"You're dead, too. You just don't know it yet."

[hazlogs]

It is currently 18:26 Pacific Time on Fri Mar 19 2004.
Currently in Saint Claire, it is partly sunny. The temperature is 45 degrees
      Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the 
      north at 6 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.34 and rising, and 
      the relative humidity is 76 percent. The dewpoint is 38 degrees 
      Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius.)
Currently the moon is in the waning No Moon phase (9% full).

[A warehouse in the city.]

Around the meeting time discussed, Alexey shows up, driven in a long black limo
      that leaves him behind and heads off once he climbs out of the back seat. 
      In his hands he holds a rather impressive looking assualt rifle, the kind 
      of which you would see in the hands of a special ops military unit, 
      complete with a small grenade launcher mounted on the bottom. His face 
      has a grim but determined expression on it. He wears expensive black 
      slacks and a grey wool shirt, around his belt he has attached several gun 
      clips, launching grenades, and a wicked looking combat knife. A lit 
      cigarette hands from his mouth. All in all, he seems to be ready for 
      action. He looks around the outside of the defunct warehouse a bit, 
      before heading around the building to meet up with his contact, on the 
      way spitting the cigarette out onto the cracked pavement.
Konstantin's standing by one of the doors, smoking as well. He lifts his chin.
      "Cute," Konstantin says, as he spies the hardware the mobster's sporting. 
      "Don't you have any faith in me?" he asks, with a smirk.
Alexey spits at the ground beside Konstantin, "Faith? You are inviting the
      very devil himself to come to you, and you want me to have faith?" He 
      quickly changes over to Russian, "I don't think for a moment you are 
      going to walk out of this alive. At least, not without a friend who is a 
      bit more... prepared." The Russian eyes Konstantin's cigarette, "Put that 
      shit out, it'll kill you."
Konstantin snorts faintly. He opens the door and holds it open. "I'm plenty
      prepared," the ragabash says. He stamps out his cigarette and then 
      follows Alexey inside the building. "Well, this is it. I've got some 
      surprises prepared. I think you'll enjoy them. I plan on having a 
      shitload of vodka after I get done." He starts toward a particular pile 
      of debris. "You have an especially good vantage point to observe, and, 
      uh, snipe from here." He walks around the debris pile he's talking about. 
      Glancing at his watch, Konstantin says, "Salem ought to be here in just a 
      few minutes."
The Russian walks in behind and stops stark still the moment Konstantin
      mentions surprises, "The fuck do you mean? Surprises?"
Konstantin shakes his head, frowning. "For Salem. I plan to shoot him in the
      head. He thinks we're meeting to talk about some blackmail scheme I've 
      been running. I doubt even the devil could survive a shot in the head. 
      Don't you agree?" He glances at the well armed Russian. "Nothing to worry 
      about."
Alexey doesn't appear to be quite appeased by this answer, but sits in wait as
      he is 'told'. "You got this far... I hope you've got your shit together, 
      Kostya." He half-grunts as he settles in his waiting place. "This better 
      be good."
"He'll never know what hit him," the Shadow Lord says with a slight nod. "I
      know what you expect from me..." He heads into a pool of light and puts 
      his hands in the pockets of his trenchcoat.
Speak of the devil, and you'll see his... scars. Salem arrives a few moments
      after Alexey is hidden, dressed as usual in the long black coat, 
      black-on-black clothing underneath. His dark hair's growing out, though 
      still short, and this morning he took it upon himself to shave the 
      growing stubble into a short, thin beard that's recognizable to anyone 
      who knew the man before his most recent disappearance. Scarred face drawn 
      into a guarded frown, he scans the interior of the warehouse, his gaze 
      passing over the mobster's hiding place without pause before focussing on 
      Konstantin. His jaw sets, and he starts toward the young Russian.
Little to nothing stirs in the warehouse for a while. But as Salem steps in,
      there is the definate squeaking of a rat heard, that then skitters along 
      the floor in a straight line cutting the distance between Salem and 
      Konstantin directly in half before disapearing into the shadows on the 
      otherside.
"I don't see any money," Konstantin says. "You trying to fuck with my crew?" he
      asks, harshly. He pulls a manila envelope from the inside of his coat 
      with one hand, the other hand -- his shooting hand -- concealed within 
      his coat. "I'm happy to sell these pictures..." He tosses the envelope on 
      the floor of the warehouse.
There is a stirring from the location where Alexey hides.

Jamethon pages to the room: Those above who can see him, see him tense up and
      fidget slightly first when Salem came into the room and again when Kostya 
      brought out the envelope.

