[Frostbite] *The Chicago of Lakeview was a different city than the one offered by Cabrini or Bronzeville. Lakeview’s Chicago was polished. Pristine. Uptight. Wallstreet journals tumbled across the slushy street instead of O’Tooley wrappers. The poisonous smog machines the residents drove were inefficient due to Luxury, rather than lack of upkeep. The street lights did little to illuminate the dark crevices between commercial buildings, establishments forgotten as customers retired into their digitally secure townhouses. This particular strip of Chicago stood deserted by its patrons, shops looming with bland yuppy asthetics over an empty street. Shrouded moon watchful over head.*
[Det. Izzy Montoya] There are many reasons not to take a walk at night in any part of Chicago. It’s Night. It’s Chicago. She’s Female. The usual. Of course, Izzy does a lot of things she shouldn’t do – and tonight, that includes taking a walk in order to clear her mind before getting back into her car and finishing the trip home to her empty apartment. She’s moved back out of John’s – it’s too much to be there alone every night – though she, with the help of the department, keeps up with the rent so it will remain in his name and available for his return. At her place, there is only drink, take out, and paperwork.
So she walks, and she is far more aware than she seems, even as she pauses at a corner to light a cigarette, dark hair framing her face as she ducks her head away from the wind…
[Frostbite] *A “Bulk Barn” gives way to a kitchy “Bead Hive”, shadows looming long between. The “closed” sign of a vegan cafe is flickering on the dull grey of an alley wall, illuminating someone’s purebred dog on its hindlegs, preferring the offerings of a dumpster to its gourmet dogfood back home. Izzy pauses, and a chill wind flutters the tiny flame of her lighter, threatening to extinguish it before tobacco takes ember. The detective is finally rewarded with the familar scent of burnt paper and cancerous vice. As the kinfolk raises her head for that first satisfying drag of smoke, a new scent on the wind would find her. Pungent and coppery enough to trip alarm bells hotwired into her psyche, etched into her with police training and past experience. Blood in the air.*
[Det. Izzy Montoya] She lifts her head, and inhales – and gets quite a bit more than the comforting drag she expected on that breath. There is no denying the scent of blood, of fresh blood still steaming and copper and pungent. Her gaze narrows, and she looks around, slowly, doing her best to gather the direction of the scent.
Another kinfolk would run – or at least walk away fast.
Another Cop would decide that it’s past her work day, and time to go home.
She is more than just another cop, another kin. She actively searches for the source, dark eyes narrowed, slightly.
[Perception! I am not tired, i can totally see everything!]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[Frostbite] *The scent is kicked up from the alley, in the direction of the Vegan Café, perish the thought. As keen eyes narrow in on the source, Izzy would note that the dog is a poodle, but hardly of the teacup variety. Standard and leggy, its black tufts of fuzz wave in the wind as it swivels a pointed muzzle around to focus on the kinswoman, gore dribbling from its snarling mouth. Ill tempered at the very least, it steps down from the dumpster, heart shaped ID tags jingling cheerily as it squares its position to face the intruder trying to take its meal.
Above its head, a delicate hand slowly falls back into the bin, spattered gold wedding ring glinting dimly before slipping from view.*
[Det. Izzy Montoya] She looks at the dog – just looks at it. Her gaze flickers toward the slide of the hand falling into the garbage dumpster, and back again. She takes a drag of her cigarette, and slips her free hand under her coat to the small of her back to pull her gun from her holster.
Reckless: maybe.
Stupid: no.
She exhales smoke to the side, takes another quick drag before dropping the cigerette into the gutter to sputter and die. She starts toward the alleyway, the gun at her thigh, ready to lift at a moment’s notice.
“I fuckin’ hate dogs.” a mutter, first, then… “Shoo! Go home!”
Cuz, ya know, that ALWAYS works…
[Frostbite] *An ill-tempered poodle is hardly the sort of mutt a kinfolk is going to take any guff from. Not when there were far more dangerous and ill-tempered mutts to be dealt with on a daily basis. “Princess” or “Pookie” or “Queenie” (or whatever the dog’s sickeningly sweet name is) refuses to back down, haunches rising as she barks in warning, low rumble of her growling escalating into a high feral whine. Move slowly, Detective Montoya, or this bitch will attack.
