05-06-2004 > Craig's Avengers

5/6/2004

01:17 PM
Logfile from GarouMUSH.

Currently in Saint Claire, it is partly sunny. The temperature is 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the north at 8 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 29.96 and falling, and the relative humidity is 53 percent. The dewpoint is 43 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius.)

Pool Hall(#3490RJ)
Pool tables, with one foosball table and an air hockey table hiding among them, dominate the space of the hall, hardly yielding any space for the motley crew of players chalking their sticks and eying the brandy bottle at the bar lining one wall. The dust and scratches on all surfaces save the green velvet lining the pool tables indicate this hall as skimping on maintenance and cheap on cleaners. Its lack of flashy videogames and surplus of toothless kibitzers underscores its appeal to the older crowd. No natural sunlight is permitted into the hall, its lighting provided by bulbs swinging from the ceiling.
A recent 'renovation' to the hall has caused many splinters and embdeed bullet holes, adding much to the aged atmosphere. Ruddish stains, dark and ominous even under the lights, refuse to be washed out of the floor. A dart board brightens up the walls with its red-and-black scheme, and a moosehead looks down on the proceedings.
Mounted from the ceiling, a television blares its glaring brightness and noises.
The sooty smell of smoke lingers after the recent city riots. The power is back on.
A set of double doors, one locked, the other unlocked at the whims of the hall manager, lead out to the street. Unobstructive doors behind the bar undoubtedly lead to storerooms.
Contents:
Joshua
Obvious exits:
Outside

It's a nice and sunny lunch hour in Saint Claire, but neither fact is visible inside the dim and smoky pool hall. The place has a perpetual ambiance that no weather, good or bad, could ever change. However, since it was only lunch, only a few die hards where in the hall, fine tuning their game. Visible from the rage inspired blast radius around him, Josh is one of them, the youth cleaned up and trying his game solo. He's distracted, though, as he shoots with no small amount of skill: the Ahroun is clearly looking for, or expecting someone.

Whether the ragabash is the one he's looking for or not, Yi comes into the pool hall with intention (and clean clothes!) to perhaps share a game, or maybe have a drink. She's the only one not that turned off by the Rage bubble around Josh, and recognizing him, she generally steps in that direction but not directly so. It's still too early in the game while the police are out.

Joshua glances up from the practice, long enough to catch whoever is entering the door. It's not who he was hoping for, it seems, as he goes right back to doing what he was before. With a clack, the stick sends the cue rolling into another, and physics does the rest.

Yi stops nearby to the table, watching the ahroun's skill with no small amount of interest. "Nice shot," she comments offhandedly, keeping a casual demeanor while her gaze travels amongst the other tables. "You practice a lot?"

Joshua bobs his head in a yes, face twisting up as he tries to puzzle out what to do next. "Lucky got me playing again... and I figure every one needs a hobby. It is fun to do between real studies." He paces slightly around the table, eyeing it from a new angle. "Do you play?"

"A little," Yi replies, eyeing the angles and the shot she'd make. "It makes a good hobby. Nice way to earn some money." The no-moon glances at the other tables again before turning back to the one before her. "You didn't have any trouble, right?" Her tone implies a lot, particularly about the happenings of the day before.

Joshua shakes his head. "Nat wanted to know why I was out to all hours of the night, but aside from that, nothing." He looks up again, frowning to Yi for a moment. His head tilts slightly to the side. "Oh, uh... something I have been meaning to ask you: where you around here, uh... when all the folk got together and went to the zoo on that 'trip'?"

Arching a brow at the question, Yi shrugs lightly. "I've been to the zoo many times. Saw lots of spiders, one time." She glances back at the ahroun, curious as to why he asks, and more curious about who is Natalie.

Joshua nearly abandons everything right then and there. "Oh!" Josh quiets down real quick, down to normal levels. "Oh, could you tell me about it some time? I have been looking for someone who was there on that trip. I heard it did not go well..."

Yi considers, and then pushes up her sleeves. Along her arms, some pretty light scars that look like she's been in one too many knife fights. But, for the observant, there's some small puncture scars that look rather like spider bites which scarred. She slowly nods. "A lot of the spiders are considered quite hostile to anyone 'stepping their territory'." She glances at the table again, tempted to take up a cue. "Why do you ask?"

Joshua shrugs. "I saw it, kinda. When I was making my way. That, and some other not so nice places just a bit north of it." And we all know what Not so nice place is north of the Zoo. "Needs dealt with. I was told that last time things did not go so well. Thought, maybe I would think over it, see if I could not come up with a better way to do it then... whatever was done last time." He bends over, returning to what he was doing: practice. "It is all academic at this point, ya? Just mulling it over..." He draws the stick back, but looks up. "Meaning, keep it quite for a bit? I am trying not to advertise this just yet." *crack* and the ball goes rolling yet again.

Yi supposes she could keep it quiet. Now that she has no pack allegiance, she has no one being intrusive to her whereabouts. "Are you saying you want to take a trip there?" The ball is observed, and its path tracked out.

