2016.11.04: Second Floor Fomor
| Second Floor Fomor | |
|---|---|
| Further exploration of the abandoned mall finds swords and another fight. | |
| IC Date | Friday, November 4th, 2016 — Evening |
| Storyteller | Sid |
| Players | Felix/Lets-Them-Eat-Cake, Jasen, and Sid/Dog Robber. |
| Location | The Dead Mall. |
| Plot | Dead Mall Discovery |
| Spheres | Shifter (Gaian Garou) |
The trio meet back at the abandoned mall. Sidney driving the bus, because Jasen's gone and injured his hand. With them is Baron, the raggedy grey mongrel, who's likely here to help scout the Umbra more than fight. He'd ridden with the kinfolk on the bus bench, obviously taking the window seat, and sticking his snout out of the semi-opening window.
Jasen brought a wrench today! Granted, the +equipreq hasn't been processed yet, but it's a 10 inch crescent wrench, not excalibur, so. And besides, he can't punch things very well and he's down to his last spare cane. Of course, there is that bandaged up hand he's got, so he can use cane OR wrench, not both. Gah, fuck you, world! FUCK YOU, GARLIC BREAD!
Well, maybe Excalibur next time. Felix has not brought it for Jasen, but he HAS brought what he declares an 'emergency cane' to live in the bus. It's got absolutely no style (that, he explains, is why it's an EMERGENCY cane), but it IS made of metal, with a foam handle and rubber tip, so it ought to survive at least a fight or two if it has to... right? That goes along with the greeting, and just before, "Fuck'd you do to your hand? An' before you answer, if you tell me you fell down some stairs again I'm gonna push you down the next set." There's only about half a smile with the 'warning', but enough to keep it from being serious.
Sid actually gets kinda freaked out. He doesn't fox, but he does cringe, and get protectively in front of Jasen. "C'mon, man!" Did he miss that smile? He probably doesn't actually think Felix will toss anyone down stairs, but his nervous instincts get the better of him.
Jasen beams at the top of Sid's head when the metis gets all up in the guard dog business there, and leans to bonk him lightly with his, "He won't really push me down the stairs, promise." He gives Felix a smile and says, "I cooked food wrong so it cooked me back, pretty much. Then I got my hand stuck in the mustard jar and Sid had to use like all my lube stash to get the fuckin thing off me. On the other hand, I apparently rock at cooking goat and goulash."
Felix blinks at Sid's reaction, then sort of half-grins, spreading his hands and turning them palm-open toward the Theurge. "I'm jokin'," he assures, "I ain't actually gonna do nothin' to hurt him, he knows that." He makes a small gesture Jasenward at the confirmation there, and the actual explanation gets a laugh around the mustard jar portion. "God damn. Least you HAD lube to use on it, I guess. You seriously cooked goat? Ain't ever tried that. Was it from the place you mentioned with the 'gator meat?" He reaches over and aims to give Sid an extremely light punch in the arm, along with and aside of, "Good work keepin' him runnin', man."
A little bit of lube goes a long way. Not that Sid knows. He just protests, "I didn't use all of it!" He hadn't known it was goat, either, but he says, "He cooked really good. I haven't had a home made dinner in a while. I mean, except the BBQ, but this was indoors, like Thanksgiving or something, and I've never really had anything like that." Then he's punched, and it's so light, he doesn't even fall over. He looks away, almost embarrassed. "Yeah, of course," are his mumbled words.
Meanwhile, Baron goes padding to the door.
"No, I traded one of the neighbors the last of my Oxy tabs for it." Jasen tells Felix, "Probably poached or something. Still haven't geared up to alligator yet, but ONE DAY, oh yes. One day we will eat finely prepared American Murder Log, and it will be delicious." He puts an arm about the shorter Sidney's shoulders, which his throbbing hand appreciates, and starts gimping his way towards the mall after Baron. "Oh fuckaroo, I completely forgot about holidays. We should, like... Do that. I haven't done thanksgiving in a serious long time. We should all get gloriously fat, and turkey is cheap as fuck this time of year."
The mumble gets a proper grin at Sid, and Felix nods at Jasen's answer, turning to start strolling after Baron toward the mall as well. "You got any left? I wanna try it," he says, "An' yeah, we definitely oughta do a Thanksgiving thing. Eat EVERYTHIN'. Feed everyone we can manage." He considers. "I'll start gatherin' up canned an' boxed shit. Lilah'll prolly know what we'd need." He glances to the others, with a hint of excitement, and reaches out to open the door.
