2019.10.22 Tower Defense
| Tower Defense | |
|---|---|
| Alessio and Acacia rush to defend The Tower from a BSD attack | |
| IC Date | 22nd October, 2019 |
| IC Time | Morning |
| Players | Alessio, Acacia (also as ST) |
| Location | Prospect, CA |
| Prp/Tp | One-off short story |
| Spheres | Garou, Gaian, |
Colour Coordination:
- Blue for Alessio
- Red for Acacia
- Green for the BSD
Here at the corner of Harbor and D, where the beach bums wander, scouring through trash cans, hoping for just.. anything, really.. Acacia has things to do. Alessio, with the moon waning, is able to accompany her for some street work and also some credibility with some of the lower forms of life. She dresses just like she does every day and she grabs a huge bag. Most of the bag is filled with just wadded up newspaper, to give it bulk. Then she puts inside and ancient as hell Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox that looks like it's been beat to shit and she slings it over one shoulder. It weighs almost nothing. "Ready? It's Make Sure People Aren't Starving day. I do this a couple of times a month."
Alessio is outside. That means Alessio comes bearing arms. Lots of them. He has his jacket on. That means he has his Desert Eagles with him. He has these straps that go over his shoulders and his lower midsection. Its bulky, but it works. He certainly is large enough to hide them well. Then there is that gymbag he is carrying. Its a bit worn and town. It looks like it has a lot of bulk, but what it really has is a bunch of old bedcovers for padding. In the middle rests his sledgehammer along with two extra boxes of amunition for his guns. He glances around the area, taking a bit of a breath, "Yes. I am always ready."
Alessio is.... totally just carrying extra food. Right? "You're so sexy when you're armed," she says. She peeks into the bag, opens the lunch box. It's...empty? Obviously, they're going to go GET food, right? Sure. Acacia gives him a little wink and starts along her path. "Over this way is usually where I start. There's a little gang of homeless kids that somehow manage to evade the Law. They're good kids, just.. ya know.. hungry. Greg brings them food every day and in exchange, they make sure that the sidewalks are swept all along the block." Obviously just something so it isn't charity. No one sweeps sidewalks. That's stupid. She sets a pretty good pace as she walks along, her heels not bothering her in the least little bit. Past the edge of the mall, she starts to look around "Pierce? Taylor?"
It probably does not help that Alessio is with her. He's large and he looks like he might murder something for fun, "I've never been able to get close to smaller groups like that. They get too nervous around me. But if you can earn their trust, they are also a very good source of information." he notes. He glances around, to see if he can see anyone.
"I actually think they're kinfolk," she says quietly. "At least some of them. We tend to flock together, even if we don't know why." She looks around and pauses, peeking into an alley. "Peach? Sara?" There's a little skittering sound and a little kid. Like.. SUPER little. Like two years old, peeks his dirty little head out from behind a dumpster and Acacia raises a brow and suddenly, she is MOM. "Taylor, Raven and Aiden, you get your little asses out here RIGHT now. WHo's in charge of this baby?" She glances up at Alessio and moves over to the kid, who reaches up to Acacia. She scoops the little kid up, even hough he's dirty and smells AWFUL. "Hey there. You hungry, sweetums?" Oh, she looks pissed. THere's a little gaggle of kids slowly emerging from.. somewhere. Wherever. Coming out of the walls like roaches and rats. How appropriate.
Alessio continues to hang back just a little bit, his right arm holding the bag with the left resting at his side. It is simple, really. He's outside and on the streets. Streets that, in his mind, are nothing but a warzone. He's tense, for sure. Not, angry or afraid tense, but ready tense. You never know if someone will come at you. He turns his eyes to the kid that is found by Acacia, "Hm." regards the child a bit, "Thats not good. Way to young to run with this crew." he looks around at the other kids piling out from every which way.
