Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Lutetia City: Rollin' Bones Casino

[Tiko]

as written by Tiko

As Regenard came crashing down onto Baron's truck, Julienne scooted her way back from it lest she wind up crushed in the wake of the rampaging werewolf's antics.

"Fucking hell, what you took you so fucking long!" she shouted at him.

True to form, she was more mad that he had taken so long getting here, than that he had nearly crushed half the pack with his free-fall entrance into the fray.

Several bullets fired by Batu kept her and Vanessa pinned down behind the cover of the truck, but as Simon started dragging himself back to his hands and knees, Julienne moved on him, leaving the cover of the truck as she kicked him in the side of the head.

As he fell, she stomped down for his head again, but he caught her foot this time and pushed her off balance. Again he managed to barely right himself before she drove her foot into his ribs to try and keep him down.

A gunshot wizzed past her ear, embedding itself in the plaster of the wall causing her to duck instinctively, and Simon took the opening to take her off her feet. As he rolled over top of her, he used his larger size to try and simply overpower her. His fingers closed around her throat as he squeezed.

Vanessa fired two rounds into his back, but he scarcely flinched.

Julienne's hand grasped around on the ground for where her own gun had fallen. As her closed her fingers around it once more she slammed it into the side of Simon's head with every ounce of strength she could muster.

It did the trick as he was knocked to the side.

Gasping for air Julienne made it to her hands and knees, gesturing vaguely behind Vanessa.

"Help Baron," she growled.

This time as Simon shook his head and tried to rise, Julienne threw herself onto his back, a switch blade flashing in her hand as she drove it into the side of his neck. He twisted to slam her back against the wall as he let out an outraged cry of pain, but she didn't relent, stabbing it in over and over again until he fell forward onto his hands and knees. And still she drove it in, blood splattering her hands and face until Simon lay twitching on the ground beneath her.

Meanwhile off to the side, it was fast apparent to Vanessa that Baron was in trouble. The last of her rounds were spent though. The only thing she still had going for her was her ability to shift on the fly, and she wasted no time in pulling her jacket and shirt over her head to lessen the entanglment of clothes as she fell to the ground, fur sprouting along her flesh. A moment of flailing had the large red-furred wolf free of the remains of tattered clothing before it made a beeline for Rowan.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Knosis and Tiko

Rowan was slammed, hard into the side of Baron's struck with such a force that it would have killed a normal human. Instead, he would walk away with bruises and the wind knocked out of him slightly.

He was reaching for the knife strapped to his belt when a loud and heavy 'thunk' shook the truck behind him. He looked up briefly to find Ragenard ripping the inners of the already damaged truck out. There wasn't any time to lose. Rowan grabbed his blade then and attempted to sink it between Baron's ribs.

Baron hadn't time enough to even comprehend where the fuck Ragenard had come from when the knife found its mark. He grunted loudly as it slipped between his ribs, and he grabbed Rowan's hand to keep him from twisting it and causing more damage while bringing his head forward to smash into Rowan's face.

Claire was hopping to one building over and started setting up again. "I'm setting up, Batu.." She informed.

Baron's head smashed into Rowan's with a solid crunch, dazing the man. Blood began to flow from the man's nostrils and stars lit up his world for a moment as Baron used the opportunity to wrench Rowan's hand - and subsequently the knife - from his side.

Given the opportunity, Rowan twisted himself to the side slight as Baron tried to headbutt him again. Taking his free arm, he grabbed Baron's shoulder and swung his knee up hard in the attempts to hit tender spots.

Baron's injuries were slowing him down, and the tendrils of smoke coiling from the wound in his side spoke of the silver nature of that knife. When Rowan's knee hit him in the stomach, he was doubled over by the explosion of pain that came with the forceful impact that connected with the gunshot wound. Something feral ripped through him though and his eyes lit up with an amber hue as he spun and threw Rowan to the pavement with a snarl.

Rowan toppled to the ground, rolling. His blue eyes were glowing bright as the wolf responded in kind. He pushed himself up and glared at Baron, wiping away the blood that had collected on his upper lip.

"Beginning to slow down, Baron.." He commented.

Crack

Another thunder-like sound echoed in the distance, a bit further this time as soon as Baron started to move forward. Blood splattered from the back of the man's right knee where the next silver bullet hit him.