Salem's lip curls, his expression radiating distaste. "Right. And let's see if
      they're truly worth buying." Gracefully -- especially for a man his size 
      -- he stoops to pick the envelope off the floor, taking his eye from 
      Kostya for only a moment.
Konstantin lunges forward, giving a yell. The young man seems -- somewhat
      inadvertantly -- o be in the line of sniper fire, but draws out a knife 
      from one pocket, pulling a gun from his other pocket. "Die!" he yells, 
      trying to plunge the knife in Salem's back savagely, attempting to level 
      the gun at Salem's head.

Jamethon pages to the room: Those above who can see Alexy, notice him setting
      his gun up on a box, attempting to aim at the combat.

Salem lets out a snarl as the knife sinks in. Straightening up, the envelope
      apparantly forgotten and -- it seems -- not feeling the blade at all, he 
      lashes out backhanded at Konstantin. "You little _shit_, that is the 
      _last_ knife you'll ever wield..." And with that, the 'demon' calls upon 
      the terrible powers of hell (or Gaia, depending on who you believe) to 
      transform into a nine-foot-tall, golden-eyed monster, all claws and teeth 
      and fur.
Suddenly the Russian pops out from behind the boxes and with a angered scream
      starts to... no, the gun clicks and clicks but nothing seems to quite 
      happen as he pulls the trigger. With an anguished cry he tosses down the 
      gun and poof, he disappears from sight.
Konstantin staggers backwards from the force of the blow, acting sufficiently
      terrified at the man's transformation not to have noticed Alexey reveal 
      himself and subsequently disappear from sight. The ragabash gives a good 
      yell and starts running toward where Alexey was once concealed.
Holds-the-Line's been waiting for this moment; her hand slams down on the
      detonator as if the force she puts into it will somehow be carried into 
      the explosives, as if her intent will cause all the little globs of paint 
      to fly directly to Alex and cover him in day-glo.
When the gun jams, there is a rattle on the catwalk above Alexy. With powerful
      strokes, Holds-The-Line and Defiant-Storm smash the dye packs by hand 
      before letting out wicked, dischordant howls. Then, all of Havoc leap 
      down from the catwalk into the vacinity of the Russian mobster's last 
      seen spot.
Pierces Ice's muscles tighten like the coils of a spring, waiting until the dye
      is let loose, she jumps almost as one with Havoc, toward Alexey's last 
      known position.

Jamethon pages: You suddenly feel enveloped as if by an invisible blanket and
      are unable to move against this force.

As all hell erupts, Scar turns toward the spot where Alexey was hiding, and
      then freezes, the snarl still fixed on his face.

You paged Jamethon with 'Completely immoble, like a statue? I assume I can
      breathe, can I twitch an ear? Blink?'.

Only a single pack bursts, its contents spraying down in thick globs that seem
      not to come into contact with anything of interest to the Garou. This 
      tips off the Garou enough to act quickly and many other packs are burst 
      as they leap down from above, even in crinos the distance makes the Garou 
      take a moment to recover from the shock before they can get moving. 
      However the paint seems to have, at least, partially hit the target, and 
      while in mid-stride one of Alexey's legs are covered in red paint, which 
      is running towards Salem, ignoring all others.

Jamethon pages: Like I said, it feels as if a blanket of force is surrounding
      you, unyielding. You can breath, talk, even wiggle your fingers, but it 
      won't let you move far.
Long distance to Jamethon: Scar . o O ( Fuck ME. )
Long distance to Jamethon: Scar :)
Jamethon pages: You may or may not have heard of this before. How well versed
      is Salem in Spirit foo again? Particularly in the things they are capable 
      of?
Long distance to Jamethon: Scar has been a Garou close to half his life. He's
      been around a lot... but he's no Theurge.

Defiant-Storm lands on three legs, only seeing the red-dyed leg when she looks
      up again. the Get herself is covered in splotches of red paint as well as 
      a fine mist of the color all along her fur. With a burst of rage-fed 
      speed, she launches at what would be the target's ass, given the location 
      of the red leg--the intent to latch onto it with her teeth.

Jamethon pages: Well, Scar has been around long enough to have heard of some
      Spirit's powers that do something very similar to what happened to him 
      just now.

