Lasagna

[hazlogs]

Harbor Park -- The Meadow(#194RJ)
One of the last bastions of green left in the city, mottled and withered grass and weeds covers the earth like a badly stained carpet, with the construction work turning what is left into just bare dirt. The vegetation seems marginally healthier the further it is from the river and much healthier towards the central area of the park around the fountain. Construction work is ongoing here: a raised earthen berm about five feet tall is being built all around the park perimeter, with two breaks each at the Bridge Street entrance and the First Street end. Wooden posts are being erected at regular intervals all along the earthen wall, while tasteful iron gates and fences are being added at the entrances. Overpowering the scent of living vegetation are the exhaust fumes from a busy street to the west and an unpleasant stench from the Columbia River to the east. From the street view or river view, the park is now isolated, as if it existed apart from the city. People in tall buildings have an excellent view of any goings-ons for now, though. In the center of the park, a small glade of six tall trees and a flower bed surrounds the fountain. The murky waters of the Columbia River flow swiftly along the east side of the park. Bracketing the park to the west is First Street and the city of St. Claire.

Eamon also looks surprised to see two lupus in the city. He waves to the others. "What's up, guys?" He glances over toward the crickets by the fountain, but doesn't pay much attention to them.

Luc's head bobs again. "Ja." He saves any further explanations until he's in a form whose language he's more familiar with.

Yi strides in from the treeline, head occassionally turning behind her to talk to the one trailing beside her. "(So what do you think will happen to the shop?)" Mandarin floats over the air to sharper ears.

The corners of Renee's mouth twitch up in a sense of amusment, as these people continue to talk. She doesn't reconize any of them and doubts that any of them recognize her, yet they're obviously talking about Garou matters.

Lyra walks with her finger laced, hands behind her head, following Yi. She peers up at the sky. "(Hm...well I did tell Mama Kaz it could be used. She said it was a good idea, but that was several days ago, and I haven't seen Elan-rhya for a loooong time. Maybe next time I see her we can move in.)" The cub waggles an eyebrow at Yi. "(I heard we were leaving the Junkyard, but why exactly?)"

Seirian sort of drifts into the meadow's dull grasses, hands tucked deeply into the pockets of her jeans and expression pensive. "Lovely evening for a stroll." she quips to herself, quirking something of a smile at the sight of recognized faces.

*Booooom. Bah-Booooom. Booooom Bah-Booooom.* A huge Ford Expedition rolls slowly down the drag, tricked-out stereo system vibrating glass windows all down the block. It pulls in to Garcia's further to the south and disgorges half a dozen late teens and maybe an early twenties or two. They all head into the pizza parlor.

Eamon grins at Seirian. "Ain't it, though?"

Luc bares his teeth against the sounds of the car's stereo system. "Scab, ugly."

The trio seems to be down to uno, at least for now as Aubrey seems to jog alone onto the meadow at a casual pace. She slows as she comes to the meadow, reconizing faces among the crowd.

Yi winces just a bit at the booming vehicle. The ragabash turns back to Lyra, stating simply. "(They know where it is.)" She looks around the park's meadow, spotting some familiar faces. Some interesting faces. Ones she never expected to see here, anyway. Yi smirks a little, and crooks a finger to Lyra, leaning in to whisper.

Owen watches the SUV as it passes and eventually pulls into the pizza joint, frowning all the while. "Certainly not my taste. Hip-Hop, they call it."

Seirian half-turns towards the aural assault and frowns slightly, "Thank ye, I like t' be able to -hear- my music, not feel it. If I want t' feel my music, I'll get sheet music for th' blind." Grumblng further to herself, she ambles over to Eamon, offering the other Fianna an otherwise pleasant grin in return.

Lyra senses "Yi says quietly, "(There's a couple of wolves here. In their human form.)"

Luc finally seems to recognize a few of the others that have wandered into the park. He looks around, noting the various Garou he actually does recognize, and looks back at Owen and Serf. "Moot, here?"