She stayed her position though. She did not have many more mistings left, and to escape she needed to have at least one in her reserve. She opened the rifle again and loaded another bullet.

Baron went down on one knee hard as the bullet blew his knee out, and his vision swam with primal fury. The man was in pain, but the wolf was just mad. It wanted out and it threatened to tear its way free, but shapeshifting now would be a death sentence.

He pulled his switchblade from his pocket and flipped it open before bracing his hand against the pavement to steady himself. His feral eyes stared down Rowan who would know well that even now approaching Baron would be like tangling with a wounded animal.

"Oh Baron, Baron, Baron.." Rowan 'tch'd' like a mother scolding a child. "Have you not learned your place yet?" Rowan began to walk towards Baron, wiping the blood away from his chin.

Another crack sounded in the distance, from the same area as before. The bullet pierced through Baron's flesh once again, hitting the right shoulder. This one was not a clean shot, and the bullet remain lodged in his shoulder.

The bullet crumpled Baron's arm under him and he wound up splayed on his back as he fell to the side, blood running freely from his many wounds that were showing no sign of healing. His fingers grasped around at his side for the knife while the silver bullet fragments lodged in his shoulder left him all but blinded by pain.

Rowan didn't waste time after he watched his foe fall with the bullet taking out his shoulder. He walked towards Baron, kicking the blade away from Baron. He stood above him, putting his knee into Baron's hurt shoulder, pressing weight into it. He wanted to hear him scream, beg, anything. All he got was a pained growl though grit teeth as Baron's good hand tried to find purchase on Rowan's knee to relieve the pressure.

Rowan put the knife to his throat. "Time to put the dog out of his misery.. Until the next life." He whispered, almost passionately. He pressed the knife into Baron's skin, grinning as the smoke rose from his sizzling flesh.

He was so focused on his victory over Baron though that he never saw the rippling mass of red fur until Vanessa hit him, her jaws clamping closed around his elbow with a vice grip meant to crush bone as she gave her head a savage shake.

Rowan's arm jerked as Vanessa grabbed his elbow, driving the blade down into Baron's throat some before it pulled away. The impact from the red wolf was enough to pull him away from Baron. "Stupid bitch!" He shouted at Vanessa. He swung with his free arm, aiming for her throat to try to knock her off.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Knosis, Tiko, and Dashmiel

Raven's jaw had dropped slightly at the sight of Ragenard. "Shit." She said, ducking to the right as quickly as she could to avoid getting an engine block to the face. She tucked and rolled, raising her gun and aiming at Ragenard, firing twice to try to hit the raging monster. "Oi, its been a long fuckin' time!" She shouted, trying to gain his attention to get him away from Rowan.

Yvette's own eyes went wide as she dove to the left, splitting off from Raven in their moment of reflexive get the fuck out of the way.

Batu on the other hand, had fewer options as the engine smashed into the van and he momentarily disappeared under the front of the vehicle as it threw him to the ground.

Yvette was as quick on her feet as Raven though, and as she came to her feet she was twisting to fire into Ragenard, aiming to unload as many bullets as possible to try and slow the raging beast down.

Ragenard’s eyes didn’t stray from the Vampire’s location as he began to idly jog in the direction of his throw almost as soon as it had left his hands. His attention on the vampire was briefly disturbed by a burning sensation coming from his left forearm and one of his toes, as some of bullets fired off by Yvette and Raven found their marks.

Ragenard halted his advance momentarily as he moved his eyes away from the rolling van, and shifted to regard Raven with a look of recognition. Recognition and pure hatred. Ripping off a chunk of flesh off his left forearm with his right claws, Ragenard let loose a roar of rage with such ferocity that the air in front of him became misted with the blood from his ruptured throat tissues.

Boiling wounds already visibly stitching together, Ragenard bowed down momentarily before launching himself in arc clear above the two shooters, landing on the side of the van opposite from Batu. He then immediately bent down and sunk both of his hands through the van’s metal siding until his grasp found purchase on a solid part of the frame, allowing him to quickly raise the van clear off the ground for a few feet.

Ragenard then proceeded to repeatedly bring the van up and down in a hammering motion, attempting to puree anything that might remain caught underneath it for long.