"Yup." Acacia kisses the dirty little face and sets the baby on a dumpster. "Too young, huh? Aren't you?" She does a quick check over. Hands, feet, lift up the shirt a little, check the legs. Belly. "You okay? Hungry?" She even checks the kid's teeth, which pisses him off and she almost gets bitten. "Ow. Twerp. Okay. How about..." She reaches into her bag and there's the metallic sound of a lunchbox being opened and she pulls out an apple, a steaming hot hamburger, some veggie sticks. "Hey, we're hungry too," says the oldest with a little grunt. He can't be more than 10 or so. Acacia frowns at the boy. "I'll feed you. You know I will. Where'd this baby come from?" The little boy glances at Alessio and then sort of.. squares up.. like he'll totally fight him if he has to. Acacia tears the burger in half and hands part of it to the little kid, who just gobbles it down, then she grabs the other kid by the back of the neck, tugging him back and turning him toward her. "HE's not a cop. Not a social worker. Don't be a dick to people who haven't earned it." She leans down a little so she isn't towering over the boy. She jerks her head in that direction and the boy frowns. "His mama got shot and she can't watch him, so we're keeping an eye, but he's so little." Acacia peers up over the boy toward Alessio. The burger coming out of the bag is not even questioned by the kids. They're all just sort of waiting for theirs. They're not exactly up in Alessio's personal space, but only a couple of them are actually avoiding the area. They're WAY over there.
Alessio slowly lowers the bag he is carrying down to the ground, setting it on the tarmac slowly. He then crouches down, knees jutting out a bit which he uses to put his elbows upon. He watches the kids slowly, letting his eyes drift from person to person before they go to Acacia and the child, "Mother got shot, huh?" he wonders, "By whom?" he asks, eyes then going to Acacia, "I think the child needs a bath. And new clothing. And a checkup by a doctor."
The boy just turns his head and stares at Alessio. Acacia gives him a little push. "Answer Mister Aquila." THe boy shuffles a little, from one foot to the other. "Dunno who. But it's Shayla's baby. His name's Nate." Acacia turns back to the little one and smiles, giving him another bite of burger. "Wanna go get a bath? Huh?" THe little boy shakes his head while he's devouring food. "Where's Shayla then?" THe little kid looks over his shoulder at Acacia but doesn't answer. The little kids are starting to zoom in on Acacia and she reaches into her bag and pulls out...
... a slice of pizza. Then several more slices of pizza, and starts handing them out. "She's in the Tower," says a dirty little redheaded girl.
Alessio remains crouched like that, as if he was trying to make less of a tall impression on the wee kids before them. And around them. A nod is given to this, "Shayla." he looks to Acacia, "The Tower?" he wonders, eyes going to the kids, "What Tower would that be then?" he wonders, "And who was it that shot her? Did you all just hear about it or did anyone here see it?" he asks.
"I seen it," says that little girl and the boy glares at her. The rest of them come to collect their pizza and then sort of wander off. Acacia nods, handing her her pizza and then reaches back in again and pulls out a slice of cheesecake, handing it over to the girl, who just lights up. She feeds them ALL, but if you're helpful, you get an extra treat. "Shayla was in there talkin' to Doc and this big guy comes in and tells Shayla to come with him, but she says she cain't cause she got the baby and then he grabbed lil Nate and she grabbed him back and he pulled out a gun and shot her. And then shot Doc."
Alessio nods once to this, "Sounds like something I should look into." he murmurs as he glances to Acacia, "Can't have such behaviour around a safehouse like that." he pauses, "Perhaps something I not only look into, but solve and make sure that.. it is known." he ponders a few moments, "I don't think it will be too difficult to find out who this guy was that shot the childs mother."