Curious, Lyra's arms sneak into her pockets as she leans in to hear the whisper. And then her eyes -blink-. She stares at Yi. "(Wha- seriously? Like, ~lupus~ that go ~homid~ the way we...oh, woow!)" the cub exhales softly, straighteneing up and looking at the unfamiliar faces with a smile. "Golly! (Elder sister, can we go say hello?)"

Renee gets back onto her feet and makes her way toward the other Gnawers, hands stuffed firmly into her pockets.

From over near the Rialto, a distant cry from a young female child can be heard. "Ooooobs! Grooooooobs!" There's patently hysteria in her voice. Running-stumbling from around the Rialto comes little Julie. "Grooooooobs!"

Yi can't help but smile a little at Lyra's eagerness. "(Maybe. Try not to use the other languages around here, eh?)" The ragabash looks up at Renee approaching, straightening. "Yo, Renee."

Eamon makes a face at the SUV. "Yeah, no shit." He looks over at the sound of the little girl's voice. "Uh-oh, here comes trouble."

Renee waves, coming to a stop infront of the Ragabash. "Hey."

Serf twitches his head to one side, remembering to raise and lower one shoulder in a shrug as he does so. He turns toward the distant cry warily, but does not react otherwise.

Lyra looks over her shoulder, catches sight of Renee. "(He-) Hey, didn't see you," she greets, grinning, then looks up to hear a little child's impatient cry. "Ope, I think it's Glissa's childlings again. Wait a sec." The Philocub breaks off from the trio, Lyra jogs over to the young girl, a big friendly smile on her face. "Hey there kiddo! You get away from your mum again?"

Aubrey stuffs her hands into her pockets of her leathers as she spots Eamon and Seirian. She brushes her fingers through her auburn tresses as she stops alongside Eamon. "Hey," she says a bit winded after jogging quiet a long ways to get here. "What's going on around here?"

Luc turns in the direction of the hysterical cry, his eyes scanning the area as he tries to locate the source. Spotting the child, he frowns, looking for whatever might be causing her to react so oddly.

Eamon grins. "Hey, Bree! Not much, just hangin' out. I was on my way to check out the fountain, actually."

Only Seiri's head turns at the child's cry, eyebrows raised in curiousity above a look of concern and a brief glance at Eamon. "You know the little one? She certainly sounds upset about -something-." she asks, watching as her question is half-answered by Lyra's actions. Pulling her hands out of her pockets, she tucks them instead into the ones on her jacket and looks on.

Yi nods once to Renee, watching Lyra go off to take care of the escaped kid. She shrugs a shoulder, pulling a bit at her jacket and looks back to Renee. And in a totally taken-from-TV phrase, "Wassup?" The raggie gives Renee a knowing glance.

Eamon nods. "Yeah, she's Glissa's kid. She's kin."

Julie is normally a quiet seven year old. She's dressed in tiny dusty-blue sweats, the neckline torn a bit, and dirty white sneakers, and dragging her favorite stuffed animal wolf by a length of yarn tied to its neck. "Grooooobs!" she bawls out, face streaked with tears and one eye puffy. She'll be sporting a shiner by tomorrow, no doubt about it. She falls onto Lyra, throwing her arms around her and sobbing. "Groo-hoo-hoo-hoo..." Her own sobs prevent her from getting out the rest of her sentence.

Renee looks at her hands, which are stained with flecks of paint. The kid in Lyra's arm distracts the Galliard and she moves closer to the kid, wanting to know what is going on.

Luc looks at the child with no small amount of concern. ~What has happened to her?~ he rumbles softly, just loud enough to be heard by his packmates.

Owen also turns a bit to regard the child. There's a distinct lack of recognition there, though. The condition the kid is in, however, does get a measured response from the Get as a low growl escapes him. He let's Luc do the talking.

Owen manages, however, "Looks hurt."

Aubrey smiles back to Eamon, "I was actually here to see if Sepdet was about." Although it appears that she hasn't been able to find her yet. "The young Shadow Lord cub has had a vision, I thought it would be in the best interest to tell the Strider as soon as I could." The Fianna woman keeps her voice low as she speaks to Eamon, although her voice would be easily overhead by those gathered closely around her. The cries of the child in the woman's ears seem to be ringing, although she has something important to discuss with her elder quickly. "There is much happening with the spirits as much as ourselves," she murmurs.