Joshua shakes his head, then frowns, then nods. "Well... if I come up with something that will work, I will talk to Megan, and then to the land holder... and if I can get both on board, then it would happen. But I was a block away when I looked on over, and it felt too close." As he talks, the ball rolls, then slows, then lightly clacks into another, sending the next ball in the 9 ball sequence tipsing over to the pocket. And it teeters, but does not go in. (Damn.) He spits midly.

Yi smirks a little bit at the poor luck. "What should have happened was that we should have gone back to the zoo again, but after that was the issue with Eve." She uses the Gnawer theurge's new name, though somehow it carries with it a sense of distance. Unusual for Gnawers, perhaps.

"Maybe if someone sneezed, it would go in..." Josh musses, pointedly leaving the whole Eve issue alone. He bends over, the youth eyeballing the unwilling billiard ball. "Uh... real quick, who did the planning on the last go round? And what was the general plan?"

Yi snorts at the question like it were a joke. "The plan? Go in right in the thick and do pest control. That was Renee's plan." She only realizes afterwards that she used the name of the galliard and not the theurge. The ragabash shakes her head. "We went in and were caught halfway. Wasn't a good idea at all."

Joshua blinks. Three times. He pokes the ball in with his finger, and joins Yi in the snort. "No bloody wonder..." He mutters, shaking his head. Glancing up to the clock on the wall, Josh shakes his head. "Uh, I have to run for a bit, go do some errands so I can get back in time for dinner. If you think of anything else, uh, I am around?" Already, the much younger ahroun sets the stick down, beginning to backpedal.

Yi nods, her hand coming up for the cuestick. "I'll be around as well. Finish up the game for you?"

Joshua shrugs. "Only three balls left. Not much to do." He offers an abortive wave, then turns to hurry off.

[later on at night... around 05:36 PM]

Currently the moon is in the waning Full Moon phase (91% full).

Sep's ONS room(#1296RJh$)
The sets have been taken down right now. Paint buckets, ladders, drop cloths, ropes, and duct tape are scattered hither and yon.
Contents:
Olga(#4061PJceq)
Alicia
Joshua
Minion

Down the street arrives one Joshua Doyle, out of his normal overshirt and wearing that BDU jacket Salem gave him again. He seems overly conscious of the Bone Gnawer's territory, glancing every now and again into the fence as he walks along it. The youth stops near the entrance of the fence, pointedly not going inside as he waits with his back to the Bone Gnawer place. A hand strays on back to check on the knife tucked into the back of his pants, covered by the light jacket, but otherwise Josh is just standing out there.

Yi comes out from the building used by the Gnawers as an office/cafeteria/etc., dressed herself in usual street clothes and looking much like any downtown inhabitant. Her own sets of weapons are tucked away as she glances towards the zoo's fences expectantly.

Striding down the street in all her Urban glory is Alicia, wearing a pair of baggy black and gray camos and a tight fitted shirt that zippers up to her throat. She has on a pair of mirrored silver glasses and a long thick trench coat. She strides down the sidewalk as if she owned every inch of concrete, chin raised, confidence radiating from her in all directions. She tilts her head slightly as she eyes the Zoo, then starts to cross the street towards the others as she spots Josh and Yi.

Olga is last to arrive, and she looks down as she walks, shoulders all hunched up. She's dressed as she always is, much too warmly, like she was trying to sneak out of a thrift store with half the merchandise hanging off her. She walks over towards the others, and only looks up when she stands near them, giving each a quick look. "We all ready?" the Theurge asks quickly, words tripping almost faster than her thoughts can follow. "Hope you all got weapons 'cause we can't go furry out there."

Joshua pushes off the fence, turning to face the Theurge with a look. He nods in responce to the first, but clears his throat over the second. "You mean nothing fuzzy... big and ugly is okay so long as it is done out of sight, ya?" The Ahroun's tone is level enough on the full moon.

Yi meets up with the three on the street after climbing through the hole in the fence. Brushing off her hood, she glances first at Joshua, then to Alicia crossing the street, and finally as Olga arrives, her. The ragabash shrugs vaguely, fingers twitching in her pockets. "I'd prefer to make sure we are not outnumbered before we start anything."

"Of course we'll be outnumbered." Alicia says as she flips back her trench coat a bit, revealing her dual barretta's strapped to her waist in their holsters. "But, we've been in worse situations, huh sis? We can take a couple of flatscans on our turf. We own the streets, we just let them pay rent on it."

Olga nods slowly at Joshua, keeping for now on the inside of the fence while she talks to the others. "Tha's right," she answers him, words still quick even as her movements are slow, "big and ugly's fine. Jus' remember we're trying to pass for human, means if you get shot, you gotta stumble; if you get knifed, you gotta yelp. We gotta limp away from this even if we're feeling fine." That said the woman squeezes her way under, jackets catching. She shoves her way through with an ugly angry grunt and then lifts herself up on the other side. "South," she says, simply. She passes a look at Alicia and says to her, "Those glasses're gonna stick out, eh? We're goin' down, to the old factories."