Batu rolled to his side, out from under the front bumper as the van lifted up, but he hadn't time enough to get to his feet and deal with Ragenard. He opted for slowing the brute down.

Rather than aiming for center-mass, as Yvette and Raven had, Batu took advantage of his prone position to unload his own gun into Ragenard's left knee as the van came crashing back down where he had been only a moment earlier.

Raven and Yvette kept moving in on Ragenard emptying round after round into his back as they moved, slowly widening the distance between each other as they went.

Ragenard soon paused in his hammering efforts upon detachedly feeling that his leg was no longer able to support his weight. Seconds later, the pain of no longer having a knee that did not resemble swiss cheese registered and stoked the fires of Ragenard’s fury.

Shifting his weight to balance him in an awkward one legged pose, Ragenard let loose another howl of rage while shifting his grip on the van on his upswing and allowing it’s momentum to let him tumble into a monstrous ballerina pirouette, and pivoting his torso to cause the van to be redirected in a golfer’s swing towards Batu’s midsection.

An event causing most of the bones on his torso at least hairline fractures, and breaking most of his ribcage and upper vertebrae outright.

The force of the impact would then send the vampire flying out in a vicious arc through three hundred feet of air, culminating in a brand new hole in one of the upper floors of a building a block over.

His immediate target removed from his presence, Ragenard then decided he was sick of being shot at by Raven and her friend, and tenderly placed his left leg back on the ground, testing the stability of the regenerating tissues. His efforts immediately rewarded by a wave of pain, Ragenard then proceeded to turn towards the source of the shooting and plop the van between himself and the hail of bullets.

With much roaring and grunting, Ragenard would then continue on to awkwardly move back towards the remains of Baron’s truck, drawn in by the smell of the vampires there, dragging the van slowly in front of him as he awkwardly attempted to hop past Yvette and Raven.

Raven watched as the unlucky vampire was pretty much putted with a full sized van. 'Well, damn.' She thought to herself. Still, it would seem the beast had some mental constitution to him still as he dropped the van in front of him to use as a shield.

'You are a beautiful creature.. I just wanna take you apart piece by piece to see what makes you tick.' She thought, dropping her guns and pulling out two wicked looking silver blades that she held downward. She motioned to Yvette to go around the van and to attack Ragenard, as she herself panned around to the other side, waiting.

Yvette circled around the back of the van as Raven signaled her. Once Ragenard was in sight once more, she began pumping several more rounds into his torso with grim determination as she tried to draw his attention.

Raven didn't wait. As soon as Yvette rounded the van aiming towards the raging beast, Raven ran in to make her move. She hoped she gambled correctly. If Yvette could gain his attention, even for a split second before Raven, she would pull this off. She heaved herself up into the air, using the van as part of her leverage to do so, twisting back down to aim to land on the back of Ragenard. Blades were set to dig into the flesh of the beast, hoping she could use them to hold on to the beast to do damage to him over time.

Meanwhile, a rifle shot cracked through the night from atop one of the buildings across the street.

Ragenard’s attention was momentarily removed from his slow march toward the other vampires by the actions of Yvette and Raven, the former who managed to distract him for a split second when one of her bullets went through his right cheek whilst he was mid roar, and the latter who completely confused Ragenard by suddenly embedding two wicked and painful blades in between his own shoulder blades, and who was in the process of trying to work them in deeper.

A process Ragenard sought to immediately discourage by turning his Raven laden back towards Yvette, and launching himself backwards towards her, left knee no longer any worse for wear.

There wasn't much Raven could do except hang on, or let go, and the latter was most likely going to be instant death for her. "You are my sunshine..~" She whispered quietly in a sing-song voice. She pulled the blade out with her dominate arm, pulling herself upwards slightly with the other arm in order to try to stab the other a bit higher.

Yvette dove to her left as Ragenard and Raven both came her way, and she kept her gun trained on Ragenard as she rolled back to her feet, but with Raven latched onto his back, she didn't feel confident that she wouldn't hit her own pack-mate.

Another rifle shot rang in the air.

The increasing amount of loud shots in the air were beginning to thin the fog of Ragenard’s initial frenzy at realizing vampires were involved in the werewolves' skirmish, and while his anger was no less diminished, a measure of coherent thought was beginning to take hold.