Konstantin continues heading toward the debris pile where Alexey was recently
      hidden. He wants to collect that boss sniper rifle and make sure it 
      doesn't end up in the wrong pair of hands.
Fire-Dancer drops down from above, using her hands to try and steady herself
      after the impact. She's moving fast to place herself past Salem, seeking 
      to reach the door and make sure nothing gets past her.
Pierces Ice tears across what open space remains between her and her quarry on
      all fours. Speed fueled by inner fire, her claws reach out toward 
      Alexey's legs, the only part of him she can see, the part of him he will 
      need should he try to escape.
Holds-the-Line hits the ground rolling, but still takes a second to regroup
      after the fall. With Defiant-Storm and Pierces-Ice taking Alex's lower 
      half, she swings wide around him to menace him from his other flank. She 
      doesn't attack yet, but waits for the results of the two Ahroun's attacks.
Heart-Taker goes racing towards the redpant leg, decides on a spot that looks
      likely, and is out of the other two's way. Like, oh, chest height? She 
      starts trying to rip into him with her claws.
Defiant-Storm finds herself right behind him ready to pounce when the leg
      tenses and leaps up. With a burst of speed the Get snaps her teeth 
      forward and clamps down on Alex's foot, and goes up with the invisible 
      man who is leaping high through the air above Salem, arcing to land a few 
      feet behind him. Konstantin easily gets to the rifle, it is jammed 
      currently, the chamber appearing to be 'half-fired' as is the obvious 
      result of a use of Jam Tech on a rifle. Emma gets to the door easily 
      enough, and once there feels more than hears something pounding on the 
      door from the outside, as if trying to break right through it. 
      Pierces-Ice doesn't find herself there in time to reach the target, but 
      with her speed could have little difficulty in catching up with it. 
      Holds-The-Line however, using her tactic of moving out and around is able 
      to make an easy adjustment and is where Alex is going to land a decent 
      amount of time before he does so. Heart-Taker however leaps towards the 
      target and hits him in mid-air, with a loud but dull clang like that of a 
      metal baseball bat home-running a softball, she bounces off the invisible 
      man and hits the ground hard.
Defiant-Storm's not about to let her prize 'foot' go. Her jaw clamps down,
      attempting to hold it at all costs, and although a painful shudder works 
      apparently down her entire body, she attempts to lift herself up enough 
      to hopefully turn the invisible man upside down.

Jamethon pages: You will be able to move again during this pose. You almost
      seem to hear some kind of distant squak like that of a bird that was shot 
      with an arrow as the fetters holding you vanish.