Joshua starts in after Olga, shoving his hands in his pockets as he carries along without further comment. Well, almost without further comment. "She knows kung foo. Te-h Matrix has j00." He grunts over, a smirk gracing his face for a bare moment. You can hear the zeros. Must be a walker thing.

Yi reconsiders her choice of words about the situation. "How about, 'I prefer we make sure not to be surrounded by angry gang members, with no plan of escape and bullets flying everywhere while the police sirens get closer'?" Still, she simply looks amongst their small party and hms softly. Factories. "Well, we'll see when we get there," is all she adds as the obligatory ragabash ominous tone.

Alicia fishes off her glasses and slips them into her jacket as she follows after the others. She slides her hands into her jacket and ducks her head a bit, glancing around at the other three. "So, who are we going up against?" She asks. "I know most of the gang, at least I'd like to think I do."

Olga keeps on sending suspicious darting glances around her, checking for prying ears and eyes. She speaks low and fast like an auctioneer with laryngitis. "I dunno," she answers Alicia. "Their name didn' matter much. They're pretty organized and've been in the area a while, I gather. They're setting up another gang, faking a drug deal, then they're gonna rip 'em up. Then we're gonna rip 'em up. They'll be decently armed, so, yeah," the Gnawer continues, merging into answering Yi's concern, "we'll keep our eyes about us."

Now Josh has nothing further to say, carrying along the sidewalk to the south as he heads along with the rest.

Yi nods with Olga's answer, perhaps inwardly not as sure as she should be about jumping in on a faked drug deal. Well, that's what being smart and not getting yourself shot up is for, she tells herself. She walks along southwards, watching her surroundings discreetly, but not noticeably so.

Glancing around as well, Alicia lets her eyes drift to the spots she knows she would hide in, if she was trying to surprise someone on the street. She grows quiet as she listens to her surroundings, glancing about as she goes.

Olga licks her lips as she goes, hunched over and looking very suspicious. "Here's what we're gonna do," she mumbles out in that same fast whisper, "the thing's going down in a two-storey building, they use the first for their deals and shit. We're gonna wait for the gangs to start their little thing 'fore we go in. Yi'll come from the roof, clear out the second floor. Likely won' be too many there but if there are you jus' bolt, 's okay. Ali'll go in the front, real flashy, bam bam bam. Josh'll come in through one of the back doors. I'll hang around outside make sure there's no reinforcements, keep an eye out for cops and curious. Same time I got others hitting the gang's headquarters. Sound good to everybody?"

Yi looks back behind her shoulder once, up towards the rooftops to look at the surrounding areas and their rooftops. For a moment, Olga's instructions seem out of her range of slang. Bolt? "Perhaps we should have a signal..."

Alicia shifts her shoulders a bit as she moves. "This place is abandoned, right? Which means no electricity, no cameras." She hints as she she scratches an itch on her arm as she walks down the street.

Joshua shrugs lightly, loosening the jacket. "Ya, dis ist gut." He agrees slightly, clearing his throat once. he reaches up and rubs his right upper arm again, looking to the others. "I assume you did recon, though..."

Olga glances from face to face as she walks. "`Bolt,`" she repeats for Yi, "as in lightning, as in amscray as in get the fuck out. Jus' saying you'll be there alone Yi so it gets hairy you, well, you get hairy too, or run." She answers Alicia with a dismissive, "These guys are trash, they wouldn' have cameras anyway. Pop fur if you need to but _only_ if you need to. And I don' want to see any claw marks, no `big dog attacks`. This's gonna be clean. And yeah, Josh," she concludes simply, "did recon." A hand slips out of her pocket and finds its way inside her coat to tick nervously against her chest.

Yi squints an eye. If things get too hairy. Right. The Gnawer nods silently, keeping her other thoughts to herself as she listens to more instructions. "Do you know around how many there will be?"

When the group reaches the edge of Wharf Street, Olga (at least) will see a somewhat familiar Monte Carlo, black, with a flashy set of those spinning independent chrome rims. It's parked just down the street and in an alley opposite the factory they're headed for. Six hooded are crowded around it, talking. Two more, at least, are still inside. the six then draw away and start walking down the alley. they head for the front door of the factory in question.

".. An you want me going through the front, eh'?" Alicia says, doing a head count. "Eight." She murmurs slightly as she flexes her fingers, then smirks. "Well.. if anything, I can always draw 'em out. You guys want to hide or something, I stick out my tits, put a lil charm on, then.. tank 'em in silence?" She whispers, glancing to Olga. "Or do you want me walk right up to them, pull out my steel and blow holes in 'em?"

Joshua rolls his eyes slightly, muttering something under his breath. And off he goes! Out and around for said side/rear entrance, giving the folk wide berth as he starts to make the long way around.

Olga shakes her head quietly, apologetically at Yi, and she shakes her head again at Alicia. "Tha's no revenge," is her simple answer. "Not like that. You're our distraction, 'Licia. Get as far in as your charm'll let you, and then, well..." she lets that trail off as she see's Josh go off on his own. "Jesus," Olga mutters tightly under her breath. "Wait until the second the fighting inside stops, then do your things," she says to the two others before taking off after the Ahroun. "Leave no one alive. This's for Craig, Gaia bless you and him," she hisses out after them, before turning to follow Joshua.