Or so it seems for several tense breathes, the poodle bouncing its front feet in snarling challenge. Suddenly, something else holds her attention. An ear flicking back to the dumpster, “Precious” jumps up to sniff the delicious human trash, and suddenly time is measured not in minutes, but in heartbeats.
One – A faint scratching within the dumpster becomes audible even to Izzy’s human hearing.
Two – Precious yelps high and shrill, jerking her head out of the dumpster, muzzle covered in writhing white worms.
Three – The dog flings itself backwards, pulsing worms swarming over its head and down its neck, more and more pulled from the dumpster like stringy white taffy.*
[Det. Izzy Montoya] The gun comes up. Of course it does. She is, after all, a member of the Nation, and such things are weird, and well. Weird.
Shoot first, ask questions later.
[Initing it up! +7]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 4, 5, 7, 7, 9, 9
[Det. Izzy Montoya] [hahahahahah! ahem. again. +7.]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 10
[Frostbite] [bitch +4]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 6
[Frostbite] [Wurmz +4]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 8
[Frostbite] [Order is!
Izzy
Wurmz
Dog
declare fast to slow, roll slow to fast. ]
*The dog throws itself from the dumpster and begins to thrash and run towards the detective, headed towards the street, at least a pound of writhing worm mass attached to her and dragging between her legs.*
[Yelp and Run! (no roll!)]
*The mass of worms spilling with sickening glops and slaps onto the alley floor is going to pursue the nearest heartbeat, bubbling towards the fleeing dog as the mutt makes a break towards Izzy.*
[Catch dog!]
[Det. Izzy Montoya] “I fuckin’ hate dogs.”
1a: Three round burst, aiming to wound dog so he doesn’t get to the street – buy time to deal with wurms.
1b: A round at the dumpster – in case a scary wurm guy is directing scary wurms.
And she fires, ticking off the rounds in her mind as she does so. 18. 17. 16. a beat. 15.
[1a – FIREFIREFIRE!
Three round burst: dex 4 + firearms 4 + 3 = 11 – 2 (split) = 9, diff 6 (rerolls)]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 3, 5, 6, 6, 8, 8, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6) Re-rolls: 1
[Det. Izzy Montoya] 1a: damage: damage 4 + (suxx-1) diff 6
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 3, 6, 10, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 5 at target 6)
[Frostbite] [I dog, cannot soak lethal. I Are dead! next shot!]
[Det. Izzy Montoya] 1b: regular shot: dex 4 + firearms 4 = 8 – 3 (split) = 5, diff 6 (rerolls)
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6) Re-rolls: 1
[Det. Izzy Montoya] 1b: damage: damage 4 + (suxx-1) diff 6
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 7, 7, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[Frostbite] *Gunfire erupts between the Vegan Cafe and the Bead Hive, three shots rapid fire into a poodle who tumbles to a bloody stop a foot to Izzy’s left. She heaves a last whining breath, blood steaming into the dirty slush of the alley floor. The wriggling worms slide inside her muzzle, burrowing like oversized maggots into nostrils and eyes, pulsing beneath the skin. Izzy’s not looking at that, a trained professional, Detective Montoya is already loosing another shot at the dumpster itself, rewarded with only a disatisfying sound of bullet meeting trash, not a wounded scream of agony. There are more worms spilling onto the ground now, a quarter dumpster’s worth now inching and wriggling towards Izzy and the dying poodle near her feet, intent on Gaia knows what.*
[order remains –
Izzy
Wurmz]
[Wurmz – swarm Izzy!]
[Det. Izzy Montoya] Fanfuckintastic. How does one kill a bunch of fuckin worms? A quick glance around to see if there’s anything to help – [loose board for smooshing, oh! something flameable would be perfect…right?]
And she fires into the center of the wurm swarm, stepping backwards as she does. And this, fellow Chicago dwellers, is why walking at night is ill advised…
[Keep firing – buying time, looking for a better plan…]
1a: 3rb
1b: GROSS DIE.