Sid does not go on ahead. He actually lets Felix go first, apparently letting the Galliard take charge, though he does keep in front of the kin, still in guard dog mode as far as Jasen's concerned. The mall inside is dark, but untouched since they last left it. The slugman corpse that Sidney had promised to remove is now a stain. A suspicious stain, but one that wouldn't attract so much attention before they properly move in, as a human skin. It seems quiet. Baron does not seem at ease, but he doesn't seem to have picked up anything new on the ground floor, either.
It seems quiet! At least on this floor. There are no new foot prints in the filth and glass that litters the ground.
Jasen makes sure his shirt's tucked behind the wrench in his pocket so that it's easier to get ahold of in a pinch, and takes his arm off Sid once they get to the doors. It ain't safe in there, after all, gotta leave a guy where he can get all fuzzy and clawish when he needs! "Bitchin. Sid and I will handle finding a turkey and doing things to it." One of those things had better be cooking it! Once they're inside, though, he leaves off chatter about food though. "Should we work top to bottom?" he asks, "My experience with this sort of thing is strictly D&D, so I don't think it counts."
"More food we can get hold of the better," Felix says, and looks sidelong to Jasen, "Try not to do anythin' to the turkey that ends up needin' lube, though." He shifts up to Glabro once they're inside, stretching, and takes a good look around. "Lookin' okay," he decides, and glances where the slugman used to be, "Sid, you came back an' got that?" He glances toward the door he unlocked last time, then the basement. "Well, basement's a lake, so prolly we don't wanna start there. We gone over this whole level yet? I'm thinkin' maybe start here, then go up, so if anyone gotta come back down in a hurry we ain't walkin' into nothin'." Theoretically.
Sid's not keen to go down into the lake, but he does say, "I found a bunch of Halloween glowsticks in the trash. I'm gonna throw them in the water, once we get down there. That's what divers do, right?" He gives a nod to the slug corpse question, though. "Burned it." His nose wrinkles, apparently not the greatest task, but he's used to the dirtywork. "I looked over this floor, but I don't know how much Justin searched up there." He heads for the broken escalator.
Jasen nods his head to Felix, but then it turns out the first is dealt with, so they can go straight to level 2. That's one level closer to the cake! "That's really brilliant." he tells Sid for his glow sticks, and follows along at a limping speed, "While I can't comment on Justin's searching job, I can confidently say I didn't search a god damned thing."
The Cake was with you the whole time! "Oh, nice thinkin'," Felix says to Sid as well, re: glowsticks, "...an' nice thing-burnin', too. If you handled this floor already then yeah, let's go up an' check that out first. Then maybe we run through here real quick an' make sure no one moved in, an' THEN we attack Lake Basement." He starts toward the frozen escalators as well, while he talks, keeping half an eye on the others.
Sid stares at them, as the call him brilliant, and nice thinking. Then he's glancing from Baron to them, to Baron to them again, in a 'did you hear that?' sort of way. He gets an arm back around Jasen, as they head upstairs, just in case.
It's somewhat creepier upstairs, though, gloomier, even if it's night out. No moon, either, to light the way. Rows of shops are on either side of the walk, and they can see the vision pool off at the other side, downstairs. Mostly the shops are on the smaller side, but there's a large...perhaps it was a Sears here, as well.
The escalators probably seem just fine till Jasen goes putting his cursed ass on them. Fortunately, it doesn't collapse or anything, that'd be slightly too lethal! Hooray for curse perimeters! He accepts and returns the arm-around because he knows exactly how this stairs bullshit works, damn it. Fuck you, stairs! TWO canes for Mr. Flay today! "Hang on." he says at the top of the steps, releasing Sidney so he can search through his jacket, "I've got some shit from my ghost hunting days if you guys want." And hooray for Equipment, he produces a couple small maglights and a miner's light, which he keeps, cause it's hands free, and straps it on his head.
Felix looks about ready to step in if the escalators decide it's their turn to try to kill Jasen, but Sidney seems to have it covered, so by they time they're most of the way up he's gone slightly ahead, checking the immediate area for signs of threats. "Oh, nice!" he says, accepting one of the lights, though he doesn't immediately turn it on. "Thanks. Man, an' all I thought to bring special was me. You used to hunt ghosts? Like, Ghostbusters shit?"
The kinfolk and two Garou can feel spiderwebs brush their faces, as they make it to the top of the stairs, delicate silken strands that break as they move, though with Felix it's more of a vague 'was that actually--?' sort of feeling. Sidney's nose wrinkles, though, as when they're at the top, he shifts, unless the Galliard tells him otherwise. To his breed form, rather than Glabro. Not least because it's gross, but because he'd been -bitten- by a spider woman downstairs, and he's recalling that fact.