Oh wait. Food lady is giving out treats for information. The 'leader' is too stubborn to give in, but a little ginger boy who looks an awful lot like the girl steps forward, heading toward Acacia. "Someone said it was Darby, but I di'nt see it." Acacia pauses, brow arching slightly and she nods. "I thought they ran Darby out of town." She reaches into her bag and pulls out from that empty lunchbox and hands over a small plate with icecream and chocolate sauce and berries on it, and peanuts. There's even a spoon. The little kid shakes his head. "HE's real scary. Scarier than Mister Aqu----" He peers shyly over at Alessio. "Aqua... Mr. Aqua. Sir." Acacia, when all the attention goes to Alessio, her lips purse and she draws the BSD glyph in the air with a fingertip, turning back to check on the baby, who is eating a carrot like it was a nice, juicy steak
Alessio arches his eyebrow a bit to this, "I see." he says, "Well, that certainly changes things." he says, "Not necessarily the situation we want to be well known once taken care of." he ponders, "This Darby.. though. Someone we have to find. Someone I have to find." he looks to the child, "But you are right, I am scary." he agrees with her, "For all the reasons this Darby will find out about."
The little baby finishes his carrot and then reaches out to Acacia, who takes him again, then puts him on her hip like he belongs there. She has no desire for children of her own - probably ever - but she's good with them. "Alright, Troops. Everyone gets hosed down and I'll go get some canned stuff for you guys a little later and then we'll make a tower run. I want all of you to go back there right now, and I want you to get some clean clothes. Don't say anything. Just tell the kids that Food Lady's giving showers and lunch today, okay?" She gives the baby a little squeeze. "BUt you first, oh my god." She looks at Alessio and some of that casual humor falls out of her face. She starts to say something, then another kid comes BOLTING into the alley, almost bumping into Alessio, and runs straight to Acacia. He's out of breath, panting, eyes big and wide. "Mama said find a 'dult. But I couldn't an' Greg said you were fee---" Acacia interrupts. "What's wrong, Stevie?" He grabs her by the hand and pulls, tugs. He can't be more than seven or so. Acacia lets him pull her and she calls out to the kids. "Nope. Stay here." THe boy says, "Mama said that guy who shooted Shayla is walkin' around the Tower, but cain't get in." Acacia looks to Alessio and hands the baby off to Peach. "No one goes near the tower until I say so." No one argues with food lady.
Alessio slowly begins to push himself to his feet to this, grabbing the gym bag next to him. His eyes goes to Acacia to this, "Well, I think the rest of this little outing has been thoroughly dictated for me." he looks up into the sky then down the street, "Can't have a hostile wandering around like that. He has to go." he eyes the kids, "You listen to her. Or I will come back and look even more angry, you all hear me?" he then eyes Acacia again, "Time to move."
Acacia is already moving. THe kids know better, and ALessio IS scary, so they all nod. Acacia grabs a few things at random from the bag, including a diaper and a big bag of wet wipes. "Get him cleaned up. You guys wash up a little. DO NOT go back to the tower." This literally takes seconds. The food thigns are grabbed in haste, so it's an apple, a candy bar, a few bags of still hot popcorn. The diaper and wipes, though, those are chosen a little more carefully and Acacia reaches up with the back of her hand to wipe a little blood from her nose. "Let's go." She pulls out a wipe and dabs her face, wrecking her makeup, and then falls in line at Alessio's side.
Alessio was already moving while she was preparing the last bit of things, but as he is walking she can easily catch up with him. Once she is by his side, though, he begins to job at a brisk pace, "Tell me about this Darby." he says, as they move, "What is known about him? I saw the mark you made." he does not have to get battle ready. All his gear is already battle ready. He's just in seek and destroy mode now.
"I think he's a BSD. There's Rage there, and he only has one eye. He wears an eyepatch, but I've seen him without it and there's not an eye there. Like never has been. Makes me think he's maybe Metis." She keeps her voice quiet, talking as they move, like she's reading from a case file. "I could be absolutely wrong, but I don't think so. He doesn't come through much, but when he does, he usually rapes a few women, drags a couple off with him if he likes them. When he's around, no one goes near him. He's SUPPOSED to be Shayla's baby's father. I only met him twice and it wasn't until the second time that I got close enough to notice the Rage, then he disappeared. He's huge. Twice your size, physically. And he walks with a limp."