1a: three round burst: dex 4 + firearms 4 + 3 = 11 – 2 (split) = 9, diff 6 (rerolls)
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 5, 5, 6, 7, 9, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6) Re-rolls: 2
[Det. Izzy Montoya] 1a: damage: damage 4 + (suxx-1) diff 6
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 4, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 5 at target 6)
[Det. Izzy Montoya] 1b: regular shot: dex 4 + firearms 4 = 8 – 3 (split) = 5, diff 6 (rerolls)
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 3, 6, 6, 7, 8 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[Det. Izzy Montoya] 1b: damage: damage 4 + (suxx-1) diff 6
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 6, 6, 8, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Frostbite] [how many wurmz die?]
Dice Rolled:[ 20 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 9, 10, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 11 at target 5)
[Frostbite] *Those Vegans. The neighbors knew they were trouble. With their tofu and their anti-american wheatgrass smoothies. First its raw vegatables, next its a gun fight. By this time tommorrow a homeowner’s complaint and a signed petition will be circulated. Tonight however, the good people of lakeview will stay inside and mutter darkly about hippes as they hold for 911 to the percussion of gunfire. Izzy lets loose with another volley of bullets, and establishes that firing into a mass of worms is not the best strategy. Its not enough to do significant damage, though everything in the path of the bullets is ripped to shreds. Shreds which never the less slow the creepy crawly’s approach as it preys on itself in boiling confusion before continuing its slimey progression towards Izzy’s feet. The Dog begins to twitch anew as the worms slither over it. Izzy casts about for something else, and would find herself presented with a couple options in the slush and gore. A slatted wooden pallete leans against the wall of the Bead Hive, a large metal disposal drum of used veggie oil beside the dumpster, but surrounded by a scattering of worms. *
[Iz/wurmz]
[Wurmz action – slither up Izzy’s pantleg.]
[Det. Izzy Montoya] Three options, technically. Too bad Izzy only attended one tap class as a child before she getting kicked out. For biting the instructor. [She TOLD him to let go…]
So, quick take gives her a couple OTHER options – and she doesn’t waste time, split second decision has her shifting her aim to shoot a hole in the barrel of oil, even as she’s moving toward the wooden pallet against the wall. It’s closer, and well, tipping it over is bound to crush some, right? And moving is better than standing there shooting at things that are too small to die properly. She puts distance between herself and the worms, and slams the pallet down to the ground – hopefully crushing some of those closest to her.
Drowning and crushing. Buy time, Izzy, buy time.
She doesn’t stop to see if she’s drowned or smooshed any, just turns and makes a beeline for the glass front of the Vegans.
[1a: shoot oil can low, so it spreads oily goodness everywhere.
1b: smoosh with pallet and RUN IZZY RUN.]
1a: Dex + Firearms = 8 diff 6 -2 for split
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 8 (Failure at target 6)
[Det. Izzy Montoya] [Really, Kahseeno? So not funny.]
[Frostbite] [pallet squishes how many of us?]
Dice Rolled:[ 20 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 9 at target 3)
[Frostbite] [survivors! pursue the pantleg!!]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 1, 3, 6 (Failure at target 6)
[Frostbite] *Izzy’s quick thinking pays off, and while the angle of a hasty shot doesn’t split a hole in the metal rubbish bin, her pallet crushing slows the worms once more as the survivors get tripped up by the new obstacle in their path, that obstacle being delicious dead comrades, and a frozen pallet. The Fenris kin makes a dash for the frosted glass of the Vegan’s storefront, hurdling a dead poodle with ease and evading all worm to skin romance attempts. The dog however, has not been so lucky, now twitching and jerking suspiciously as worms burrow beneath its hide.*
[wurmz – Pursue the woman! enh! enh! Get into street!]
[Det. Izzy Montoya] She doesn’t bother trying to break through the glass front of the store – at least, not without shooting it first to ease the way. She fires at the door – and it better not be as tough as the damn oil canister – and [if all goes well] crashes through, arms lifted and crossed to protect her face.
Once inside – she heads toward the kitchen area, where there should – in a perfect world – be a working fire extinguisher. Or a torch. Something reliable. And destructive. One hopes.
1a: 3rb, baby – breakin glass
1b: CRASH n Search!
1a: three round burst: dex 4 + firearms 4 + 3 = 11 – 2 (split) = 9, diff 6 (rerolls)
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 5 at target 6)
[Frostbite] [glass hurts!]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 1, 2, 3 (Botch x 1 at target 6)
[Det. Izzy Montoya] [Soak – cuz she’s a dumbass! :) ]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 3, 4 (Failure at target 6)
[Frostbite] [Wurmz – get her while she’s still!! Get the feet! ATTACK!]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 5, 5, 8, 8 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Det. Izzy Montoya] EW! G’WAY! STUPID WURMS!