Through all of this, Salem hasn't moved more than a twitch of claws and ears,
      though his eyes roll in their sockets, the good one glaring in 
      frustration and anger. Then, abruptly, he's free of whatever it was that 
      held him immobile and with a snarl of rage he whirls around to attack the 
      Semi-invisible Man.
Konstantin examines the gun carefully, trying to clear the firing chamber of
      the jam. He'll remove the magazines too, just to make sure another round 
      doesn't inadventantly get chambered.
Fire-Dancer lets out a growl and takes a moment to try and focus on the door.
      Her ears flickering as she tries to listen to what may be outside, and 
      what is going on within. ~Something is trying to get in folks...~ she 
      warns in advance.
Pierces Ice shifts her trajectory when the quarry leaves the ground, her
      momentum carrying her past Salem before she can make the turn. Her intent 
      clearly still to rend flesh from the legs of the man when he touches down.
Holds-the-Line waits for Alex to come to Mama, biding her time until he's just
      about to land. Then she leaps forward in a rugby tackle to drive him to 
      the ground, her arms trying to pin his, and teeth gnashing on anything 
      she can reach.
Heart-Taker rolls off the floor, snarling. Well. That didn't go so well, did
      it. She hangs back for a moment as Holds-the-Line attempts her tackle, 
      not wanting to get in the way, and keeps an eye on the door, having heard 
      Emma's call, ready to direct her attention where it seems most needed.
Kostya seems to have little difficulty in clearing the jam and removing the
      clip. The firing pin is still stuck however, and appears to be immobile. 
      Whoever used Jam Tech did a damn good job of it. The door next to 
      Fire-Dancer starts bending in at points, like it is being hit with an 
      erratic battering ram, though a small one. At the moment of Alex's 
      landing a knife becomes visible, just after it is rammed through 
      Defiant-Storm's muzzle, the blade piercing straight through and coming 
      out inside the Jarl's mouth, this of course seems to do the trick in 
      forcing her to let go. The blade was around six inches, only about a half 
      an inch is visible sticking out the top of her muzzle. At this time 
      however, it appears as if almost the whole congregation closes in on the 
      invisible man. All of them feel the icy metal that resist their blows, 
      though as they swarm over him, they seem to be denting in this steel skin 
      of Alex's and are driving him down to the ground. Teeth bite into metal 
      that seems to give way only with great force, but also causes bits of 
      those teeth to chip away with the awesome resistance they meet. Claws 
      scratch uselessly over the surface and physical blows seem to hurt the 
      one punching more than Alex, who remains silent through all of this. 
      Suddenly, the door by Emma bursts open and a man who some would recognize 
      as Boris Patinkin stands before the young Get... an errie smile appearing 
      on his face when he spots the girl.
Defiant-Storm jerks back a step as the knife plunges through her muzzle. The
      Get snarls and howls in a very un-Storm-like way. It lasts for several 
      moments and then stops, as she grabs the handle of the knife and tries to 
      yank it free. If/when it's free, she tosses it toward the debris pile and 
      shifts to hispo.
Scar's massive hands twist into equally massive paws as, like the Get Elder, he
      transforms into a dire wolf. Focussed as he is on Alexey, he doesn't 
      notice the plight that Emma is in, and with more powerful jaws goes into 
      a snarling froth of biting and tearing -- metal skin be damned.
Konstantin spies the figure at the door, ducking behind the debris. He
      continues to work on the gun.
Fire-Dancer lets out a fierce growl and wastes no time with deciding on action.
      Razor-sharp claws, fueled by rage, rake out viciously at the man who now 
      stands before her. They aim for chest and throat, wanting something meaty 
      and vital to sink into.
Pierces Ice's shoulders hunch forward, head growing more massive as her form
      also shifts to hispo. One ear twitches at the noise of the door, but her 
      primary concern is the immediate one. Claws find purchase on the floor as 
      she now seeks to damage Alex with her more powerful jaws.
Holds-the-Line concentrates on keeping Alex off his feet for the others to
      harry. She'll get in attacks where and when she can - elbow, bite, knee - 
      but the Galliard's chosen task is to keep this man on the ground and, if 
      Gaia blesses, pin his arms as well.
Heart-Taker breaks off of the metal man to go leaping after the new guy
      instead. She races forward to try to flank the guy and add her claws to 
      Fire-Dancer's. He does not look like someoone Emma should take alone.
As more "dog-pile" onto Alexy, getting in their bites and claws on the
      squirming and seemingly cowering man, he leaps straight up in the air, 
      covering a massive distance in a mere matter of seconds. He misses the 
      rafters and nails the ceiling, thirty feet above the floor, hard. Scar 
      and Heart-Taker find themselves flung off the pile as it takes off, but 
      the rest are carrying up to make painful contact with the ceiling, then 
      start to quickly decend. Heart-Taker was already in the mode to head off 
      towards Emma and continues to do so, moving with rage driven speed. The 
      gun in Kostya's hand suddenly gives a slight audible click, and the 
      firing pin snaps forward as if just being dry fired then settles back 