Jasen uses one hand to wiggle his miner light into place and the other to swipe at his face while sputtering and spitting as though he might have gotten webbing in his mouth. That comes out of spider butts, he's not okay with that! "Fuck I think I breathed spider web in!" he complains quietly while clicking on his light and very carefully NOT shining it into anyone's face, "I swear to god if I see a spider with a mana bar, I'm leaving and I'm coming back with a flame thrower."
Felix rubs a hand over his face, nose wrinkling, as he feels that light brush, and glances up with a furrowed brow. Jasen's remark settles his inner question -- yes, that is what he felt -- and he glances aside to see Sid change. "Seem to recall a suggestion last time that hittin' one of those's what got 'em comin'," he says, more quietly, though the kin's declaration gets a snicker. "Ain't the worst idea," he says. "Been practicin' your Mother's Tongue?" He starts shifting into Crinos as well.
Dog-Robber does recall, and shines his light, to try to see some of the webs. He'd just flail at them, but with Jasen's luck, he probably -would- hit him by accident. Then he goes stock still, listening, usually folded ears now pricked up to try to hear any little sound. But besides the eerily quiet mall settling, he doesn't hear much at all. Baron, meanwhile, sniffs along the floor, not concerned about webs but smells, and while he doesn't go far, he seems interested in a group of stores, pacing back and forth in front of them.
"Workin on it. Workin on it." Jasen says, making an uncertain face at the question, picking at his tongue like he's sure he's got webs on it, which he probably does not. He's not about to separate from the group, but he looks to the super freakin cool werewolves he's totally with and not about to be killed by (!! This is never going to get old) and says, "I think m'lord's found something." and points his light and cane towards Baron.
Lets-Them-Eat-Cake is indeed absolutely not about to kill Jasen! He listens for a moment, taking another look around and up toward the branches and skylights -- spiders have that annoying habit of dropping down out of nowhere, after all -- and then toward Baron's set of stores. ~Well,~ he says, ~let's go check it out,~ and starts, quietly, over to do so.
Dog-Robber keeps in front of Jasen, but behind Felix. He has to balance with it, but his tail is probably held about as low as it can be, without causing him issues. Baron sits when the trio come closer, apparently not going to go inside. There are three shops he's interested in, and the closer they get-- they can smell it, too. Rot. The stink of death, whatever was held in there, having gone off by now. The Theurge looks tense as wound spring. The first, second, or third doors? With their metal shutters down, it can't be seen what's inside. Just smelled.
"Will it be... Door number one! Door number two! Or... Door number three!" Jasen says in a quiet game show host's sort of voice. He holds up a hand with two fingers and says, "Pick number three m'lord!" He's in the back so he may as well play peanut gallery!
The smell wrinkles Cake's nose, and he eyes each shutter in turn. He opens his mouth to say something, but Jasen beats him to it, and he gives a strange Crinos snicker instead. ~Hmm,~ he replies, still fairly quiet, and makes a show of considering the options -- more than he actually is, which is a pretty good amount itself. His ears twitch to listen toward them, and he looks for any indications of what might lie within. A glance at Jasen for his suggestion and conflicting gesture, and he nods. ~Number one it is,~ he says, and unless something suggests a different door, that's the one he approaches, ready to see about lifting that shutter.
Dog-Robber sees Jasen holding up two fingers but saying three, and Lord Cake agreeing, but picking 1, and he gets so confused, muzzle pointing this way and that, as his David Bowie eyes dart to each one. The Galliard goes to door one, though, and the Theurge follows him, ready to help lift, even if it probably won't do much good, while Baron sits next to Jasen, nuzzling at his hand, as the two larger canines work.
Jasen says quietly for the choice in a fairly good Captain Picard voice, "Number One, I order you to take a number two." He might be thirty in real life, but he's still 14 in his mind. He struggles with his cane and belt a moment, shoving the cane through his belt to get it out of his way, which is rough going with just the one hand. Then out comes his wrench! Baron is scritched lovingly behind the ears while Jasen keeps his light aimed at the door.
Lets-Them-Eat-Cake's claws find perfectly good purchase to get ahold of the door, and he glances back to Jasen with another of those snickers at the remark. A look to Dog-Robber, as he gets in place to help if need be, and the Galliard's attention goes firmly onto the shops and their potential contents as the shutter gets a good forceful attempt at opening it up. Lift with the legs, not with the back!
The metis does not help for shit, weakling that he is, but Cake does not need it. That shutter is toast, and with a bit of a metallic whine, comes right up, exposing the store beyond. It's not quite empty, but the reek of rot doesn't overpower them, either, and there are shelves and counter space, and webbing. A lot of webbing, some of it holding small egg sacs from spiders. And the spiders themselves. These look mundane, though, rather than giant size and dangerous. No mana bars, yet. There's a glint of something along the far wall, on one of the shelves. Metallic, though half covered in webs.