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 7, 8 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Frostbite] *Oh, the Vegans are going to file a complaint with Chicago PD. Some crazy bitch just crashed through their recycled glass storefront and shot up their store. The glass door doesn’t just shatter, so do both windows, leaving an empty frame facing in on a diner so trendy and eco-friendly that Izzy can practically feel the dead stares of a thousand disapproving cows of burger past. That or the handful of bloodslicked and disturbingly warm worm bodies nudging at her pantleg, scraping painfully at her skin abover her sock. Gooey hitchhikers along for the ride as their buddies swarm in the alley. Eyes casting this way and that, Izzy spots an “all natural” fire extinquisher near the till, as well as several small hand held cooking torches. Likely the reason for the extinguisher.*
[Frostbite] [wurmz1 Bite Izzy! Slacker wurmz – wiggle over pallet to mouth of alley!]
[Det. Izzy Montoya] All natural fire extinguisher – it couldn’t be more FruFru if it were a bucket of water with a rope. She grabs it anyway, sweeping her gun hand around it, and hugging it close, using her free hand to grab the closest torch. She doesn’t waste time.
She aims at her leg where she can feel the biting scraping squiggling things, and hits the button. Those little buggers, first – pain be damned.
[1a: burn the buggers off her leg – and herself too. She’s Fenrir. She’ll be fine.
1b: grab another couple torches along with the damn fire extinguisher and head back to deal with the rest.]
[Det. Izzy Montoya] [Per ST – dex+med]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 8, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6) [WP]
[Frostbite] [dex/med =2. each sux I’ll take off a dice to the damage vs her leg. so 5-2=3]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 1, 6, 6 (Success x 1 at target 6)
[Frostbite] *Worms never get a chance to bite, or tunnel, or whatever it is they intend on doing. They curl up and sizzle, sluffing off Izzy’s ankle as her skin blisters under the flame, her sock charred through. She’d had worse, in a day or two it would feel no worse than a sun burn. The Fenrir kin sacrificing her comfort towards her goal. Worms outside slithering into the open as sirens squeal in the distance. Someone in the neighborhood must know the Chief for help to be arriving so soon.*
[Wurmz – Round corner out of alley!]
[Det. Izzy Montoya] Ow. that smarts. And we won’t talk about the smell either. To say it doesn’t hurt would be a complete lie – to say she won’t let it slow her down? That is truth. She is Fenrir. She’s fine.
She grabs a handful of torches, the extinguisher under her arm, and heads back toward the alley as Sirens squeal. “Fuck!” To the mouth of the alley, where the swarm is approaching, she slams the extinguisher on the ground, and lobs a torch to the center of the swarm.
Then she shoots it.
Boom.
[1a: toss to center of swarm.
1b: 3rb! – rolling 1b three round burst: dex 4 + firearms 4 + 3 = 11 – 3 (split) = 8, diff 6 (rerolls)]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 4, 5, 5, 5, 7 (Failure at target 6) [WP]
[Det. Izzy Montoya] [Kahseeno. We are through. Just saying. Whore.]
[Frostbite] *Izyy tosses down a torch canister, and lets it have it. Or perhaps she just lets the pavement have it, a few worm bits flying about in the wake of bullets as the boil of maggots swarms over the cannister. A heartbeat and its official. They’re into the open. Anyone can look out their window and wonder at the strange white mass surging through slush and grime into the street. Was that the Dawson’s poodle “PrettyGirl” being drug along? Luckily, in true Chicago fashion, curtains are shut tight and tv’s turned up. The sirens however, are getting closer.*
[wurmz! Advance to the kinfolk!]
[Det. Izzy Montoya] “FUCKME” And no, it’s not an invitation.
1a: 3rb on the canister they’re now on top of. Because hello – only 4 bullets left.
1b: grab extinguisher, and freeze the fuckers if the above don’t work – if it does, then just wait to make it look like she’s being a good citizen and putting out a random fire. Stupid arsonists.