Yi does a quick scan of the adjacent buildings. Fire escapes, distance, etc. Shouldn't be too bad, if they don't have guards on the roof. Her eyes go to Alicia as the galliard suggests her plan of action. Giving Olga and Josh (before he leaves) a nod of good luck, she turns to Alicia with a small smile. "Don't do anything I would do," she says before heading to the nearby building and towards a ladder, fire escape, drain pipe etc. she could climb up to the top from. Or, if the place nearby is also abandoned... the easy route up through the stairs.

Joshua catches the fact that Olga is following him him and slows his pace accordingly, but is still headed to where he was before.

Olga walks with quick strides up towards Joshua, slowing down only once she's within whispering distance. "Nothin' much," she says in her low rapid mumble. "Jus' you're hunting in there, not fighting. Do it quick and clean and move on. There'll be time to savour things after. This's for Craig, not for us." The Theurge gives him a quick nod, and then begins to back-pedal, without waiting for a response. "Gaia go with you," she ends with, feet kicking against asphault. "Stay cool."

Minion pages to the room: Olga's plan here is to allow the two separate gangs to do their deal. Do not approach or go near them until it's /over/. See, as Olga said, one gang is planning to kill off (or try to) the other gang. Her reasoning is, let them do our work for us as much as they want. then clean up whoever 'wins'. I don't think Olga intended Alicia to do any charming. Or do anything at all in the street itself. I believe the plan was to wait til the shooting inside the factory starts, and when things seem calm /after/ that, go in and kill anything still moving.

Parking herself against a wall and sliding down to her rear, Alicia leans into a building down the block, watching the car as she fiddles with her pockets, pretending to search about.

"Luna guide." Joshua grunts back, picking up his pace again. The Coat comes off, draped over his right arm casually. The Ahroun stops by the door, tossing the coat on the ground to keep it nice and clean. Confident he's out of sight, he shifts up to Glabro. The Spear comes to hand from the spirit material it was before, tattoo gone from his right arm. The big thing. The youth smirks slightly to himself: If he did this right, Jacinta would be proud, he knew it.

Yi makes it up to the rooftop of the adjacent factory building, edging to the side closest to the building and peering across the way. She checks for rooftop guards - none. The Gnawer sucks on a tooth, crouching and gauging distance. With a brief shift to Glabro, the ragabash backs up, runs and leaps onto the factory roof. The downshift returns her to homid as she moves to check the door. She sets to work using Open Seal to open it, and then opens up the stairwell door. Her head pokes through cautiously, and then she slips just inside to wait.

The car and it's two occupants remain where they are as the six others enter the factory from the front side. There's little activity on the street tonight, which isn't totally unusual these days. Still, there's an odd heaviness to the air--anticipatory, tentative. Not more than two minutes after the boys have gone inside, the remaining two leave the comfort of the Monte Carlo and head for the factory as well. Before they make it, small arms fire can be heard from within. -- Yi's comfy perch on the inside of the stairwell allows her to over hear a conversation between two guys--oddly enough it's about how big some girl's tits are. The gunfire ends the conversation, and they head for the stairwell. Yi, just above them, isn't seen, since they're headed down.

Olga lurks. She doesn't hide, she just finds herself a place to sit and does so, wrapping her coat around her tight and lowering her face into her collar, rocking back and forth slowly. She doesn't move from her crazy homeless woman act, which isn't so much an act as an exaggeration, until the two men have disappeared into the house. Then she gets up and makes her way over to stand in the middle of the street, halfway between the car and the front door. Her rock-in-a-sock she looses from its bounds, though she doesn't pull it out yet. She wanders aimlessly, as if she had Alzheimers.

Joshua's patience is already stretched thin, between the large moon and the impending fight. But he manages to keep himself from breaking in already, waiting for the gun fire to die down.

Yi listens to the conversation, then the gunfire echo coming up towards her. Thinking that this is when she should be clearing out the second floor, the ragabash makes her way gradually, quietly, down the stairwell when she hears the footsteps of the two guys receding.

The gunfire continues, sporadic but prevalent, for a good while. Of the two that left the car last, there is one much smaller than the other. Almost like father and son--or brother and big brother. They don't actually get inside til things start to calm down. There's shouting inside as well--muffled, but Olga and Josh may hear it from where they are. Alicia has the best view of the two entering the factory. As Yi comes down the stairwell, several more run down from the rooms upstairs to join the gunfight. The last is a guy with a shiny nickel-plated colt .45. He's wearing nothing but socks and underwear.

Joshua counts silently down from ten after the gun fire, head tilting from one side to the next as the numbers ticks away until none remain. Convinced the shooting was really over for the most part, His boot swings up and into the door and the Ahroun goes in.