"I think I did this level in a video game once..." Jasen says quietly, panning his light across the dark store slowly so that the wolves can have the benefit of his searchlight head. "It didn't go well for me. Then again, I suck at video games. He involuntarily shudders when he makes the mistake of imagining spiders getting down the back of his shirt. I don't care how manly you is, that shit ain't coo.
Lets-Them-Eat-Cake looks around the store, at all the webs and spiders, moving his view along with Jasen's light. ~Wait,~ he says, lifting a hand as the beam hits a certain, metallic point, ~What's that?~ He leans in a bit to try to look closer, then reconsiders the room, to see if it seems likely he could get very far without disturbing webs in the process. They're getting disturbed sooner or later, of course, but even if he's not wearing a shirt, spiders all down his back while trying to check the thing out isn't =ideal=.
They probably could get in there without making too big of a mess. Too big. Most of the spiders seemed to want to congregate around the walls, so if they were careful, they could probably get the shinies. Dog-Robber volunteers to slink in first, unless Cake stops him. Or maybe they'd go together. Jasen, unfortunately, probably wouldn't be very good at this task, but the Theurge isn't going to block him.
"I wish I'd thought to bring hair spray or something. I got a lighter..." Jasen mumbles while thinking of spiders, and then says, "Welp, I'm pretty sure that's treasure. Shiny shit in cobwebs during a dungeon crawl is always treasure. After which we'll be ambushed, and have to beat something to death with said treasure. Them's the rules." If he were wearing glasses right now, he'd push them up the bridge of his nose in a particularly nerdy way. He does not go first, fuck that, he's not a bitchin sweet werewolf. But he's a fantastic kinfolk follower, and as soon as his wussy housemate starts in, he's on the ball with gimping after him and Cakey McCaketown with his wrench at the ready to beat some spiders up.
It's probably not a downside right now that the two Garou are almost certainly among the Sept's least massive Crinos. Cake looks inclined to go get the Shiny Whatever, but with Dog-Robber's volunteering and Jasen's assessment of the narrative -- which, even if he's never been a roleplayer, the Galliard has to agree movies support -- he gives the Theurge a nod to make with the grabby and focuses instead on the rest of their surroundings, ready to defend the others if need be.
Dog-Robber looks to the genre savvy pair, he quite nimbly makes it through past the webs, and grabs the shinies. Hell, they're SWORDS. Hell, maybe they're even masterwork. Then he looks like he's going to bolt, because yes. There has to be an ambush, right? That stink of death can be smelled again, near the back, through the wall. It's likely door number 2 that contains whatever's rotting.
"Oh, snap. That's some ripeass shit." Jasen comments about the smell with a cough. "Holy fucking shit, are real or just props?" He reaches across to tap one of the swords with his wrench with a metallic ting. "Holy crap!" He looks delighted and tells Sid, "Way to go Sir Sidney, finding some mighty knightly swords!" He doesn't try and snake one of them, he's got a wrench, he's good.
Lets-Them-Eat-Cake's nose wrinkles at the smell again, and he eyes the swords with unmasked surprised. ~No shit, actual swords? Fuck're THOSE doin' here?~ he asks, and reaches out to tap at one as well, though he uses the edge of a claw. The place gets another look around, as though it might decide to explain. And then he starts out again, heading right to door 2, leaning as if to start opening the shutter -- which, once they're all ready, is what he'll try to do unless an argument is made to check out 3 first, or to wait.
Dog-Robber looks freaked out for some reason, perhaps the spider webs, perhaps because he's Dog-Robber, but he leaves the swords by the stairs, away from Jasen, rather than taking a good look at them, and goes back to check out door 2. ~You guys know better than me,~ of the swords. The fact that there was NOT an ambush worries him. He grips the shutter and PULLS, though like last time, he isn't much of a help.
Jasen looks around as well, turning his head slowly to and fro before making a snort of a laugh, "Was this an Excalibur? Cause if so, that's funny as fuck is what that is." He pets Sid briefly on his way by, poor freaked out metis keepin the sharp things away. "Careful, ya'lls..." he says while training his light in a not blinding his bros position to light up the room when the door is pulled open by the power of kool-aid.
And the shutter goes up again, Felix not even showing much effort, which makes Sid look at him with a mix of envy and admiration. It doesn't last, though, because that's when the SMELL HITS. This place is full of webs, and the stink of death. They can immediately see several dead creatures in coccoons, drained dry. This is why the mall was so lacking in rats.