      into place. Emma moves in on the large man in the door way, who moves in 
      on her as well, reaching out to intercept the Get's hands with his own. 
      The two wrestle using hands alone, trying to gain momentum on the other, 
      though apparently they are of equal strength. This is a disconcerting 
      sight, to see a human, though while tall, able to hold his own strength 
      wise with a vicious snarling crinos.
Defiant-Storm goes to attack, only to find the target gone. Her snarl this time
      is pure frustration, and she turns the aggression on the nearest target 
      she can see right now--that would the not-man man that's grappling with 
      Emma. In another burst of speed, the Get takes off, attempting to leap at 
      the man's shoulder and head and catch them in her hispo'd jaws.
Fire-Dancer is more than a little surprised to find herself playing 'Uncle'
      with the man. She tries to grip into his hands in such a way that her 
      claws might pierce into them, pushing hard against him to try and knock 
      him back. With her hands occupied, her fangs will have to do; they snap 
      outwards to try and chomp his face.
Scar, four-legged, gets to his paws quickly, barking out a curt, ~Watch the
      door!~ Bristling, he scans the interior of the warehouse, nostrils 
      flared, for signs of the red-legged mobster.
Konstantin starts to lock and load his assault rifle. He then starts to line up
      a head shot on Boris Patinkin. He's going to take some care with this. 
      Don't want any friendly fire casualties.
At this time, Lures-The-Beast starts to appear, in a hazy manner standing and
      staring into the shining blade of her axe as she attempts to cross over 
      into the Realm.
Pierces Ice attempts to twist around, to get her feet underneath her as she
      falls.
Holds-the-Line clutches convulsively at Alex as they go for a sudden,
      surprising ride. The impact of the ceiling to chest and head forces the 
      air out of her lungs in a grunt, but she refuses to let go her grip. 
      Instead she scrabbles for a better hold, twisting in an effort to get 
      Alex underneath her. Falling twenty-five feet won't be fun for either of 
      them, but it will be lots less fun for Alex to have a several-hundred 
      pound Crinos landing on top of him.
Heart-Taker ,meanwhile, tries to get around behind Boris. She tries to jam her
      claws to either side of him, aiming for each of his kidneys. Trying to 
      grab flesh and remove flesh. She's pissed. She wants Chunks O' Boss.
Fire-Dancer snaps forward with her muzzle several times, but the reach the man
      has, coupled with the length of the young Get's arms seem to be enough to 
      keep his face out of reach. However, her claws do find purchase and 
      easily puncture skin, which starts to flow crimson red from within the 
      clenched fists, dripping freely onto the floor. The response this gets 
      from Boris is immediate, and with a snarl of rage reminding those who 
      hear it of a crinos growl, he surges forward and literally lifts Emma up 
      into the air with the movement, still just grasping her hands and in a 
      continuous motion swings her up and around at the wall, denting it in 
      with sheer force. 
 Scar keeps vigilant and spots the Fury, trying to reach through and having
      some difficulty with the high gauntlet here. The Fury however seems to 
      not get stuck, as her form now solidifies and she looks around hungrily 
      for her next victim. 
 Konstantin sets up to take aim and about now is the best shot he is going to
      get, though at the back of his head. Pow! A single bullet fires from the 
      rifle, nailing Boris in the lower right corner of his head, almost as low 
      as his neck, tearing right through and exiting through his open screaming 
      mouth. The bullet nails Emma, the Garou baseball bat, in the shoulder. 
      However, the force of the exiting bullet tears half Boris' jaw away from 
      his face and leaves a rather gruesome sight to behold. He seemed about to 
      start swinging Emma the other way at this time but drops her. Clinging at 
      his ruined face with a look of pure surprise, Boris starts to run out the 
      door, his eyes wide and unfocused. 
 Signe and Heart-Taker are right there however, and Signe pounces upon him
      before he can escape, dragging the insanely strong man to the floor while 
      Heart-Taker makes a leap on the fallen man and with a swift move, rips 
      out his throat in her jaws. 
 On his way down, Alex becomes visible... an odd sight to behold. His skin
      appears to have be severly scratched at and dented, like the paint job 
      and body of a classic car. He looks like some kind of beaten up android. 
      While Pierces Ice hits the ground hard, she seemed prepared for the shock 
      and rebounds with it nicely enough, able to move just fine. Natalie
      finds herself struggling to wrestle the man beneath her, to keep him 
      beneath her. However, he appears to not be having it, eyes closed 
      tightly, he gives a surge of strength as he twists his body and throws 
      the Crinos beneath himself, who impacts the ground hard enough to break 
      through the concrete and leave a sizable crater. The recently invisible 
      man then falls away from the busted crinos pillow, and with eyes still 
      closed he fumbles to grab two of the grenades from his belt. Two audible 
      clicks are heard as his thumbs crumple in the tips of the small explosive 
      devices. "Get away from me you devils! I'll blow us all the fuck up!" His 
      English isn't all that well articulated, but he seems to manage this 
      warning with an understandable tongue and much gusto.