Rising up to her feet, Alicia quickly makes her way towards the front door, reaching into her jackets, arms crossed over her body. Her hands slip around the butts of each Baretta and grips them tightly, springing them free. She slams herself up against the wall, then edges around, using her foot to nudge the door open, squinting her eyes, suddenly shimmering in a silvery glow as her eyes flash briefly in the darkness. With the door barely creeped open, she does a quick head count as her eyes dart around the room.

Minion pages: they're past you now, though. downstairs. The only one still in the stairwell is underwear dude. And he's not going downstairs. He's waiting, like you, peering down.

Yi stops as she hears people shuffling, and then sees the gang members run downstairs. Now's the time, she assumes, following down more swiftly after the guy in socks and underwear. Her tactical knife slips into her left hand, as she sneaks up towards the guy in the underwear. If she's lucky, she'll catch him surprised and he'll be plus one knife in the throat.

Olga is now alone in the street, and she meanders her slow vacant way over to the car. A quick cursory glance checks to see if anyone's looking, and she tries the door. Assuming that doesn't work the Theurge waits until she hears gunfire again from inside before swinging her rock-in-a-sock into the car's driver's side window.

What Alicia and her Barettas can see through the slit in the door is Little J next to Big J--the owner of the Monte Carlo--standing over a bleeding member of the opposing gang. He's spouting off some righteous bullshit about turf and power and who's in charge. The guy is basically gurgling in his own blood. He'd be pleading if he could manage words. There are five already dead around the open space of the factory (that Alicia can see), one of them from the car's six. The others are all, assumedly, from the factory gang. Two more, still alive but bleeding, are lying on the ground a few feet away. One of Big J's men is beating them with a Louisville slugger whenever they try to move. Josh's loud entry through the backway garners some attention, and a trigger happy man with a .38 fires off a shot that hits the door but misses Josh. Upstairs, Yi's knife slides into Underwear's throat from behind. Immediately his hand squeezes the trigger of the .45, and a second bullet sounds off, this time hitting the ceiling above Yi. A scream comes from down the hall, and as Yi listens to the guy try and curse in Spanish while blood goes down his windpipe, a naked girl appears at the other end of the hall.

At attention is diverted quickly to the stairs, Alicia pushes her way inside and starts to squeeze the triggers of her barretta's, aiming to put a slug in the back of big J's head, and another into Little J'. She moves swiftly in a blur as she ducks herself down after the initial burst of fire, hoping to move back behind a huge crate, box, or something so that she can post herself more effectivly.

Joshua starts for the trigger man in nothing short of a blur, the steel spear tracing forward his path as he heads right for the trigger happy man. With that rage fueled speed, Josh aims to more or less gore the first man with the heavy spear in the worst sort of way.

Yi ducks away quickly when the bullet sounds, her hand still clutching the knife. She makes to deprive her first victim of his .45 as quickly as possible, slamming her knee into his midsection and ripping the knife out without a word. As she hears the scream she turns, eyes locking onto the naked girl. Indecision floats into her mind just briefly as she proceeds down the hall towards the voice. The gun comes up, beaded on as clean a shot as possible to her girl's head.

Olga meanwhile, with one ear turned to the ruckus of gunshots and combat, and one eye turned to the empty streets, Olga reaches within the car through the now empty window-frame. Unlocking the door she swings it open and fingers snake off towards the glove compartment, looking for anything of any value. She does it blind, most of the woman's attention on the street.

The Gaian's first bullet misses Big J's head, but it hits him in the neck/shoulder. He goes down. Little J's head no longer exists. In fact, Little J's probably half-way to Perdition by now. Jojo's hand tries to stop the blood from coming out of his neck, but Alicia's bullet's killed him, he just doesn't know it yet. In three seconds flat, there's a five foot pool of blood. Still, after the cursing and swearing he'll kill every motherfucker in the joint, when J gets a look at Little J, he just freaks out. Josh's spear pretty much skewers the guy with the .38. He dropped the weapon long before becoming a shish kabob, but it just doesn't matter. He makes all kinds of unflattering noises. The guy with the louisville slugger aims a wicked home run swing at Josh's head. Underwear falls at Yi's feet, the naked girl's screaming only intensifying. when she sees her lover dead at the Gnawer's feet, she rushes toward Yi, ready to beat her with her own hands. Yi, holding the nickel-plated .45, has her head in her sights. The three gang members of Jojo's still standing take a frightened step away from Josh. One of them takes a shot at him, but miss. The other two fire three shots aimlessly in Alicia's direction. None come close.

Outside, Olga's fingers come across a lot of cds, but little else of any value. Big rap fan, Jojo.

After the hail of bullets end, Alicia whirls around the left of the crate, sinking to her knees as she flips the hammers back, once more sending out a volley of shots at the two shooting back at her. She tries to present a small target, ducking back, firing, ducking back.

Yi has little choice, when the naked girl comes rampaging at her. A cold mask slips over the ragabash's eyes as she sights down the barrel of the .45. Her aim adjusts for movement and she squeezes the trigger. It's almost like putting down a rabid dog.