Seirian aahs softly at the explanation and leans her head to one side, concern taking over her expression gradually. She looks beyond the distressed little girl to the direction she came from, watching to see if anyone or anything is following her.

Eamon looks up as he realizes the girl's sobbing. He walks over to her and crouches down by her. "Julie honey? Where are the groobs? Where's your mommy? Can you point to where they are?"

Yi closes an eye getting no response from Renee, but also is curious as to what Julie is doing here. The newmoon looks up and around for Glissa.

"Ooofish," Lyra mumbles, surprised at the girl's reaction. She kneels down beside her and strokes her hair out of her face- then sees the black eye. "Julie!" she exclaims, then scoops the child up in her arms, toy and all, and holds her close. "Shh shh now. (Shh, shh, I've got you.) Why are you crying, silly butterfly?" She taps the sobbing girl's cheek with one finger, gently. The way her muscles are working in her jaw looks like she's angry, but her voice is gentle. "And why is your eye hurt? Did someone hit you?"

Serf just shakes his head and starts toward the child, frowning openly at her condition. His dark eyes narrow briefly as he gets a look at the dragged toy, then he, too looks around for those that might have caused the girl's condition.

Luc walks over in the direction from which Julie came, trying to determine if whatever hurt her is still back there, possibly pursuing. "Quiet her. Loud. Too loud."

Julie clings to Lyra, slowly sliding down her and towards the ground. Now that she's found the groobs, she's hard pressed to overcome her own emotions in order to even speak. "Groooobs!" she bawls out, then is wracked by sobbing. "Mommy!" she chokes out between gasps for air, eyes blinded by tears and the left one on its way to swelling shut. More sobbing, quieter, as if in utter defeat rather than her gaining anything resembling control over herself. "Sick," she cries. "Mommy." Sob-gasp. "Is sick." Her nose drips as her tears and emotions overtake her once again.

Owen follows after Luc and begins to hear some of the talk now. He recognizes Glissa's name but isn't too familiar with her, much less her kids. "Am I mistaken that she just came from the Rialto?"

Eamon looks around. "Anybody know where Glissa lives?"

Renee's lips thin, as she looks over at Yi. "You're the Ragabash. Mabye you should go an' take a look?"

Seirian also follows Luc after a moment, one hand clenched into a fist tightly, "Looked like she came from somewhere 'round there, but I can't be entirely sure."

Tskilegwa pages to the room: She came from around the corner of the Rialto. Though she might have been in it beforehand.

Yi approaches Lyra and the child, holding back from approaching too close. But a distinct absence of the frumpy Glissa makes her worry. Lack of her little brother as well. When she overhears the child's stumbling, sob-laden words, the ragabash glances around again. No Glissa in sight. Mommy is... sick? "(Stay here with her,)" Yi says with a nod to Renee. "I'll be back." The newmoon sets out determinedly for the Rialto vicinity, jogging that way. She'd seen Glissa in the Rialto a few times before.

Serf glances toward Luc uncertainly.

Luc moves toward the Rialto along with Yi, looking back at his packmates for them to follow. "Come," he tells them.

Lyra strokes the girl's head, managing by some miracle to keep her voice light and gentle. "She's sick? That's sad. Shh, shh, Julie, I'll tell you what. Why don't we take some of your mommy's friends to see your mum? And then we can make her better, okay?" Lyra takes Julie's hand, smiling down at her, green eyes glinting, then points to Yi's retreating back. "Look, there goes Yi now. She'll go help your mommy, don't worry. No need for tears! And will you tell me what happened to your eye?"

Owen was already in motion to follow Luc, and so follows his order readily enough.

Renee puts a hand on Lyra's shoulder. "I know a safe spot we can take her, until we find her mother. Gonna give her ta me, or are ya gonna coem with me?"