Deciding that he was quite tired of being climbed without so much as dinner, Ragenard buckled his upper right side once violently, while simultaneously reaching to place one of Raven’s legs in a vice grip with his left snaking beneath his back, and forcefully grasping the blade of the knife still embedded on his right side with his right arm flexed over his right shoulder.

Finding his actions rewarding him with the pain of his right palm being cut open and his left palm feeling squishy flesh beneath it, Ragenard then proceeded to forcefully yank the blade from his back whilst pulling Raven by both of her quickly mangled legs off his back, in a motion ending with his arms being outstretched in a ‘T’ pose with a dangling Raven on his left, and her dagger on his right.

Without wasting a beat, Ragenard would then proceed to viciously smash Raven’s body against the ground in a whip-cracking motion with enough force to cause parts of her skull to pulverize, not to mention the effects upon the contents within said skull.

Ragenard would then follow the handful of seconds spend tenderizing Raven with flipping her still body casually in the air, catching it once more around the neck with his left hand, and driving Raven’s dagger through the center of her skull, before forcefully sinking his now empty right paw with practiced ease through her rib cage and ripping out her still faintly beating heart.

Locking eyes with Yvette, Ragenard let out another vicious roar before tossing the remains of her packmate at her with the exception of Raven’s heart, which he swallowed promptly and without ceremony.

The raw carnage of Ragenard's actions was the breaking point for Yvette. She stared on in stunned horror even as a splash of fresh blood struck her face with the impact of Raven's mangled body with the pavement.

A moment of hesitation left her hands shaking as she stared back at Ragenard before she just dropped her gun and turned tail to run.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Tiko

Vanessa didn't relinquish her iron grip as she savaged Rowan's arm, dragging him away from Baron even as she was struck. When she did release her bite, it was to lunge upwards and take him to the ground, jaws snapping for his face.

Julienne reached Baron's side as he managed to roll over and drag himself to his knees, but one hand was pressed to his throat as blood ran heavy between his fingers to drip on the pavement. She pressed her own hand to his chest to help hold him upright, but his knee wouldn't respond to try and get to his feet.

Eyes wild with panic she threw her gaze around for help.

"Ragenard!"

The voice that pierced the air wasn't the sharp tongue that Ragenard had come to associate with Julienne. No, this word was laced with fear and panic.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Tiko and Knosis

Rowan's snarl rang with hatred towards the red wolf. As she had pulled away, he switched his knife to his left hand, used his right hand to block her attack for his face and plunged the knife into the wolf's side in the attempts to get her off.

Fangs savaged the flesh of Rowan's forearm, and the knife sinking into her side only urged her onward as she gave his arm such a violent shake as to risk dislocating it. Thrice more the knife found its mark before she was driven back enough for him to shove her off him.

With claws scrabbling against concrete and a smear of blood, Vanessa dragged herself away from Rowan with a low whine.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Script

As Damien stalked forwards towards him, Snow weighed up his options. The vampire was disarmed, but by no means did that make him not a threat. Having freshly fed, he was a match for Snow in strength and speed both. He found himself wishing he hadn't dropped his knife while taking out the other one. Again, he hadn't the time for his favoured strategy of patience. It was do or die.

Or both, if things went badly.

Taking a deep breath, Snow charged forwards into a feinted left hook towards Damien's face, with the aim of instead leading into a solid right-handed punch to the gut.

Behind him he heard Julienne's scream, but having already committed to re-engaging the vampire, he couldn't turn his attention back her way. He could only hope that Ragenard would be able to help her.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Dashmiel

Ragenard was about to give in to his primal hunter instincts once again and chase after Yvette when his world suddenly turned cold. There was no anger, no fury. No instincts screaming at him to consume and destroy. Just an echoing void with the most unlikely of words echoing through it.

"RAGENARD!".


He had been in countless bloody skirmishes in his life. Faced monsters of many stripes head on. Horrors and struggles of stygian depths. And yet, none of that had ever left him feeling like this, as if his world had been turned upside down. He knew that voice, and it's alien quality now told him more to terrify him than a life time of monster tales.