"Size does not matter. It is how he uses that size that matters." Alessio replies to this, "If he feels like he has Rage, then he most likely does. Which means that he is most likely fullblood. We operate out of that information. If he is something else, we will go in as if he was fullblood. If that means overkill, then it means overkill." he replies to this, "I will not barter with him, I will not talk to him. When I see him, I will get as close as I can without him seeing me and then I will open up." laying out the plan of attack.
Acacia nods. "Just a description. I've seen roo half your size take down an entire pack." She nods, reaching into her pocket to put on her bracelet. The one that makes her less noticeable. Long strides, heels. Power walk. She's got it. She keeps up with him easily. "That's always the plan. You don't barter wih people who hurt other people just for funzies." She rounds the corner to the block and squints, shaking her head. "Umbra's not good here. It's usually fine, but not today."
Alessio shakes his head to this, "No, no Umbra." he says, "I have a helmet in the bag. Once we get close enough, I will put that on." he says; yep, he also carries a motorcycle helmet because facial recognition is a thing, "This is a kill. Nothing less. He can not be allowed to be wounded and escape." he pauses, "If he is a Metis and I kill him, I will drag him into the nearest sewerentrance I can find. Then we go from there." Now, as they are running.. actually moving like they are.. something happens to the man next to her. He .. grows. Its not easy to spot due to the constant brisk motion. But its there. He gets a bit larger. He gets stronger. That would be the fair glabro that he focuses himself into.
"There's a sewer entrance a little further back in the alley. We DO have kinfolk in there. THey will help as soon as they realize what's going on." She notices the shift, but doesn't comment. Now is not the time. "I've got eyes everywhere, to both see and to prevent others from seeing" As they get closer, there's a scuffle inside and a few people are hurrying out. The place has a lot of busted windows, so seeing in isn't that hard if you're looking. One of the few remaining windows gets busted and a chair comes flying out behind it, catching on the window sill and flip flopping its way down to explode against the ground. Acacia knows what she WOULD do but she defers to Alessio, putting a little more distance between him and her so she isn't in the way.
Alessio nods once to this, "Well, Acacia.." he moves his hand into his jacket, pulling out a Desert Eagle. This one he passes over to her, "Here. In case I do not come out and that .. thing does, you unload on it." he tells her. Coming up on the place, he suddenly dives into the nearest ally or housecorner to stop. He crouches down, opening the bag that he drops on to the ground. He fishes out a bikehelmet with a reflective visor and shoves that on to his head to then pull out the sledgehammer. The hammer comes with a strap fastened at the end and near the head of it. So he can hang it over a shoulder, "Lets hope the cops will remain notoriously bad with answering calls of gunshots in these aeras."
Acacia takes the gun, holding it with at least some familiarity. Not like what he shows, of course. " She steps into the alley, but doesn't go any further. She does pull out her phone though and sends a group text. Everyone will be on alert. She drops the phone into her pocket and stashes her bag behind a dumpster. "Cleanup crew won't take more than 15 minutes to get here." She straightens, sliding out of her heels - she might regret that when she gets to broken glass, but it's better this way. "Cops don't come down here. Not unless they have to."
"One thing I learned about guns. They always attract Cops. Sooner or later." Alessio replies to this, "Well.." he slings the sledge around his shoulder, then lifts the gun up to knock it against his helmet, "Don't think I have to do the sewer entrance. I will just go through the front door." he turns his head to her, "I see you later." he then leaves the corner and begins to quick-jaunt it to the building they call Tower.
Acacia nods. "Put on your bracelet. It will get you in the door until you actually DO something." But that's all the advice that she has. She's alerted her people and now she comes along as far as the front 'door' to make sure people get out.
Inside, the place has been trashed. There's a couple of people bleeding, a few people cowering over in a corner, one girl with her throat ripped out, a toddler sprawled across her with its arm literally torn off. THere's blood on the walls that lead more or less upward. The downstairs is almost empty, second floor is getting that way. Third floor is noisy, with people screaming and crying and there is a roar and a gut-wrenching feeling that shit is about to get bad.