Lets-Them-Eat-Cake gives a small laugh at the Excalibur remark, but that smell is horrible -- and only worse with Crinos senses. He makes a sound of dismay and disgust, the back of one hand pressing against his nose, and looks the revealed room over. ~Aw, fuck,~ he says a bit more nasally than usual, looking at the drained rat corpses. ~...when we get this place cleaned out we should dedicate this one to Rat, or somethin'.~
Sweet meecery mercy, nooooooo! Jasen looks positively horrified at the store's interior, REALLY wishing he had thought to bring hairspray with him! But he's also glad he didn't because burning down your new home is never a good thing. He breathes out some quiet exclamation in a foreign language, and tries to keep steady while using his light to pan over the space, free hand over his mouth and nose to avoid being physically ill. Tribal totem or not, he loves him some rats, and this hits him in a bad way. He nods wordlessly at what Felix says, not really getting ALL of it, but enough to get the gist.
At least they're not all rats. Stray cats, small dogs, and others are in there, too, though none of the fish from the basement. And, at the back, a humanoid. It reeks like the rest, as it gets to its feet, a male figure, armored in leather, knife in hand. Trembling Dog-Robber just stares at it. And tries to shift. He doesn't seem to care to go into the store, though, unless Felix was going to lead the charge.
Humanoid, alive, stinking, armed -- and not reacting to a pair of Crinos? Well, that probably needs killin', and Cake's stance reflects that -- his balance shifts more evenly between his feet, and there's a certain dangerous tension in his form -- but he doesn't immediately leap. "Who you?" he grinds out in English, the difficulty of forming it with his Crinos anatomy leaving his voice by far the harshest the others will have heard it. Even so, there's something about it that calls for attention and consideration. "An' what?"
Jasen raises his wrench with an eloquent "Fucknozzle!" when a freakin DUDE appears in there! He's quite honestly scared shitless himself, but he bros up and tries to keep Dog-Robber from going all jello in the knees or anything by putting what he hopes seems like a confident and reassuring hand on his fuzzy back. Totally confident! It's not even super shaky or nuthin! (It totally is) He's not used to this, his foes are usually more dead and less fleshy and gross and definitely way less armed.
Dog-Robber tries not to go jello-mode, too, but that's some high hopes. He inches closer to Jasen, though, going to guard him, no matter how jello-y he is. Even Baron's growling.
The repulsive, reeking man seems about as surprised when the wolfman speaks as they likely are to hear him speak. "Unlucky, on both counts! The hell do you want?" He's not moving forward anymore, but he seems like he's going to listen. However, neither is his knife put away.
~Can you an' Baron tell anythin' 'bout him, like is he Wyrm?~ Cake asks the Theurge, keeping his eyes on the man. Probably should've asked Sid what kind of Gifts he has earlier. Welp! He IS fairly used to this... broadly... but usually someone else is calling the shots. "Here," he replies to the man, and there's a flicker of frustration before he focuses harder on making human-intelligible words. "Who an' what are you?" he manages to ask again, and "How long you been here? What do YOU want?" One more question occurs to him, with a gesture to the cocooned critters: "Did you do this?" Never know.
Jasen's horror and fear remain, but oh yeah, cocooned critters. Mother fucker! He doesn't *do* anything, he stays right where he is and as he is, but he adjusts his grip on his wrench so he can wang a sombitch in the head with it if the answer is yep, which he's pretty sure it is. Sadly, he's got jack and shit and wouldn't know a fomori from a hole in the wall, so who knows!
~He reeks,~ is the Theurge's prognosis, though he clearly means spiritually. His actual scent is quite obvious, and it's terrible. Baron won't stop growling.
"Anton. I've been here...months." He sounds uncertain. "Supposed to be guarding this room. I don't know what the bitch did to me." As for the coccoons, "Finished off some of them. Starving." There's an anger to him as he says that, and he takes a step back, then another.
Lets-Them-Eat-Cake flicks a quick glance toward the back of the room, in case there's anything there for him to be going for -- a door, different weaponry, whatever -- and back to him again. ~You reckon fomor?~ he asks Dog-Robber, ~Or somethin' cleansable?~ The Theurge will probably get the impression he's expecting the former, though in the meantime he forces out a bit more English: "Guard from what? What is bitch?" There's a slight shift in his weight, just a hint of further readiness.
~Yes. I think he's a fomor. Maybe?~ Dog-Robber clearly does not have Scent of the True Form. But he seems pessimistic that the thing can be cleansed, just as Cake is. ~He's reeking of Wyrm.~ His tail is wagging, stiff and low, and it's not a very friendly or happy gesture. He's also breathing through his mouth, and trying not go gag.
Anton, meanwhile, tells the trio, "The spider bitch. I'm supposed to be guarding this place from intruders." He doesn't like the pair talking to each other, and he cannot understand, however. "Listen, I don't think I can take three of you out." He glance to Jasen, "Well, maybe that one. But I don't want to. I don't want to die for /her/, either. Let me go, and you'll never see me again." There is a door, behind him, and he takes another step back toward it, goes to lower the knife.