Completely disregarding everything around him, his whole world turned into a mad dash towards where Julienne cradled the perforated form of his brother, whose heart beat Ragenard wished he could tune out the closer he neared, and which he could hear even over the sounds of abused metal as he tore his way through the remains of Baron's truck and came upon where Rowan and Vanessa had been clashing.

Heedless and unworried of any threat Rowan might pose to him, Ragenard made it a point to unleash a savage bark unmistakeable to any werewolf as the universal cry of "Back the fuck off at the cost of your life" as he ran past Rowan, the bulk of his frame shielding Vanessa as he turned his head towards Julienne and Baron's form and took a few paces until his bulk literally towered over them.

In a touching display that he would kill anyone for pointing out, Ragenard positioned himself with his arms outstretched over Julienne and Baron, forming a partial tent of furry monster over them.

Unable to think of what the fuck to do right now that didn't involved killing something, Ragenard settled for lightly nuzzling the top of Julienne's head while trying his best to keep his senses attuned to how Snow was doing nearby, and whatever stupid move Rowan would pull off next.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Knosis

Rowan took this opportunity to back away slightly and take in the scene. It had been the first time he had noticed Raven was dead, Yvette no where to be seen. Batu was gone, and only one of his men were left for the count. The pack leader was sorely outnumbered by this point. Anger ripped at him, his eyes flared brightly. Things had not gone according to plan all night. He bared his teeth but slowly began to back away.

Crack!

The thunder rang through the night sky once more. Claire's primary target had been taken down, and even after losing communication with Batu she knew what the next target was. The biggest threat to Rowan's life. To any expert marksmen, her previous shots would have seemed sloppy if they had not known her goal. She was ordered to maim Baron, not to kill him. The shots she took were, by her calculations at the time, were the best shots to take in the situation given. She had not made a single killing blow. But she had not been given such restraints on the others who posed a threat to the operation.

Yes, her next target was clear as she sent the next silver bullet into the head of the monstrosity, Ragenard.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Tiko

Damien leaned back to avoid the left hook while his left hand came across to push Snow's right arm across so that his punch crossed past Damien, rather than striking him.

The fluidity and second nature of Damien's counters and parries was likely very familiar to Snow. This was no street brawler. There was something methodical and professional about it.

Ex-military perhaps?

It would explain the brutal swiftness and efficiency in which he had slipped inside Nieve's guard.

With Snow's wrist in hand again, Damien gave it a wrench to his left leaving Snow down a hand to block with as he drove his left fist forward for Snow's nose, trying to get inside Snow's left arm.

Meanwhile back outside, a large blue van mounted the curb, skidding and swerving into a screeched halt alongside the front of Baron's truck. Bastien was at the wheel, and Jesse slid open the side door.

"Get in!" he shouted.

From the bloody tatters of Bastien's sleeves, it seemed they had run into their own trouble in acquisitioning the vehicle.

In the distance the sound of sirens could be heard faintly. Time was running out.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Script

The punch landed with a crack, jolting Snow's head backwards as blood streamed from his nose. It was just one more notch of hurt on top of a dozen others, however, and the werewolf was barely disoriented for an instant before recovering.

The second punch came almost before he could react to it, but he managed to bring his free hand up to catch it, stopping it dead much as Damien had stopped his earlier strike.

Screeching tyres announced the arrival of a new factor in the fight, and it took Snow a few moments to catch Bastien's voice over the struggle. Once more, his eyes flicked across to where Nieve lay in the lobby.

Chances were, she was still alive, if barely. Leaving her would be leaving her at the Scions' mercy. But trying to stick around long enough to reach her would likely mean more deaths. He had always prided himself on being able to make the rational decision under pressure. Now wasn't the time to change that.

A part of him realised that he was acknowledging that Nieve was going to die no matter what he did.

The rest of him shoved that thought aside. He couldn't afford to overthink or-

As if to illustrate that point, Damien released Snow's wrist to drive his fist into Snow's jaw with a resounding crack.

The strike drove Snow backwards and halfway to the ground, and he let out a grunt of pain as he caught himself with one hand planted down to avoid being sent sprawling. Shards of glass dug into his palm in the process, but they hardly registered compared to the burning pain in his now obviously broken jaw.