Sanity check: Signe, Kostya, and Heart-Taker are on the far left of the room,
      near the busted in door. Boris does not appear to move anymore. Scar and 
      Pierces-Ice are near each other in the center. At the far right of the 
      room is Alex, holding two grenades, and unconscious Holds-The-Line 
      embedded in the floor nearby. A few feet further behind Alex's back, 
      Lures-The-Beast just materialized.

Stepping out of the Gauntlet, Lures-The-Beast stays silent as she shifts her
      weight smoothly, spotting the metal man hunched over. In a blur of speed, 
      she charges without a single growl, raising up the battle axe high over 
      her head, attempting to send it down across the back of his shoulders and 
      neck, hoping to gain the element of surprise as she reacts.
Konstantin lines up another shot. This one's aimed for Alexey's knee.
Growling loudly in pain, Fire-Dancer slowly begins to wobble back to her feet,
      gushing blood from her shoulder where the bullet exited. She takes a few 
      moments to clear her head, shaking off the spinning grogginess and 
      decides to get her barrens.

Jamethon pages: You may recognize the grenades as you are spending your time
      just watching him... those are the kind that will detonate once their 
      tips crumple then pressure is released. Surface explosives that are 
      designed not to puncture things but rather explode outside of whatever 
      they hit.
You paged Jamethon with 'How bad'll be the damage when they blow?'.
Jamethon pages: You aren't quite sure. But it'll definatly kill anyone in the
      immediate blast radius, Garou or no. A bit of a distance out will hurt, 
      but a Crinos could take it. Anyone in the building with the explosive 
      where it is will be hit, save perhaps Konstantin behind the heavy 
      equipment across the room. These aren't just concussive or shrapnel 
      types, they look incendiary as well.
Jamethon pages: So... posing?
You paged Jamethon with 'Shit. And how many in immediate blast radius? Ashley
      is rushing in, and Natalie. Fuck. Yes, posing.'.

Fractions of a second after they hit, Holds-the-Line shrinks down to her birth
      form, looking rather small and childlike in the massive crater.

Jamethon pages: Oh, Ashley, Natalie, You and Jacinta.
Long distance to Jamethon: Scar spends another rage to instashift to glabro,
      too. Damned Furies.
Jamethon pages: Signe, Emma, Heart-Taker are in the rage to be hurt a bit...
      with Emma at most risk with her current damage. Konstantin seems like 
      he'll be fine and dandy.

As the axe-wielding Fury rushes in from behind Alex, Salem snarls and, in a
      second, is in Glabro form, yelling out a commanding, not-to-be-ignored, 
      "NO!" -- looking past the Russian and toward Lures-the-Beast.
Pierces Ice growls deep in her throat, a low, almost subvocal sound. She
      sidesteps, moving neither closer nor farther from Alex, but her haunches 
      tighten with the urge to spring forward.
The Fury's swing is a few inches away from embedding itself into Alex's spinal
      cord when the shout is given by Salem, which causes the Fury enough pause 
      to pull her swing. Alex startles, turning around and staring with wide 
      and uncomprehending eyes. He jerks left, then right, as if looking around 
      but as he stumbles only slightly... it occurs to all those who see Alex, 
      that he is currently quite blind. "If I let go of one of these! BOOM!" He 
      screams out, "We all go fucking splat!" He starts heading towards the 
      door, a slow paced walk in which he uses his left foot to tap out where 
      he is going before he steps that way. He appears to be heading right 
      towards the crater that was made by Holds-The-Line which only contains a 
      smaller girl right now. "Stay the fuck away. I can hear you coming." He 
      adds, "Fucking demons..." Then yells out again in Russian, "Kostya! They 
      get you?!"
Salem glares at Ashley, then motions her toward the unconscious Natalie. To
      Alex, he snarls, as hatefully as possible, "Konstantin is dead, that 
      little shithead." He starts moving back, away from the Russian and out of 
      the immediate blast range of the grenades, and his eye flicks sidelong 
      toward the hidden Shadow Lord. "You're dead, too," he continues, to Alex 
      again. "You just don't know it yet. Give up and it'll be painless." The 
      venom, the hatefulness, in the Walker's voice is audible.

Long distance to Jamethon: Salem kicks in persuasion because, you know, an
      extra social edge never hurts.