Surprise is the way to go here, unless this is just a really bad trap in which case he's going to be butt-hurt in the morning. Alessio does not care, though. This is a deadly threat that has to be stopped. In his mind, somewhere, he hopes that this creature does not know that this is a haven of the Bone Gnawers. That it is just a single enemy, insane and out of his mind. He unslings the sledgehammer to be held in his left hand around the middle of the handle. The gun is held in the right. He then begins to move it, heading through the first area for the stairs. He will not be taking any elevators, even if they were working. He has to get to this threat fast, but not too fast. He still tries to be as light on his feet as he can.
Each stair creaks and groans and a couple are missing. But with all the noise upstairs, there's no real need to hide it. There is another roar of Rage and screams. Pleading, begging, a baby crying. Then there is a loud thud and there is no more screaming, just the baby wailing. <<SHUT UP!!!>> comes a crinos sort of scream and the crying of the baby gets louder, at the sort of pitch that should never come out of a human's mouth, let alone that of a child.
Alessio continues to hurry up the stairs, moving a bit faster now. The last thing this creature would expect, hopefully, is a crazy human in a bike helmet to charge a full on crinos. BSD may be smart like Garou, but they are also insane! The last couple of steps are taken three at the time as he sets up his mind for what to do the moment he sees the creature.
To say the door was ajar would be a misstatement. It's broken, hanging from one hinge at a drunken angle. There is a beast in there, fully 12 feet tall, with long, curling corns that give him another two feet or so, misshapen claws that jut out at several different angles, green, moldy-looking fangs, patchy brown fur splattered with blood. THere is a woman up against the wall, her shoulder against the floor, head tilted at an unnatural angle, one knee against her cheek. Her body is mostly upside down, but the other leg just droops down toward the floor at another unnatural angle. Her face has been ripped open and one eye is dangling from the optic nerve, rather cartoon like. The worst part is that when Alessio walks in the door, her other eye rolls up in his direction and one arm reaches out toward him. The big guy, however, is heading for the small child, who might be about four years old, clutching a blankie, her brilliant blue eyes wide with pure terror. The beast's attention is solely on that screaming child. <<SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT THE FUCK UP SHUT UP!>> he growls as he paces closer and closer
The beast draws his clawed hand back - one that's bigger than the child, and is about to strike when his attention twitches in ALessio's direction. Like he doesn't CARE.. but it makes him pause a second
The creature hesitates? Alessio does not. But then, what he does next is what he was always planning to do. There is that one Gift that Ahrouns of his capabilities learn that really puts them up on the scale of being .. elite. A true act of intimidation, utilising the art of intimidation and a show of brute strength. He lifts the sledgehammer up and rams the head down into the floor with a thundering sound, staring at the creature and letting out a loud growl which flows across the the air, striking the creature with some force.
The thing's gaze slides over to Alessio and he turns to square up. His misshapen snout curls up and he takes a step forward. As the hammer comes down though, cracking a couple of tiles and completely shattering another, the thing almost trips over himself, trying to back up. He raises his giant clawed hands little more, though not to attack - to protect!
Alessio is a good aim. I mean, he is a really good aim. The gun has laser sights, and even though they don't give him any great bonus, they point him to where he needs to shoot. In this case? The meatiest part of the beast. Hello creature, meet metal! The gun goes off. A loud *BANG* escapes it as the bullet zips to its target, lodging itself in the large Crinos' meat. A little blood, but not much. Enough to sting, though.
Alessio still has the creature cowed! He lets out a loud growl that echoes from within the helmet he wears as he suddenly swings his left arm back. He then brings it forward with a powerful thrust, ramming the head of it into the side of the large Crinos. There is a tiny sound from the impact, but it does not do more than that. But then, he IS fighting a Warform. They are notoriously hard to take down.