The nod Cake gives to Dog-Robber's reply is barely perceptible, and his stance isn't looking very good-dog either. He goes for one more word, putting extra effort into it to try to lend it a sense of something -- regret, apology?. "Can't," is what comes out, and even as it does, he's leaping for the man, a blur of inhuman speed and claws.
Dog-Robber leaps into the fray after Felix, following his lead. Which of course leads them straight into that sticky cobweb room, but it's no problem whatsoever for Lord Cake. In fact, it doesn't even make the galliard pause, as he attacks Anton. Even the Theurge manages to make it through, and they both attack their target, together, Cake's claws and Dog's fangs. The Metis manages to injure him, but just barely, while the homid takes a good slash out of the likely fomor, dark blood spilling from him.
Anton goes to heave on Cake, a hazardous breath of acid, and probably whatever he was eating. You know, because the Cake needs some icing! However, the Galliard isn't having any of that noise, and manages to dodge out of the way, in an impressive show of dexterity, at close quarters. The acid hits the floor, and begins melting through the webbing there.
Dog-Robber again tries to bite, like a proper dog, but his teeth are indeed as vicious as his first name would suggest and take another small chunk from Anton's repulsive flesh. However, it's not until the rage kicks in that the Theurge really sinks his teeth down, nearly tearing Anton's arm from the socket. It's mangled, and the very, very likely fomor would be calling uncle if he had any hope that they'd listen. But they will not.
Sadly, Jasen fares less well, and gets stuck in the webbing for the moment.
Jasen uses his readied action to flail helplessly!
Dog-Robber sees who Anton is looking at as the very likely fomor goes to ready his attack. And it's malicious. He did mention he thought he could take Jasen out, and this time, he tries to, mainly to spite the two Garou, but also simply to hurt something. But Dog-Robber, who was tasked with keeping Jasen safe isn't having it, either, and he tries to get between the pair. He doesn't entirely manage this, though, and while the brunt of the acid lands on his fur, some still spills onto the kinfolk who, despite his flailing, can't dodge out of the way. It burns them both, and his canine whine is audible.
Cake is having a better time of it, if only because he's still unhurt. And his aim at Anton is -great-, right at his neck, straight to the jugular. Had it been more forceful, it would have cut his throat, perhaps taken his head off. Unfortunately, there's so little force behind it, perhaps because of the webbing, that Anton barely gets a whelt. The look in his milky eyes might be sympathetic.
Anton's in a nasty minded state, and he does, indeed, go after Dog-Robber, trying to melt the metis into nothing. His attack hits, too, melting more fur from the Garou, the grosteque scent of burning flesh in the air. There are holes in his coat, and it keeps burning, till some of the bone is visible.
But the Theurge isn't out of the game, and despite his injuries, intends to make some, snaping at the fomor (yes, he's a fomor), and taking off another bit of flesh, before an INCOMING WRENCH hits him in the head, bruising and dazing the fomor!
That leaves Cake to finish him off, and he does, the claws catching him square this time, and there's no sympathy, sarcastic or not, left in Anton's eyes, as his head is taken from his shoulders.
When he sees it's done, Dog-Robber just collapses into a pile of webbing, something crunching underneath him, that he hopes might've been eggs. He's still whimpering, and doesn't want to look down at his injuries.
Lets-Them-Eat-Cake shakes his hand to get some of the blood off his claws, with a look down at the dead fomor -- just to be sure -- and then one around, for anything else that might be incoming. And then, he checks on the others. ~Shit,~ he says, looking at the damage the acid's done to Dog-Robber, ~That ain't lookin' great. We need to find you a healer?~ Jasen's state doesn't make him look thrilled either, and he picks up the wrench to bring it back to the kin.
Jasen half tears part of his shirt off, which isn't difficult with the burning that's happening there, and yelps quite a lot while using it to try to get bile off of himself. This works less well than he'd like, but having a free hand definitely helps! With the melee suddenly over and the volume taking a nose dive, he looks up at the sounds of an injured mutt collapsing and whimpering. "Noooononono!" He limps quickly over to Dog-Robber and "Do that thing you do, be in a different skin! That'll fix you, right?" The wrench is forgotten about, he looks from Sid to Felix for confirmation while worriedly petting his favorite metis's ears, head and under-jaw. He is quite suitably freaked the fuck out, I mean he's seen someone get melted before and that wasn't awesome when it happened, they turned into a great huge ass hat that hits people with a cane!