Hissing in frustration, Lures-The-Beast clutches the war axe in her hands as
      she watches Alex begin to back away, baring her teeth at him. ~He is 
      heading towards Holds-The-Line.~ She growls, shifting her eyes towards 
      Defiant-Storm. She looks frustrated and pissed, itching to dive forward.
Konstantin remains silent, his entire being focused on the shot he's lining up
      on Alexey. He has no intention of shooting until Natalie is in a safer 
      position.
Defiant-Storm, still in hispo, bristles and shows her teeth, but for now the
      Get bites back on audible snarls. She moves swiftly, with Emma, to back 
      away. There's enough time, however, to give the Shadow Lord a baleful, 
      jealous and frustrated look.
Salem bares overlong canines in a lupine-like snarl at Lures the Beast. "One
      step toward him and if you live, Beast, I'll kill you myself." His use of 
      English is deliberate -- as if to prevent the nervous Russian from doing 
      something they'll all regret.
Natalie's not dead, that much is clear if the others take time to look. But
      legs aren't supposed to bend that way, not really. She's breathing too, 
      if slowly, with a faint hollow sound that suggests insulted lungs.
~Does it look like I'm moving? No, shut the fuck up and focus on the real
      enemy.~ Growls Lures-The-Beast as she snarls in Salem's direction, 
      clutching her axe tighter in her paws. ~If he kills Holds-The-Line, I'll 
      kill you.~
As if by some invisible force of its own, Alex cringes in pain, gripping the
      grenades tighter as he hunches forward slightly. "Oooofuck," he moans out 
      in great pain. Another wave passes over him and he hunches forward even 
      more, falling to his knees, knuckles white gripping the small oval 
      explosives. "God damn it! Get the fuck out of my head!" He screams out, 
      clutching the grenades tightly to his chest.
Defiant-Storm's head snaps up at the harsh exchange between Lures and Salem.
      She sees the danger, and this time her growl /is/ audible. ~Lures! Just 
      grab Holds and get back here, now!~
~On it!~ The Fury takes off quickly, bolting as fast as she can with wolverine
      endowed speed. She drops the axe behind her with a heavy clang, pushing 
      her rage sped up legs as she sweeps her arms down in an attempt to snag 
      up Natalie. If successful, she'll cut to the right sharply to head 
      towards the pack without a pause.
Salem glares daggers at the Black Fury, the beast within him snarling and
      snapping at the end of its chain; it's clear to anyone looking that the 
      halfmoon is not too far from losing his temper entirely. He backs up 
      along with the others, his gaze shifting from Ashley and Natalie to Alex 
      and back again.
Pierces Ice dashes forward to wrest Natalie's unconscious form from the crater.
      With Lures the Beast reaching the Glass Walker before she can, she 
      instead moves to assist, attempting to get all three of them clear of the 
      range of the explosives before they can be detonated.
Ashley and Jacinta, working together are able to pick up both sides of
      Natalie's body and start getting her quickly to safety. Salem stands and 
      stares menacingly. Signe, Kostya, and the rest are far back, behind the 
      heavy equipment and safe from the blast radius. Meanwhile, Alex is 
      cringing in pain, body tensing up as he brings the grenades to his 
      temples, pushing his hands together against them as he screams out in 
      Russian.
As the group backs up they almost hear a whispering, as if filling the air. It
      gets louder and louder as the Russian stares shaking his head vigorously. 
      First it is quiet, but soon can be heard and continues to get louder... 
      "..kill them... burn them... Kill them... Go to them! KILL THEM ALL! NOW! 
      KILL THEM WITH YOUR LAST BREATH! PURGE THEM FROM THE EARTH!" The Russian 
      screams once more and starts to climb slowly to his feet.
Konstantin aims the shot -- for the head -- as soon as it's clear. He's spent
      several moments now trying to line it up. No need to let the voices in 
      Alexey's head finish off the metal mobster. "Duck," the ragabash mutters.
Defiant-Storm, for all she loathes taking orders from /Kostya/, does what the
      Shadow Lord says. Her last act to sneer at the mobster and pull A groggy 
      Emma down with her. covering the younger Get's head, she 'ducks'.
You don't haunt the cities -- or live for any amount of time in a war-torn
      Slavic country -- without knowing when to take cover, and this Salem 
      does. With alacrity.
Pierces Ice pulls Natalie's human form beneath her and crouches low over it -
      doing her best to protect her own head, at the same time as she covers 
      the Glass Walker's.
Diving for the ground, Lures-The-Beast flattens herself to the ground next to
      Pierces Ice, hunkering herself over.
The bullet pops out of the gun and nails Alex square in the... metal forehead.
      The bullet however seems to have been designed for such a kind of 
      resistance and sends the guy heels over head in a backwards flip, which 
      explodes a second later in a massive concussion followed by a second one 
      only half a second later. The blast sets the ceiling rafters on fire, 
      though only small ones and nothing that is burning out of control, the 
      concussive blasts nails everyone still out in the open, sending them 
      tumbling with a great deal of concussive force, though no flame or 
      shrapnel reaches them.
Defiant-Storm grunts as the blast pushes her back. She hunkers over the other
      Get further, waiting for it to end before daring to look out.
The dust settles and the sides of the boxes that the blownup man was on are all