The thing takes a step back, then bumps into the wall. Shit. He waves a huge hand, deflecting the blow somewhat, but not enough. THere is a roar of defiance when that last one strikes, interrupting the growl with a little oof
Oh, and now it heats up. Alessio takes half a step back suddenly, as if he was trying to get away from the large Crinos. And in some way, he was. His hand comes up to lift the visor of his helmet with the handle of the gun while he at the same time lifts the sledgehammer up. He GROWLS out deeply, "Feel the fucking pain, you sick waste of space!" he yells out. His eyes crackles with electrical bursts. The head of his sledgehammer crackles with electrical bursts and then, *ZAAAP*. The bullet within his body erupts with a MASSIVE electrical jolt that eats its way through his flesh, zinging and melting away to the core.
Well, that was not at ALL expected! Nope! His hands are up to protect himself, but then.. that... happens. There is a yelp, not unlike a puppy getting his tail stepped on and then a deep growl as he launches himself at Alessio, claws out, maw open in surprise and rage.
"Still alive?" Alessio grunts out as the large creature suddenly loses it, "Well, aren't you a tough mother fucker." he growls, "Lets see if you can take one more." he lifts the hammer again, "Cockroach.. roast this motherfucker!" he calls out. Once more, his eyes and the sledgehammers head crackles with electrical energy as the bullet still lodged within the creature (and by now glowing hit) again explodes with a really powerful electrical jolt. The first time, it singed and burned flesh. This time? It melts the flesh right off the bone as the electricity heats up skin and melts flesh. The stench is sickening. But it does its job. As an encore, though, before the creature has time to fall to the ground, Alessio lifts his gun up and expends two rounds into its head *BLAM BLAM*, "Thats how you fall." he growls out.
That is a wonderful superhero statement. It deserves a big, dramatic comeback. As it is, though, the big horny (get it, cause he has horns) beast just stops dead in his tracks. Other than a few little ripples of electricity over his body, that's... it... He starts to tip forward, body rigid, and then two shots hit him dead on, right between the eyes, one lodging in his horn, the other deeply in his fried brain and he falls to the ground, still twitching.
Because you can not live down having the name Doubletap as your Ritename unless you end your enemies with a doubletap! So, that is what Alessio does. Because.. it is important. He watches the creature twitch a few moments, then glances around at the carnage the creature let out. Eyes goes to the child; atleast the small one survived. Others were not as lucky. He moves over to the window, then sticks his head out. He lets out a loud whistle, as if to alert Acacia to his presence before he sticks a hand out to wave up. Coast clear signal, most likely.
And it's only a few seconds before Acacia comes bounding up the stairs. She was WAITING. She has the gun still in hand, but after a quick assessment of the room, of Alessio, of those living and dead, she makes the conscious decision to go to the child, scooping her up and pressing her face against her shoulder. Eyes go to the twisted up woman, who still looks like she's breathing. Maybe. There are little raspy, gurgle sounds coming from her. Acacia turns the child away. "Heal her or end it," she half-whispers, though with confidence, and carries the child out of the room just as MORE people pile in, all dressed in white hazmat suits, one carrying what looks like abundle of sage, already lit, smoke drifting about
He can not heal her. And the woman was still alive? In the internal anger he felt at the presence of the Black Spiral Dancer, the need to END that abomination, he has not thought that the woman was still alive. He blinks once, realising she might be. He does not hesitate. He walks straight up to her, lifts the gun and says, "Rest in peace, you unfortunate soul." he growls out, to then expend a single round into her head. Clean shot, instant death. He shakes his head, "Twisted fuckers." he looks to the corpse of the Spiral, "We need to burn that." he points to the Spiral, "Did your cleanup crew get your message?" he wonders. Dead innocents around. Dead children, one witnessed something horrific. But Alessio? He seems to be in a clinical hitman mode. Enter, assess, secure, cleanup. Its cold and methodical, but in this? It is in this that the Rage of the Garou help them. It removes them far enough from humanity so that they do not have to be overcome by traumas like these.
Indeed. Cleanup crew. Acacia just nods as he ends it. Healing her might have been a bad idea anyway, with the state she was in. SHe hands the child off to someone else and maes room for the hazmat people to come in. "Start here, send a crew all the way down," she tells them, with authority. "We need someone to cover for the gunfire." One of the haz mat guys lifts a hand. "I got that." Acacia nods, then looks to Alessio and points out the door. "YOu gotta go. THey'll take care of it from here. Come on."