Little Julie is suddenly overwhelmed again by emotions and tears, despite the attempts to comfort her. Her shirt hangs off her shoulder, the tear in it exposing her naked shoulder completely.

The Garou venturing into the Rialto give it a quick, cautious search, but it appears to be deserted.

Lyra takes a worried glance at Julie. "I'll come with you. (Damn. I don't -like- this!)" The philodox kneels down by the little girl again, smiling gently. "Hey kiddo, want a piggy back ride? Renee and I will take you someplace safe, we'll get you all cleaned up! How's that sound, hm?"

Eamon reaches down and picks up Julie's stuffed wolf, then puts it up to his nose, taking a deep sniff. He leans over and does the same to Julie, sniffing at her shoulder, trying to pick up any scents.

Seirian hangs back for the moment, taking a long look at Julie before shaking her head and jogging to catch up to those already at the Rialto.

Luc comes back out of the Rialto at a faster pace than he entered, running straight toward Eamon. "Dark-moon. Find dam. Sense Prey!"

Eamon nods. "Yeah, I'm workin' on it."

Aubrey takes the route of those nearing the Rialto, sticking close to Seirian. "I wonder what this is all about." she says quietly. Then as Luc comes running out of the place, she turns heel. "What the...?"

Yi searches around the Rialto's rooms and its hiding spots, turning up nothing. Coming back out and around to the side facing the park, the Gnawer newmoon also checks the alleys beside the building. With the others around, she first looks puzzled, with brow furrowed. Hanging on the edge of the gathered Garou, Yi busies herself instead with looking for signs of struggle in the area.

Renee grunts softly. "Okay. Lemme check the place out. Make certain that its still empty, then I'll come back here and get ya. Watch that kid." Turning, the Galliard makes her way out of the park.

Seirian stops in her tracks as Luc goes by, brow lifting for a moment as she wisely gets her keister out of the street before taking a long look around for anything that might have bearing on the situation at hand.

Luc paces back and forth, eyes on the beaten girl. He looks torn between wanting to help her and knowing he'll only frighten her if he tries to get close to her. "Child, beat. Who hurt? Ask."

Eamon crouches down by Julie. "Julie, honey, we're gonna play a game, okay? Close your eyes real tight!" He looks around at the other garou. "Guys, can you gather around me? I need to shift and I don't want anyone to see."

Owen follows Luc back out in a rush, having not yet drawn anything resembling a weapon but REALLY wanting to. He looks up and down the street.

Lyra falls back, sitting on the ground beside Julie, then removes her sweatshirt and begins tucking the child's arms into it. Her jaw is clenched tightly, and if she bites her lip any harder she might draw blood. She tugs on the corners of the sweatshirt once Julie's inside. It's a big, big fit. Lyra smiles at Julie. "Hey hon. Groob magic time, okay?"

Aubrey gives her head a light shake. Jogging past Seirian, she looks for those already begining to scout the building. Her eyes shift between the Rialto and the park.

Long distance to Tskilegwa: Yi wonders if she hung around the Rialto, shifted to lupus, and hunted for the kid's scent and mother's scent, if she'd find them.
Tskilegwa pages: Neither of their scents was there.
You paged Tskilegwa with 'And if Yi followed her way back towards the park (still in lupus), and uses the kid's scent doing a reverse trail?'.
Tskilegwa pages: Hard as hell to track in the city. Even in lupus. Across the park is no prob, but once it hits cement, it's only a matter of time before she loses it.
Long distance to Tskilegwa: Yi nods summore.

Ever-Grinning shifts down and sniffs at Julie again, then shifts back quickly. He gives Julie a kiss on the forehead. "You did great!" He stands and nods. "She's this way." He points north and heads back to the street, where his bike is parked.

Luc moves to follow Eamon, with Serf right behind him. "Spread," he warns anyone who bothers to follow. "Not close."

It's awhile yet before Yi returns from the Rialto, coming back to the park from a different direction. Her hair is a little more or less disheveled as she combs it back into place and rejoins the rest of the group. No questions asked, the Gnawer newmoon just grunts. But apparently the others know what's going on, so she takes their cues.