1a: three round burst: dex 4 + firearms 4 + 3 = 11 – 2 (split) = 9, diff 6 (rerolls)
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 5 at target 6) [WP]
[Det. Izzy Montoya] [Dodge!]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 4, 7, 7, 8 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Frostbite] *The neighborhood is blasted with an earth shattering KABOOM as the canister explodes, sending liquified maggot everywhere, alley coated in a river of flame, worms sizzling and twisting as they shrivel. A few strays near the alley walls are not on fire, but are curling slowly from the intense heat. Izzy manages to throw herself to the side, preventing any further damage from the torches to herself. Red and blue flashes down the street, and the air is thick with the scent of burnt fur, and sizzling flesh. The poodle a flaming lump. Orange light dancing inside the dumpster that started this mess.*
[Det. Izzy Montoya] Well. That was – as a favorite movie would say – a Beeeg Badda Boom. Dead maggots everywhere. She gives herself a moment to lean against the brick wall, taking a breath, and shoving her gun – one bullet left – into the holster at the small of her back. She flicks a glance toward the sirens, and pulls her badge from her pocket, looping it’s chain around her neck. Only then does she push from the wall, grab the extinguisher, and once she’s certain the maggots are dead, starts calmly going about ‘trying’ to extinguish the flame.
Good detective.
Meanwhile, she’s already concocting a cover story for the inevitable questions about to come.
[Taking a walk, and heard a noise. Saw a group of kids starting a fire. Yelled. They didn’t stop. Approached. They ran. Warned them. They didn’t stop. Fired. Missed. Fuck off, Officer Asshole, I’m tired, and yes, occasionally miss. Broke in to get a fire extinguisher to hopefully stop the fire. There was an explosion. You arrived. Yes, just in time. My fuckin’ hero. No, my leg is fine. Put out the fire, would ya?]
She could run – but a fru fru place in Lake View almost certainly caught her flying crash through the front window. Best to face the music, now. Who knows – she could get a vacation out of it!
[Frostbite] *Everything goes as Izzy expected it would, officers grabbing their own extinguishers and helping put out the blaze. Everything as expected, until a junior officer goes to put out the dumpster, and suddenly squawks.*
Detective!! You’re gonna wanna look at this! We got a body!
[Det. Izzy Montoya] This is… well. Not a surprise. Of course there’s a body. She’d seen it. And with that, the case falls squarely back into her jurisdiction: Homicide.
Damn, she’s good.
“Well now we know why they were gonna torch the place. Don’t touch anything – anyone got some gloves for me? Gimme your flashlight… I said don’t fuckin’ touch anything!”
In her element now. She heads toward the dumpster, and takes a closer look of the origin of all the excitement.
[Frostbite] *The girl in the dumpster is pretty charred in places, though others are simply burnt from the debris around them. Part of her work uniform is intact. Plastic “Bead Hive” name tag melted but legible. Partially protected beneath her body a small crate of what look upon 1st glance to be large amber beads. Closer inspection show several as hollowed husks, their contents having previously burst free.*
[Det. Izzy Montoya] She shoos them back, away from the dumpster, as is her right. Someone hands her a flashlight, and a pair of gloves that she slips onto her hands. She clicks the lights on, and arches a brow as she sees the beads that look much more like husks. She makes a sound in her throat, and steps back. “Get the meat wagon out here, and the ME. You got a cigarette?”
This is the tedious part of the job -waiting until she can get into the dumpster, waiting until the body is pulled free. She does several things while she waits. She listens. No, really listens to see what she can glean from the echoes in the alley. She smokes. And she makes a mental note to get the body to Slaughter. And to check out The Bead Barn next door.
When someone comments on the beads, she mentions causally that she must have been attacked while throwing those away. Not exactly an untruth. And at some point during the investigation, when everyone is cleared out – she’ll bag up those beads herself, taking them to an undisclosed location and burn them until they are completely destroyed.
[echoes for anything interesting…]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 1 at target 7) Re-rolls: 1
[Frostbite] Echoes result – In the lasthour there has been a fire fight in the alley, an explosion, worms attacking a dog. A dog eating on a body. Worms incubating inside a dead body. The initial attack and circumstances around it are more than an hour old.
[Frostbite] [And fade. further details pm’d for closure! Now lets sleep!]
[Det. Izzy Montoya] [Sleep is good! Thanks for STing! :) *thudzzzzzzz*]