Dog-Robber stays still, excpecting it to regen. It does not. By the time he realises his skin's not knitting up, he starts to blubber, ~Get it off, get it off,~ looking at Jasen near deliriously, and shaking his head. The petting is the only thing keeping the scrawny mutt from totally freaking out.
~Fuck,~ Cake says, and stares at the Theurge for a breath before leaning down and trying to scoop him up, careful of the wounds as he can manage. "Water," he forces out, so Jasen won't have to try to translate, "Down." If he can get Sid lifted, he tries to carry him out and to the stairs, and further toward the pools of water on the first floor.
Jasen totally isn't getting all teary eyed, nodding rapidly and making sure he isn't impending Felix's ability to scoop a guy. "Go, faster!" he commands imperiously and points the way. He'd love to be fast, but he's not, so following takes him a minute. He IS kinda careful about the steps though, and then flees the mall! But no, he's not abandoning anyone, just going for the first aid kit in the van. Of course he has one!
Dog-Robber helps, trying to get himself up. Fortunately, he's not very heavy, and a lot of the cobweb has been melted away with acid, so it's not as hard to walk now as it was. They can get him out onto the walkway, and toward the frozen escalator. He's forgotten all about trying to look cool, which is a bad sign, just whimpers, eyes unfocused.
Lets-Them-Eat-Cake can carry an awful lot of weight in this form, which can only help. He moves as fast as he thinks he can while not ending up with the Theurge hurt any worse than he already is -- to the walkway, to the escalator, to the nearest of those pools where the basement's water has seeped up through the cracks. Once there, he gets Dog-Robber seated as best he can, and scoops up a double-handful of the water, intending to pour it over the acid-burnt flesh to try to rinse it off -- and to see whether it helps.
Jasen getting a hold of the first aid kit doesn't take but a minute, and then he's gimping his way as fast as he can down litter strewn halls. Not exactly a run, but he does try!
Fortunately, the water helps, the acid leaving his fur (he probably SHOULD have changed into homid, but he was too scared to get into a smaller form), and Dog-Robber's whimpers and groans of pain turn to panting. It's the panting of a stressed tired dog, but he does seem better. Then he just goes very, very still again. Tries to rest a moment, so he can heal. And after a while, by the time Jasen's back with the kit, he does.
Once it seems clear the water's washing the acid away and not somehow making it worse, Cake scoops and pours more, quickly and repeatedly. While he does, he speaks quietly and more calmly than one might expect after the initial reaction, ~We'll get this off, no problem. You did good, man. Kept Jasen safe an' everything. Good work, Dog-Robber. If it don't start healin' after this, we'll get you to a healer. Won't be too long.~ Despite that, he's fairly clearly relieved to see that it DOES start to heal.
Dog-Robber's wagging is a bit less stressed now, told he's done -good-. "He's burned too," he eventually realises, remembering what prompted him to go ratshit on Anton. But he doesn't move. Doesn't really feel like it. "We going in the basement now?"
~Only a little,~ Cake assures, ~an' it looked like he got it off him with his shirt before it could do too much. We'll make sure, though.~ Which, of course, they do, when they can. Plenty of water if it needs cleaning off! And hey, first aid kit can't hurt. He glances toward the basement door, at the question, looking tempted, then shakes his head. ~Nah. Not yet. Not 'til y'all are rested an' shit. ...plus, we got door three up there, still, an' some other shops to check on. Maybe in a little we go back up, do that, then go have a drink an' a snack an' shit, hit the basement tomorrow,~ he suggests.
Hindsight is 20/20, and Dog-Robber whines that, ~We should have asked Anton what's down there.~ He seems a little relieved though to know that not only is Jasen okay, he's also not going to be doing anymore fighting or zombie negotiating, or any of it, right now. ~Let's get a drink.~ Of course, he says that, but makes no move whatsoever to get up.
~...yeah, we prolly should've,~ Cake allows, though it takes a moment. ~Didn't think of that one. Ran out of time, anyhow.~ He looks up toward the store Anton was in, takes another look around, and shifts down into Glabro again. "'course, he might not've known, if he was supposed to stay up there. You reckon the bitch he was talkin' about's the spider y'all already killed, or there's another?" He slips a hand into his inner jacket pocket while he talks, and comes out with a flask. "...you might wanna be a li'l smaller for this," he notes, lifting it, and opens it to take a drink. Still, he offers it over even if Dog-Robber decides to stay in his breed form. "Ain't sure what to do 'bout those stores. Kill it with fire?"
