing as he looks to guard their alpha and the Voice.
The former shotgun wielder flails on the ground trying to fend off the two lupus that tag team him, landing light blows on each of them as they both sink their teeth into him. A howl of pain goes up from him, echoing through the house and down the street. They make quick work of him. Eamon makes it to the front door's threshold without any problem. The woman with the split head no longer moves, nor does the severed hand still holding the pistol. The fallen Get's gift immobilizes the last batter and Luna-Singer's two attacks both hit easily, snapping his neck audibly. His form falls to the ground and twists into yet another metis in death. As his clothes disappear, a toothless mouth large enough to swallow a cat whole appears where his belly button ought to be. Blood oozes from between the both the lips on his head and his belly. Patrick and Susan work together to move Andrea out of the combat zone, doing so successfully. Yi and Glissa tangle, but Yi's bigger and faster and soon controls the situation, ramming the kinswoman's head into the wall and knocking her cold or maybe killing her in the process.
And right on cue, Cursuum Perficio kicks in on the CD player.
]The song 's refrain means "I have finished my couse."
Nightflash looks up from the body of the Spiral, its blood dripping from his jaws. As he scans the room, taking in the various metis corpses, he looks to those of the cty. We must remove the bodies. Men will arrive soon and they must no find these.
Wildfire remains there, mostly sprawled out on the floor, still glaring at the last Slugger to fall. There's no one left to kill! Poor Wildfire! He takes the time then to rest and let bones mend.
Something in the kitchen is burning.
Yi pages to the room: Why must there -always- be something burning? x.x
Yi pages: Is Glissa knocked out?
You paged Yi with 'yes.'.
Tskilegwa pages to the room: If something doesn't burn or explode, it's not a /real/ combat. :)
Rides-Fire sniffs the air, sneezing some blood from his nostrils. ~Fire,~ he says briefly. ~Is there a man thing to carry them? We cannot take them into the Umbra.~
Tskilegwa pages to the room: Less fire and more something that's cooking being burned.
Andrea pages to the room: Oh well. I had blood in my nose. ;)
Nightflash goes over to check on his packmate. Finding Wildfire alive and already recovering, he steps back.
Yi winces when the woman crumples to the floor, her hands releasing the unconscious Glissa. Sniff. Sniff sniff. Smoke. She goes into the kitchen to investigate and put out whatever said thing is making the fire. Probably have to shut off the stove and put a lid over whatever it may be, quickly, before fire alarms go off too.
Patrick nods to Elan and Tempered-Blade. "Get Andrea back to the island. I'll work on trying to help here." He looks around, then looks out towards the street. "Anyone happen to have a car handy?"
The kitchen would look like any other with the flurried signs of cooking, except... except... a child's head--Mike Jr, Glissa's and Tep's pre-change Garou son--sits in a large colander, and in another, a pathetic stack of ribs and assorted child's bones. Some have been gnawed by inhuman teeth. Some by human. A pot with more bones juggling about in it is boiling over, bits of human flesh searing on the burners. Grated meat is piled next to the rib bones, bowls of pasta, and empty lasagna noodle boxes.
The secret's in the sauce.
Luna-Singer growls to herself and snaps the steak knife in her hands, nostrils flaring as the scent of smoke reaches them. Slipping down to glabro, she snatches one of the aluminum bats from the floor and looks it over before snorting at its fallen wielder. "I played better stickball when I was ten. Minor Leaguer." she murmurs before turning to see what she can do to help, working the handle of the bat into her belt sideways so she can move. "Unfortunately, no." she says in reference to a vehicle.
Wildfire stays as is until his shattered arm mends, that being just a few seconds. He then gets up to retrieve his axe. ~I have FUCKING HAD IT!~ he can't help but bellow out.
Yi stops short at the grisly sight, eyes wide and simply shocked. Eventually, her jaw closes, tightens in fighting down both nausea and tears, and she moves to turn off the stove with her jacket sleeve wrapping over her hand to prevent getting burned.
Nightflash looks relieved when one of the city Garou takes charge. He, obviously, has no such thing.
Rides-Fire limps slightly from a long score that bleeds from neck to thigh, but he seems otherwise uninjured. He, too, does not even bother to indicate a negative.