Alessio stares at the men coming in. He nods once to them, holstering his gun as he removes his helmet. The sledgehammer? It gets slung over his shoulder, "Burn the body. But do not let the ashes spread. Gather them up in a box, put them in a secure location and call me. I will cleanse them from any taint the fire did not remove. Then those ashes goes into the nearest toilet." No burial for BSDs. He looks to Acacia, nodding once, "Off we go then." he holds his hand out for the gun she got, seeking to holster that one as well, "Best hurry." he agrees.
"Yes, sir," says one of the individuals. THey're all wearing full hazmat suits, so you might know them, might not. Hard to tell through the respirators. She hands over the gun gladly and heads out, making sure the little girl is handed off properly. "Bring her to me later," she tells the old woman, who nods. "At the ---" Acacia nods. "Just tell Greg that you need Acacia. REMEMBER.. 14, 82, 19. Okay?" THe woman nods and Acacia turns and slips up alongside Alessio. Still barefoot, and she's ready
"I am going to need to recharge a bit once we are back.. at the shop." Alessio grunts out. He peers about the place, "That creature did a lot of damage here, but he is dead now. His taint is removed. I can not sense any more danger here." he looks to Acacia, "Hopefully, he was alone and no one will come looking for him. I just hope they do not dally on the burning of the corpse." he looks to the street, "Lets go grab my bag.. then head out of here before some authority shows up."
"They know what they're doing. They'll have everything taken care of by the time we get to where they're going, including someone to spend a couple nights in jail for shooting off a firearm. It's a misdemeanor unless someone gets hurt - no one got hurt." SHe's moving, hurrying along beside him. " When they get downstairs, someone hands Acacia a pair of old tennis shoes and she hodls them in one hand, without stopping.
Alessio is moving as if he had a purpose. A goal. And he does, to get out of here ASAP. He nods once to this, "Well, I hope that someone is getting a good bonus." Once reaching the downstairs floor, he moves for the door and looks around before just marching on to the entrance, "Lets go. Bag was this way, right?" He knows it was, but he's just talking to keep her talking. Or let her hear his voice or something. Out to the street he goes, with sledgehammer and bike helmet and guns inside his jacket.
Acacia nods, moving along. "Over there, yeah, with my boots." When she gets out, she looks around, still moving, never slowing, but does a complete 360 degree turn, just to make sure. Back to the bag, and her boots. SHe picks her boots up and slides into the shoes. "We're good so far. Listen for barking. I can't understand it, but you will be able to. They'll send messages through the Chain to let us know what's going on." And, she's fine. She might not be LATER, but right now, she's fine, and she leaves Alessio one step ahead of her so she knows where they're going and can anticipate physical movements
Reaching the bag, Alessio crouches down to put the sledgehammer into the bag. It will have to be cleansed later as well, since it was smacked against a Black Spiral Dancer. The helmet is also put into the bag before he zips it up. He then grabs the handles and stands up, "Ready?" he looks at her, "Oh, you look ready." he nods once, "Lets make tracks." he then starts to walk down the street, heading out of the area via the same route they came in. Making distance from the scene of the 'crime' and them.
Acacia nods, standing with her feet a little bit apart, eyes skimming everywhere in a slow sweep. She looks ready. THis is not the sweet, sexy little goth girl that everyone knows and finds amusing. THere is a 'bark' off in the distance, followed by a repeat, then another, some louder, some not so loud. The barking chain. <<Smells like pork! From the East. No lights.>>
With the amount of Kinfolk within the Police department in this city, you'd think Alessio would like the Cops. He does not, though. He does not like the Cops at all; mostly since they complicate a lot things much of the time. He nods once as he hears the barks, "We're moving in the right direction." he says, "But we better pick up the pace. Sometimes they decide they want to put on a show of force."