~He did say that, didn't he?~ Sid recalls of how he was supoosed to guard that room. ~Sorry, I-- I just don't think good, sometimes. But I don't know. He was way scarier than she was.~ It's a good sign that he soon tries to back peddle. ~I mean, not that he was scary! We took him. We could take an army of him.~ As for the stores, he winces and leans back again. ~I wanna dig it all up, and burn it. Then cleanse the place. I don't know what to do with him, though.~
"Shit, me neither," Felix says, giving Sid a grin. If the Theurge doesn't want a drink, he'll just have another! The cap goes back on the flask, but he sets it on his leg rather than putting it entirely away. "I mean, ain't =dumb=, but I know I ain't in, like, HIS league," he adds, gesturing to where Jasen happens to be just slightly out of earshot for some reason at the moment. "Anyway, I reckon you think fine." He mostly ignores the back-peddling -- though there is a bit of a grin there -- and nods. "Yeah, we took him. If there's more we'll take 'em too. No problem. We did good. ...can we just... burn him too? With the other shit?"
Sid shifts down to homid, once his bone isn't showing. He's looking much better, and can continue to heal in his smaller form. Being metis has its perks. Not many, but this one, at least. That's when he reaches for the drink, fumbles with the cap, and downs some. Then downs some more. "It'll-- It'll take a really big fire. And it smells. I mean we can chop him up." By which he means 'I'll chop him up,' but he doesn't seem keen to do so. "Even if his head's already off." Then he's sneaking a glance Jasen-ward, and agreeing, "He's a fucking genius," in a whisper.
It's actually fairly decent whiskey! Always endeavour to be around bars right before they get blown up, that's the moral of THAT story. "...well, we got those swords," Felix says, glancing toward the escalators, "An' what the fuck were swords doin' in there anyhow? Ain't like you get a lot of call for 'em in your average mall. Claws'd prolly be easier, though. Maybe we cut him up, get a big ass heavy duty trash bag, haul 'im out somewhere no one's gonna notice the smoke..." Speaking of smoke, he pulls an Altoids tin from his pocket; it proves to contain cigarettes and a lighter. He offers the Metis one of the former, while it's open, and grins at the whisper. "Ain't he?" he replies, not whispering, but lowering his voice, "First time I met him -- well, long story, but he worked out how to poison gas the cabin we were in with kitchen shit."
Sid declines the cig, though he takes another drink of the whiskey. "We should ask Jasen," he says of the swords, but then looks up, into Felix's eyes. "You didn't feel that? Or maybe it was 'cause I touched them. They were pulling at me, like a snare spirit or something." Felix had not noticed this, he and Jasen too strong willed in that moment to have struggled at all with the trap. "But if that was her enchanted shit, why was it in the room without a guard? Unless the slug man Justin killed was the guard for that room." It ties his brain in knots, so he quits thinking about it, starts to grin a little. "Man, Jasen's so cool. And you, too."
Felix shakes his head. "Maybe 'cause you touched 'em," he agrees, "Pullin' at you how? Like to use 'em? An' that's a damn good question. I mean, could be the slug guy was guardin' it, but it was all closed up..." He takes a drag, and reaches over to reclaim the flask, at least temporarily. "If they were affectin' you... could be they're a trap?" This is an interesting possibility. He takes a drink, and Sid's last remarks get a pleased grin. "Ain't half bad yourself," he says. "Y'all are gettin' along real well, seems like. 's nice."
Sid shrugs, but it makes him wince. "I don't know what they wanted. But something. I don't want to touch them again, till we know." Which was largely why he'd just kinda dumped them up on top the stairs. He tries to grin through the wince, though, when he's called not half bad. "Yeah, this place is great." If he meant he and Jasen, he seems pretty oblivious. "I wanna get out of -this- place, though. It's freaking Baron out." Yeah. -Baron.-
Sure, Baron. That's the ticket. "Meant you an' Jasen," Felix clarifies, the grin still in place, and takes one more pull off the flask before tilting it Sidward in offering again. "But yeah, this place ain't half bad neither. Plan was just to be here 'til we had some decent cash again, but what with this," a gesture to the mall with his cigarette, "an' y'all an' stuff... I dunno. Might stay a while after all." Once the question of Sid's next drink is settled, he closes the flask and slips it back into his jacket, stretching. "Well, reckon we don't want Baron freakin' out none," he says, and gets to his feet, offering the Metis a hand up. "Guess we gotta find someone who knows shit 'bout enchanted swords an' drag 'em down here. Tomorrow, maybe."
Sid takes the flask happily. No, that whiskey was not half bad, either. "Glad you stayed this long," the metis admits, before grinning kinda stupidly. "Yeah, he's great. Heh. I didn't think he'd like me, when we met, but then he asked me to move in, and help him with that...stalker thing." Which gets him forgetting about Baron a moment, that when it's brought up again, "Baron? Oh, yeah, c'mon." He takes the hand, eager to leave, the dematerialised dog ready to follow them.