Joshua, quite naturally, applies what he knows about not getting hit in unflattering ways to try and evade bat. However, the hand formerly devoted to the spear is more concerned with grabbing the knife stowed in the back and whipping it around for the mans neck, still feeling the rage as he burns through the movements.

Olga coolly slips all the cheap plastic into her inside pockets, eyes whipping around the street, up and down, keeping her role of guard foremost in her mind even as she's playing thief.

The screaming stops abruptly as the nickel-plated .45 sounds off a second time. There's a thump as the girl hits the floor in front of Yi. Downstairs, The bat hits Josh across the back shoulder blade. There's an unpleasant 'crack' that just can't be good, but the hit seems to do little but piss the ahroun off and unbalance him slightly. The eyes of the man wielding the bat grow wide like saucers. He has less than a second to contemplate his fear when he, too, gets a knife in the throat. The bat hits the cement with a wooden thunk as his hands go up to his throat. Alicia exchanges a hail of bullets with the three other men. Her nice, thick trench coat gets torn as a bullet comes close, but doesn't even break her skin. She, however, makes quick, short work of all three. The last one, in the back, as he attempts to run away.

".. Fuck. I need /another/ new coat." Alicia murmurs, glancing down at the rip, then slowly rises, keeping her guns out, smoke rising off the barrels as her eyes cooly glance through the warehouse, looking for any movement that she may have missed. "You ok bruiser?" She calls over to the Ahroun as she creeps away from the crate, whirling herself around slowly, fingers itching along the triggers.

Joshua yanks the spear out of the first body, almost dragging it as he burns forward with the raged speed for the attempted escapee, silver and red head set to gore the next man in an equally gruesome manner as the first. Alicia's question falls by the wayside for the moment of chase.

Yi still has her fingers on the trigger as she watches the girl fall right down beside her feet. With a brief shudder as she comes out of the 'killing zone', she steps over and ensures that the girl is fully dead. Her boots are going to need a wash after this. With a quiet sigh, the ragabash proceeds down the hall to check the other rooms, just to make sure that the rooms are all cleared out.

Olga gives the car's interior the quickest and most cursory of glances to see if there's anything more of value for her to take, and once the car's thoroughly pilfered, she steps out of the car, straightening up but continuing to stand near it, eyes focused on the front door of the building which just moments ago was alive with the ricochet of gunshots.

Joshua pulls the knife back, re-sheathing it behind himself before he bends to yank the Steel Spear out of the overly dead man. Using the broad pokey end, he starts for any still-alive bodies with the intent of ending it in a quick way. Almost as an after thought, on his way around, Josh grunts back. "Yeah. I am well. Make sure they are all gone, though."

Making her way around the room, Alicia carefully inspects each body, giving them a swift kick as she goes, square in the head with her steel toe'd boots. Her eyes continue to glance around the warehouse, waiting for anything.

As things quiet down again, the only noise that can be heard is the whimpering of the three gang members Jojo was 'lecturing' when the garou came in. Jojo, too, is still alive, but probably only for a minute or two more. He's certainly not talking. The pool of blood around him has expanded horrifically. Yi finds no people left upstairs, but the fourth room from the stairwell contains a chemical kitchen for making drugs. Paraphenalia and drugs abound. there's some nice stealable stuff--from clothes to jewelery--in the further rooms.

Outside, the crash of a garbage can jolts Olga, but the culprit is a black cat in the alley, nothing more sinister. A passing car drives by at 45mph, but other than that things are quiet.

Yi makes her rounds around the upper floor, careful not to leave more evidence than necessary. She doesn't need the drugs. Clothes, jewelery, better. Using a less fancy shirt to wrap her .45 in as well as a few choice pieces of jewelery. Things that are easier to pawn will work. The drugs she inspects, pilfering a little here and there. When eventually she's done, she proceeds down the stairs.

Joshua does his damn well best to get to JoJo before Alicia, the Ahroun looking down to the still alive gangster. Rotating the spear around, he sets the but down on the ground and reaches back around for Craig's knife. Quickly, Joshua stabs at the side of the throat, Pulling it to rip it open and hurry along the bleeding out process. (Goddamn shit head.) He spits out to the body, standing back up again. "Do not fuck with my family." And then he brings his boot down on the man's head. Hard.

Olga's head spins around quick at the noise, alert and growing more agitated with every moment the group doesn't emerge from the house. She pulls her hand out of her pocket and drums fingers against the hard metal of the car's roof, but the sound invades her head and distracts her attention and so she stops, and waits.

As Alicia goes around kicking bodies, she comes across the small folding table where the 'supposed' drug deal was supposed to go down. The drugs are scattered on the floor--thrown during the chaos of the shooting. Yi, coming back from her pilfering, spies something before making it to the stairwell. It sticks out like a sore thumb in this rat hole place with no electricity. It's a box safe. Not big, but probably heavy.

Alicia growls softly in her throat at the sight of the drugs, wrinkling her nose. "I hate that shit." She says, kicking the table over with a swift boot, knocking the contents over. "I used to fuck myself up on that crack years ago and it does nothing but kill people off."