Elan and Susan carry Andrea off.
When Yi returns out of the kitchen area, she's paler than usual but her face is as grim as a kabuki mask. She looks down at the slumped form of Glissa.
Nightflash noses Rides-Fire, then indicates Glissa's downed form. How badly is she corrupted?
Rides-Fire stalks toward Glissa, leaning his bloody nose toward the unconscious woman. He sniffs, lips pulled back.
Wildfire knows now what went on in the kitchen. He steps over to Glissa, axe in hand, and looks about to play the part of executioner.
Andrea pages: Sense Wyrm.
You paged Rides-Fire with 'Baaaaaaaaaaaad. And she smells of fungus.'.
Patrick grimaces. "Wonderful." He looks outside into the night, then sighs. "Wrap 'em up in sheets or something. I'll --whoa, axe-boy. Deal with Veil-breaching corpses first. She'll wait."
Yi quivers, rage pulsing through her veins as the image of the kitchen is seared into her mind's eye. She moves away to allow Owen to do his worst to Glissa. "There's no way I can blow all this up," she says quietly.
Rides-Fire actually backs up a step. ~Strong,~ he answers. ~And she stinks of fungus.~
Seirian scans around her and goes hunting for things that will do the job of wrapping up bodies, keeping any thoughts on the situation to herself and an ear to the talk going around.
Wildfire snaps back at Patrick. ~She _IS_ a Veil breaching corpse!~
Patrick shakes his head. "Not yet, she isn't. That explains at least one leak," he observes. "If she's human enough, use the shotgun to kill her. Leave the homid bodies here. Let it look like a break-in and a fight or something."
Wildfire can't help it. He's lon his last stands of willpower as it is. ~A fight? There's a fucking lasagne with child-meat inside of it, and this looks like a simple fight?~
Nightflash barks sharply. A body full of silver might draw atten-- he falls silent as Wildfire describes what was found inside the kitchen.
Rides-Fire's good ear lays back again as Wildfire points out the contents of the meal. Involuntarily, he begins to growl wordlessly.
Yi slips on her gloves from her back pocket and turns back to go to the kitchen, leaving the debating Garou. "I'll take care of the child," she says quietly, slipping back. Later, the sound of the trash compactor and sink running. Plastic bags going. Cabinets opening and closing.
Patrick grimaces, not having seen the kitchen yet. Still, more practically, he responds, "We can ditch the lasagna, or even give it a decent burial. Unless you'd rather leave it as a falling-out between members of a cannibal cult of some sort?"
Seirian stiffens in her search and straightens, fingering the bat in her belt for a moment and glaring at the unconscious Glissa as if knowing exactly what she'd like to do to her. Growling under her breath, she shakes her head and goes back to hunting about in search of linens big enough to be of some good.
Sounds of cleaning up continue from the kitchen, Yi doing what she's used to doing by now.
You paged the room with 'Sideboards. And there's the tablecloth. And sheets in the bedroom.'.
Nightflash shifts into a handed form and overturns the table. Retrieving the tablecloth, he goes over to the body of one of the Crinos and begins wrapping it up as Patrick directed.
Wildfire growls. ~The bitch dies before I leave this house.~ He states it as a matter of fact. A law of nature. But he does go to help with the cleanup as directed by the adren.
Seirian eventually retrives sheets from the bedroom and hauls them out for use, depositing them in an easily reachable location and setting about wrapping a body, shifting up again as strength requires it.
From afar, Yi is gonna have to go check out Lyra and Julie after this... and figure out what to do with that poor kid.
Patrick pages to the room: This is, in theory, the nicer part of town. The police actually show up here, even in the World of Darkness. :)
Luc says, ~We'll need a means of moving them. I think a group of us carrying large bodies, all bound up, might draw the notice of others.~
Wildfire stops in mid track. ~Is there a gas stove here? Fuck it. Blow the joint. Move the metis out, let the rest burn.~
Yi returns after much clanking and clunking from the kitchen, a box of Heavy Duty trashbags in her hands. This she tosses to the feet of whoever's closest. "You can use these too. The gas stove might blow." She says this, ominously.
The wail of sirens is, indeed, just audible through the blasted window.