      singed. Then... as the smoke actually clears! Holy shit, although naked 
      and scorched pretty badly, Alex is still intact, slumped against the wall 
      where he was blown into it.
As things settle down, Salem gets slowly to his feet, looking rather burned but
      otherwise reasonably hale; he still doesn't act as though he feels the 
      damage. Looking around, he spots Alex, and his mismatched eyes widen. He 
      swears in Serbian.
Defiant-Storm takes longer to spot the prone mobster. Her hispo ears splay,
      disbelieving. ~He's a fucking 'Weeble',~ she grates out.
Pierces Ice moves off of Natalie's still form, carefully stepping over her. She
      turns then, and seeing that Alex still lives, she snarls. Tear his parts. 
      Crush his skull.
Konstantin stands, slinging the rifle over his shoulder. As he sees the mobster
      slumped, but still breathing, he shakes his head, letting out a low 
      whistle. "We need to get him and get out of here. This place is 
      abandoned, but I think even SCPD would show up here for a fucking 
      explosion. I don't know what's next. All I can think is the end of the 
      Terminator when they crush that fucker under a hydraulic ram."
Salem shakes his head a bit. "Car crusher? Should be one at the junkyard." He
      grimaces. "Of all the times to need Roger and his fucking obsession with 
      acids..." This second bit comes out in a mutter.
Konstantin hands the rifle to Salem and walks over toward the mobster. He
      obvious intends to check the mobster out. Flesh or metal? The ragabash is 
      on the case.
Defiant-Storm collects her pack. ~I'll leave the decision to you, Scar,~ She
      says, regarding how and where to do-in the moster, if they can. ~But the 
      shadow Lord is right. We have to leave here, /now/.~
It takes him almost thirty seconds alone to just walk across the warehouse, but
      when Kostya grabs at the man laying still... metal is still what he 
      touches. Lifting his hand in the process however, he does seem light as 
      he would be without all the steel skin.
Konstantin starts to drag the naked man across the ruined floor of the
      warehouse. "Fuck," he mutters. He gives Salem the thumbs down sign as he 
      turns around.
Salem shakes his head again. "Take him," he says, voice hardening. "The
      junkyard isn't far. See how well he survives the crusher. Nothing's 
      unkillable."
Defiant-Storm decides to go with Salem and the boys. Emma, Doc and Lures are
      sent home. Natalie and Jacinta are welcome to join the Get if they want. 
      But she's going herself either way. Blurring down to the near-man, she 
      moves to help.
Pierces Ice follows Signe in shifting to a more human appearance. She nods
      once, to Signe. She will see this through to its end.
About five minutes into the drive, you guys drive right past the PD driving in
      the other lane, just two cars with flashing lights going but no sirens. 
      Another twenty minutes later... Kostya checks on Alex, and his skin has 
      become just that again... skin. It all has evened out and the dents and 
      scratches puff back out to look like normal skin once more. It is 
      however, brittle to the touch, rough like sand paper and bruises easily 
      and quickly when prodded roughly.
Signe keeps one eye on the prone mobster and another on Kostya--as if the
      Shadow Lord hasn't earned a smidgeon of trust this evening. When she sees 
      the skin has changed, and the way the man bruises when Konstantin pokes 
      him, there is no hesitation in the Get. She has her /own/ knife, not 
      unlike the big nasty one that was sticking out her muzzle a while ago. 
      Taken from her boot, the Get slams it into prone man's throat. Pulling it 
      out, then, she slams it into his heart for good measure.
Salem watches with burningly intent eyes, his upper lip twitching away from his
      teeth, wolflike, at the act of violence and the scent of fresh blood. 
      "Nevermind the crusher, then." He looks at Kostya. "How soon do you need 
      your 'proof'?"
The Shadow Lord lifts his shoulder. "Next day or two. I'm in no rush." He
      pauses, then adds, "But I want that rifle." A sidelong glance toward 
      Signe. "Please."
Jacinta places a hand on the man's chest, feeling for the life to ebb away. Her
      eyes, like Salem's and Signe's seem still to be full of the anger that 
      fuels her. She watches Salem, breathing deeply in slow measured breaths.
Signe's near-black eyes narrow on the Shadow Lord as she wipes the man's blood
      off her blade using his own leg. Gritting her teeth, she admits, 
      sullenly, "I guess you earned it."
Salem shifts his weight -- wincing slightly as his senses start to remember
      what pain is -- and hands the weapon over to the Ragabash. "See me 
      tomorrow," he tells Konstantin flatly. "When I've calmed down a bit." 
      Then he looks over at Jacinta. "What do you need for the rite?"
The wounds in the man's throat and chest continues to ooze out pumped blood
      long after others would be completely dead... but soon the flow slows to 
      a crawl, then stops.
Jacinta holds her hand over his chest for a long while, silent in the face of
      Salem's questions. Eventually she is satisfied and pulls her hand back 
      and rests it on her knee, her other hand reaching out to the wall of the 
      truck to steady her. "Only you, two who would call you friend, and 
      something dear to you as you are now, that you will give up in order to 
      begin your new life."
Salem nods to the Wendigo, then sits back against the wall of the truck. For
      the rest of the evening and during the grisly disposal work that follows, 
      he's mostly silent.