Joshua proceeds to end the life of the three whimper'ers JoJo was lecturing, before re-sheathing the knife and heading for the side door he barged in through. The Ahroun does not partake in the looting, the spear disappearing as he shifts back down to Homid along the way. "Yeah. Fucking drugs." He agrees on the way out.

Yi stops right before entering the staris, eyes naturally gravitating to the thing that doesn't belong. Score! Eyes flickering this way and that, she can't help but get closer to investigate. Helloooo... this is worth a few moments right? She gets down and has a look at the system. Maybe it's easy to open.

That's when the sirens first come to Olga's ears. They're still a few blocks away, but the uneven whoop of police cars mingles with regular street traffic.

Olga's mouth twists up into a deep grimace, and her fingers resume their tapping. Her mind races. She peers out after the direction of the sound, waiting to see flashes of light accompanying.

Minion pages: It's not a bomb. :) these are street punks. :) It opens. they keep their drug money in there. There's roughly 1200 dollars.

Joshua throws the Jacket back over himself, heading for the crooks between the buildings as he goes. He pauses, offering Olga a brief nod before disappearing between the buildings on the long way to get back north.

Alicia follows after Josh after securing her weapons, glancing over towards the Gnawer at the car. She turns and shouts upwards. "Yo, Blades, lets get outta here!" With that, she slips into the alley.

Yi concentrates on the safe, thanking the spirits way back, and Joey, for this ever so useful gift. Her efforts are rewarded with cash. Mm, drug money. Hearing Alicia's warning, the ragabash glances up and then tucks the cash in. That's all she gets, but what a wad of dough! The ragabash makes her way down the stairs finally, quickly, stopping just momentarily when she sights the massacre in the downstairs floor, and finally shoulders herself out the door that Joshua came through.

Two police cars turn down Wharf street, still a couple blocks away from Olga. The sirens are off now, but the lights are flashing. They've slowed, too, with their sidelights searching the dark streets for the source of trouble that got called in. josh is gone before they make the turn. Alicia is right behind him. Yi still works on the safe as Alicia calls to her. By the time Olga sees Yi come out, the cars are two buildings up from the Monte Carlo.

Yi winds her way down a similar alley, package in arms, at a good fast pace through the shadows. Her way goes towards a similar path that Alicia and Josh take, but the ragabash is more concerned about staying out of police headlights.

As soon as the last unaccounted for head pops into Olga's view she's back-pedaling, walking off away from the busted car as quick as a faux-casual stroll will take her. She hunches her jacket over the back of her head and sticks her hands into her pockets, and tries to be just another walking body in the city.

It's almost like a well choreographed dance. Just as Olga slips around the corner, the flood of white-blue light from the cop car's search light floods the alley, catching on the glinting broken bits of glass from the window. The car stops immediately, and a pudgy cop climbs out--hitching up his pants as he approaches the Monte Carlo.

[And afterwards, when the Groo split up and the Gnawers retreated to the zoo.]

Zoo Grounds(#3023RJh)
The sign over the locked gates reads "St. Cl ire oo," with the missing letters nowhere to be found. The small abandoned zoo has been home to a sucession of vagrants, drifters, and the occasional gang, and it looks as if each successive resident decided to trash it just before they left. Spray paint both ancient and new scrawls over all the buildings, walkways, and exhibits. Septic puddles remain in some of the exhibits, drains having been clogged years ago. Mosquitoes thrive and swarm. Weeds have long since begun their assault on this abandoned zoo, taking over the green patches and making remarkable progress in the cracked cement. The main offices, simple cinder block constructions, sport only broken windows and cracked tile floors. Everything else has long since been cleaned out or broken; if it had any value whatsoever, it's gone. Even the toilets in the restrooms have been unbolted and carried off to sell for a couple hits of crack cocaine. To the north, the constant buzz of traffic on I-90 intrudes on any conversations. This zoo is little more than a weed-choked, litter-strewn cement wasteland, doomed to be bulldozed some day into a parking lot, office complex, or shopping center as the city grows.
A cracked walkway littered with weeds leads towards the main office. To the northeast, there is a small hole leading out underneath the fence and to the street.
(Please read the +views.)
Contents:
Olga(#4061PJceq)
Obvious exits:
Main Office Under the Fence

Yi wasn't very careful about her blood trail. But, it's blood. It only goes so far before it trails off. And, no dog is going to be able to pick up the scent where it fades off into running water. Yi is the first to arrive at the Zoo, her bundle wrapped and tucked under her arm. She's making her way towards the zoo's main building, but not going in just yet.

Olga squeezes her way under the zoo's entrance with much entanglement and, all things considered, very little cussing. She spies Yi off in the dark distance, and she gives out a guttaral shout, clearing her throat at the same time. "Yi!" she calls, wearing a lopsided grin, like a regular grin that's had too much to drink and is slighty tipsy.

Yi turns as her name is called, squinting a bit into the darkness. Of course, she does recognize the voice. "Olga," she calls back, more subdued. Her bundle is shifted, and her hand is quite bloody, but it's drying. "We left quite a mess for the police. Hopefully they won't have anything, though."