Owen keeps waits for a few moments before following anyone, as per Luc's order. He takes the time to do a few, not-so-obvious things.

Lyra sighs worriedly, gazing down at Julie with wide green eyes. "So little butterfly, can you tell me how you got hurt?" She points at the hurt eye, but does not touch it. "You didn't fall down and hurt yourself did you?"

Julie, nearly sobbed out completely by now, though still highly emotional, bawls at Lyra. "Mom... Mommy hit... hit me."

Ever-Grinning heads down to where his bike is parked, then sees that people are following, so he decides to hoof it instead.

Seirian blows a stray curl out of her face and somewhat leisurely walks in the direction Eamon pointed. Picking up the pace a little after a bit, she keeps her path offset from the others enough to adhere to Luc's warning.

Luc's teeth grind silently as he follows after Ever-Grinning. His fists clench and then relax.

Eamon continues north, following Glissa's trail at a brisk walking pace.

Yi hangs around Lyra and the child a little more for a moment, letting the others go ahead first. "Her ma hit her?" The Gnawer ragabash gets confused a little more, mental image of Glissa hitting her child hard enough for a black eye and a torn shirt? Something doesn't sit right with Yi. Still, the ragabash stays with Julie and Lyra a bit longer, letting the others go ahead for a little bit.

Serf growls, deep in his throat, as he hears more discussion of the events that have occurred.

"She...she did?" stammers Lyra, fingers of balled fists splaying out in shock. "Golly, oh Julie, maybe it was an accident. Your mum wasn't thinking straight, she's sick, remember? If she was well she'd never ever hurt you. Honest to goodness." Lyra zips the sweatshirt up halfway, so that it's not falling off the girl's shoulders. "And when your mum is all better, she'll be very sorry she did that. And- we can throw a party for her, a Mommy got well party!" Lyra slaps her hands on her knees, still smiling at the child. "Hey, you wouldn't know where your brother is hiding out, hm?"

The trail continues for a block and keeps going. Julie cries quiet now, nearly spent completely. "Mommy... sick. Help mommy," she pleads, even as the garou are moving north.

Eamon picks up the pace a bit, following the trail at a quick jog.

Owen follows a short distance behind the rest, but he is indeed in pursuit.

The group of Garou that are heading on the trail end up travelling a good four miles on foot before they end up, finally, and a bit tired, at Glissa's home in the northern part of the city.

Yi lags behind. The ragabash is with Lyra and Julie, just lending perhaps a silent comfort. At least the meadow is an open area, where they can't get snuck up on. "Why don't you take her to get something to eat?" No, Yi doesn't really know what to do with a crying kid.

Scooping the child on her back, Lyra starts off at a slow walk, mumbling in and out of English and Chinese, and the girl sobs herself quietly into an unhappy sleep. As she leaves the park, Renee appears, motioning them on wordlessly. "There will be ice cream," Lyra promises, and the two Gnawers exit. Finis- or is it?

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.
Contents:
Eamon, Seirian, Owen, Tskilegwa, Luc, Andrea, Glissa

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.

Glissa pages to the room: 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.

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.

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.

Long distance to the room: Yi asks a quick question: What part of town is this?
Glissa pages to the room: Osprey Drive somewheres. Weird little one story house.
Tskilegwa pages: North.
Long distance to Tskilegwa: Yi nods. Was asking the streets. Get a feel of Outside the house.

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.

Glissa pages: Note. Fire escape ladder is not attached. It is being used as a weapon by the crinos at the side of the house. :) Eamon's in the alley with him.

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.

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.

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.

From afar, 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. :)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Glissa pages to the room: 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.

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.~

Keys are tossed on the sofa by the laptop, along with the purse. Check.

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.

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 sliced through.

Wildfire pages to the room: I just meant to break it, but whatever works.
Glissa pages to the room: Bathroom yes. Big mirror.
Glissa pages to the room: There's nothing much inside her skin except fungus. :)

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.

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.