Acacia nods "Yup. Come through this way. THat'll put us three blocks out of the way." She ducks through an alleyway. A few people wave at her and she wavees back. Nothing wrong. Just going somewhere. There are a few more barks here and there as the cops cruise around, but with those updates, it's easy enough to stay out of their way and get to wherever they're going.
Alessio gives a quick nod to that, turning and heading into alleyway, "At this point, we're safe." he states, but he does not slow down on his pace. It is not that he is a coward, per se. But he IS a Lone Wolf, sort of Garou. And as a Lone Wolf you just learn to behave a certain way. Along with having been that Hitman type in his early years just makes him work in a certain learned behaviour. This would be it. Hit your target, then evacuate the area quickly.
It isn't far from the mall at ALL. And as they walk through the door, one at a time, there is that cleansing mist. That's him, her, and everything that mist touches. The rest of the stuff can be worried about later. She steps through and also lets out a little sigh as the freshness hits her and she starts immediately barking orders as they walk toward the second floor. "Go find Susan, she's got a little kid with her. Saw some stuff she shouhldn't. Need to find out if she's kin. Get people on that. Now. Avoid the tower. Don't go anywhere unless you have someone who can hear and understand the chain. If ANYTHING goes weird, lock it down and call for me. Full Wyrm assault cleanup detail." By that time they've reached the escalator and already heading upstairs
Alessio does not relax even a little until they are actually by the Mall itself, and inside it. He comes to a stop once inside, taking a bit of a breath. He eyes the people that listen to the orders barked out by Acacia, waiting for her to be ready before heading of again at that same pace. Up the escalator, along the walkway until they reach her shop.
Acacia never ACTUALLY stops. SLows a bit perhaps, but never stops. Up the stairs, into her room, door closed, locked, double locked. Triple locked. "Not what I expected today to be," she says, pressing herself against the door and sliding down it until her butt touches the ground.
Alessio lets out a grunted sound, "No day is ever what you will expect it to be out there." he says, "You never know what you will run into." he drops the back down and then removes his jacket before he unslings the holster setup, to not carry his guns anymore. He stretches a bit, "Will you .. bear with me a few moments?" he wonders, looking at her, "I am sure this is perhaps the last thing you want to see right now, but I have to do this.. I am .. spent."
Acacia nods, putting her knees all the way against her chest and propping her arms up against them, with her chin in her hands. "Do what you need to do, Alessio. I am perfectly aware that you are not just the sexy hunk of a man that I spend my time with." She offers him the tiniest of little smiles. No actual amusement there, just understanding
Alessio lets out a deep growl to this, moving a bit away to stand in the centre of the room. He take a deep, close breath before he slowly begins to grow into the mighty Warform of the Garou. A warform that he almost never takes, even though it looks .. perfectly normal, for a murderous death machine. In this form, the only piece of clothing that is present right now is the black cape she gave him. He then holds each arm out to the sides, fingers with those mighty claws flexing.
Claws that suddenly starts to change texture, turning from that hard bony material to instead becoming pure silver. They glint in the light a bit and, with that, the large wolf begins to growl deeply from the pain of it. He holds very still a few moments, just standing there and soaking up that pain.. bit.. by.. bit. Then, finally.. he lets out a heavy breath as he just drops the effect. His claws return to normal and his body then slowly shrink straight down into his human shape.
Acacia watches all this, mostly passively. The silver claws do make her brow arch slightly and she tilts her head a little to the side as she puzzles through it. She knows what silver claws are, of course, but she doesn't understand the necessity of them at that moment. She blinks slowly and then when he returns to his homid form, she pushes herself to her feet to move in his direction. "Better?"
Alessio makes a face to this, nodding once to this, "Yes.." he replies to this, "It.. just hurts like a fucking hell." he grunts, "I've seen Garou keep those claws for too long and losing it, rushing into frenzy in the wrong moment. Overcome by the rage built up from the pain." he seems to be a bit more energetic now, as well. Before he was a bit .. dull? But now, he's crackin' again, "Taking out that foe took .. all I had. I wanted to make sure he died fast."