Olga shrugs ignorantly, but she seems to be in a pretty good mood, still wearing that stupid grin. "Was it a bath?" she asks her curiously. "How'd it go? You guys kicked ass, eh? How many of 'em did you get? None got away, eh?" She's like the injured player who had to sit out the game, demanding a detailed account after.

Yi seems put on the defensive, staring at Olga quietly as her barrage of questions hit one after another. "Without problems. Alicia and Joshua did a fine job of bloodying the whole bloody room to hell in that factory. I got one man in his underwear, and his ... girl... none that I know of got away."

Olga's smile broadens at that to a thick ugly smear across her face. "Fanfuckingtastic," she proclaims. "Everybody did great, eh? The bastards are gone. We did our bit. Jesus, wish I coulda been there. How'd you make out?" Olga asks her, looking at the bundle tucked under the woman's arm. She looks at the hand as well, and asks, "You hit?"

Yi shakes her head. "No." The bundle is dropped into the bloody hand. Her eyes are trained on the theurge. "What do you mean, you wish you could have been there?"

Olga looks down, looking curious, meeting Yi's gaze with one of strained confusion. "I mean I wish I coulda got my claws bloody," she explains simply, "wish I didn' have to be the one outside. Wish I coulda done more to avenge Craig's spirit." The look intensifies, not understanding. "Wha's the matter?" Olga asks her. "It's done. I mean, it's sad, yeah, but it's happy too. It's satisfying."

Yi shakes her head. "Nothing. Nothing's the matter. You did your part, and got the information about Craig's killers. That is enough." The ragabash wets her lips and exhales, finding a spot against the wall and leaning against it. "I just don't enjoy killing defenseless humans as much as I used to." Yes, it's sarcastic.

The puzzlement melts away from Olga's face to leave it blank and expressionless. "They did deserve it, Yi," she says, more quietly now, with a certain force behind that's hard to discern. "They deserved worse besides. They killed our Elder: 's how it's gotta be." She lets it stand at that, for a short moment. "What'd y' get?" Olga asks her again, pointedly.

Yi's eyes flick up to meet the theurge's. "They deserved it. Doesn't mean I should enjoy it." Though, in truth, she was enjoying it, while she was in that zone. The danger zone that nurses Rage, and the Wyrm's quiet calling to do worse. It scared her. As for the question of loot, she glances down to the bundle in her arms. "Some clothes, some jewelery. Things I will sell after a few days, after the police stop checking for evidence in the pawn shops."

Olga asks "How much?" with a business-like detachment, looking at Yi with a simple curiosity. She tucks her hands into her pockets and tilts her head slightly down at her.

Yi shrugs back. "Maybe about fifty, one hundred dollars." She looks back at the theurge. "What did you get?"

"Not too bad," Olga answers, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a stack of a half-dozen CDs, fanning them for display, waving them a few times in the air. "Figure $5 a pop at a used place, not too bad." She hands them out to Yi straight-forwardly, waiting for her to take them. "We need food, pasta and stuff, and get us some nice boxes of rat food too, y' know, for treats. See how much it'll cost to rent a solderin' iron and if you can afford it, keep it tucked away. A'right?" Olga asks her closely, looking her full in the face.

Yi looks at the CDs, then, arches a brow. "Soldering iron?" Food is easy to come by. But the ragabash isn't going to reveal her entire take. Much like the subordinate wolf pushing her stolen choice piece away from even the alpha of the pack, Yi keeps herself wary. "What do you need it for?" A pause. "May as well try to find a blowtorch."

Olga snaps her fingers stupidly, small grin creeping out to perch on her face. "Blow torch," she says, shaking her head. "Not a soldering iron. Jus' fucking addled today. Need a blow torch, that cage's 'kay for now but it's not gonna hold Squeaks forever. Plus we'll wanna make one that's removable for when we get 'er onto the bawn. Tony of the Walkers, thinks he knows how to handle the thing, hopefully. A'right?"

Yi considers that, and then nods slowly. "Ok. I'll look for one." Shouldn't be too hard, blowtorch, factories, etc. "Tony? Who is Tony?"

Olga explains quickly, "Walker Ragabash; 's a bit of a hoser but a'right. I mean, hell, as Walkers go he's great. Anyway he did the plumbing up at the roach motel, hopin' maybe he's got a diverse skill-set, y' know?" the Theurge says, grinning again. "Anyway, I'll check with 'im. You, blowtorch. Shop around, and make sure i's not trace, 'course, 'course. Thanks, Yi."

Yi looks at the theurge strangely, but attributes this to all theurges. Eccentricity abounds. She nods again, and then turns to go. "I'll start tomorrow." Shifting her bundle around, she tucks in the gun handle that pokes its way out. "Now, I need to do some laundry. See you later, Olga."

Olga smiles thinly and nods at Yi, pulling back and away from her, leaving the zoo, obviously not ready to retire just yet. "G'night," she says to her. "Did good today. Sleep easier now. Sweet dreams."