Patrick notes, "I can take one and go pretty well unnoticed. For the other two ..." he trails off, looking outside again. "Screw it. She'll have a car. Check her purse for keys; failing that, it's hotwire time."
Luc looks around from face to face of those who know about human stuff. Cocks his head, listens to the sirens. ~Whatever you're going to do, do it fast.~
Patrick pages: Keys in purse?
Keys are tossed on the sofa by the laptop, along with the purse. Check.
Patrick pages: Type of car? :)
Seirian rolls one of the bodies up like a carpet and rips part of sheet to tie it off like a christmas firecracker at each end. That done, she looks up to see what anyone else has in mind beyond that, keeping her mouth shut and looking for instructions at this point. At some point, she mutters a curse and sheds the bat, smacking the business end lightly against a corpse for good measure before tossing it aside and dusting her hands off.
You paged Patrick with 'A Prius, of course! :)'.
Patrick pages: Of course! :)
Yi moves with the sound of sirens wailing, going back to the kitchen to retrieve a trash bag tied off. Inside would be those remains of Glissa's son. The smell of a gas leak more or less follows her.
Wildfire helps Seirian with the body, pausing for a second more over Glissa. He doesn't use his axe, thinking one woman with a nasty axe wound (to the head) is enough. It takes but a second, a quick twist, and Glissa lies there with her head facing a normally impossible angle. He then returns to finish aiding Seirian with the body.
Patrick looks around for a moment, then grabs the keys from the sofa. He looks at the ring for a moment to figure out the make of car, then heads out. "Should be easy enough," he mutters, going almost straight to a car and opening the back easily before jogging back in. "Okay," he says. "Load the car, and I can drive it out to the junkyard. I can take one passenger, and the rest can scatter."
Patrick grins as he adds, "Not like anyone'll remember what I look like."
Luc starts looking for a bathroom. ~I'll return to the woods. Anyone who wishes to come with me,~ he says as he seeks out a mirror, ~is welcome. I have light.~
A loathesome brown spongy substance spills out from the neck with a puff of miasma as the neck is snapped.
You paged the room with 'Bathroom yes. Big mirror.'..
Yi nods, shouldering the not-too-heavy bag. "There are supposed to be Dancers in the Umbra too," she tells Luc. "Be careful." The Gnawer is already starting to shimmer around the edges.
Wildfire pages to the room: And Owen will eventually follow Luc out, of course.
From afar, to the room, Yi will scatter. Patrick can take Seiri since she's bleeding.
Wildfire pages to the room: And don't even THINK I'm leaving my axe behind. No no no no no.
Seirian makes a face, but helps load the car before calmly requesting the empty space in the car, shedding her jacket and looping it over one arm.
Patrick looks down at the fungal Glissa. "In pace requiescat," he says. "Sorry Mike got you involved in our world." With that, he heads back out, starts the car, and calmly eads down the street.
Luc flashes a grin at Yi and nods. ~We're fast," he assures her as he prepares to reach through with Owen.
From afar, to the room, Luc and Owen enter the Umbra where they use Unicorn's gift of double movement to get out of dodge if there are any signs of trouble.Just in time. A few moment's panic: the Prius has an odd dashboard and nothing's where it belongs. But the car is mercifully and eerily silent as Patrick speeds off. The squad cars turn onto the block just as he eases into traffic.
Yi is out the front door and through the alleys, disappearing into the night and heading back to wherever it is she'd chosen mentally to dispose of or hide the remains of the child. Before she leaves, she flicks the Zippo lighter on and hurls the lighter through the kitchen window, ducking low.
WHOOOOOOM. Well, Yi was kind enough to do it before the cops got too close to the house. Yells from them, and screams from a house across the way, are almost drowned out by the sound of the small but impressive fireball that shoots out of the kitchen window. Flames begin to spread through the house.
End this.
If anyone had had a chance to open the laptop, they would have seen a black background with the following poem in green splashed across the screen:
This, then, is my final answer:
Life was not what you said it would be
Love was a betrayal in a velvet glove
The wilderness is cruel, not charmed
The defenders of beauty are hideous to see
The angels do not speak fair nor look fair
But they speak true:
Gaia died long ago
And the Garou are much deceived.
The computer's return key is missing.