He staggered backwards several steps as he rose to his feet. At this point, he was waiting for a lapse in Damien's offensive that would give him reprieve to break for the van. His instincts screamed at him to keep fighting, to break the bastard that had killed his mother like a twig, but his mind won out.

Retreat, to exact revenge another day. Protect the people who still had life in them. Survive.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Dashmiel

'Are you a Guiscard, or are you a fucking animal?'

Ragenard's consciousness began to distort itself, from the effects the silver bullet had as it continuously boiled away his grey matter as fast as it could regenerate. With the last shreds of motor control he had left, he staggered off to the side to avoid crashing upon Julienne and Baron, and promptly fell down face first.

'Dad leave him alone, he didn't start it.'

His thoughts became a blurred mess as he began to contort and twitch as neurons misfired and commands to move, rend, tear, and maul became muscle spasms instead. Within his brain the bullet began to move at an infinitesimal rate, carving itself a bubble of roasted brain as it went.

'Baron, stop fucking defending him. It's time he learned his place in this pack.'

Just as the cavalry was arriving, Ragenard found himself unable to do anything other than drool over himself, as the bullet continued to slowly inch it's way through his brain, briefly damaging something that caused Ragenard's body to undergo a shift back to his human form. He lay sprawled in the ground by Julienne; a very large, heavy, and drooling vacant mannequin.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Tiko

With Ragenard down, Julienne and Baron were left exposed to Claire once more and she quickly threw one of Baron's arms around her neck. Half dragging, half-supporting him, the pair staggered the few paces to reach the van before Baron stumbled and half-caught himself on the side of the vehicle.

Jesse moved to help pull him inside, but Ragenard and Vanessa were still out there in the open. Baron's truck offered cover for Vanessa, but Julienne dare not try to approach Ragenard, lest she join him on the pavement.

"Ragenard!" she hollered trying to rouse him.

Meanwhile, Vanessa hadn't made any further move to reach the van as she lay on the ground, her breaths coming in short huffs.

"Vanessa, get in the van!" Bastien yelled at her.

She rolled to her stomach but managed only a few hunkered steps with her belly to the ground before she lay her head back down with a low whine. With Claire on the roof, she would be vulnerable to the sniper if she made a run for the van.

"God damn it, Vanessa. You're not leaving Sophia without a mother. Get in the fucking van!"

It was the push she needed as she pulled herself to her feet, favoring her right foreleg. She took the van in three bounds, before jumping up through the open door.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Knosis

Rowan ground his teeth together. The police were coming and as he watched his enemies leave, he figured it was time for him to move it too. Claire would cover him. He backed away slowly before turning and sprinting as fast as he could for a back alley to disappear in.

Claire watched in her scope until Rowan was out. "Time to leave, Claire.." She muttered to herself, picking up the rifle and her bag, misting away.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Tiko

"Looks like you get to live to fight another day," Damien remarked as his allies began to clear out. He had no intents to wade out there into that mess alone, no matter how much Batu was paying him. "Until next time."

He made no move to leave one way or the other, but rather he stood his ground allowing Snow to break away should he wish.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Tiko

Snow met Damien's eyes with his own, burning with barely restrained fury. His parting words were brief, but they carried with them the weight of ice-cold hatred. "You will die for this."

The next moment, he turned and made a break for the van, not allowing himself to look back over his shoulder at where Nieve still lay. He had no choice. Sometimes the right choice was just the one that was less wrong.

In turning, he saw for the first time the state of the fighting behind him. His eyes swiftly fell on Ragenard's fallen form. A quick scan of the rooftops proved unenlightening as to where the sniper was, and if there was still a risk that a bullet would find him should he stop to help.

It didn't matter. He wasn't going to leave two people behind today.

He ducked down as he reached the larger man and hooked his hands under his arms, grunting with effort as he heaved him up and dragged him across the ground towards the van. Every step he waited for the bullet to find him from the rooftops, but it never came.

When he finally reached the van, he hefted Ragenard in with the help of those already inside before clambering in himself. His face and upper body were completely coated with blood, his hair matted down and glistening crimson.

Meanwhile Bastien craned his neck around to get a look behind his seat.

"Where's Nieve?" he asked.

Snow looked up and met Bastien's eyes, giving a grim shake of his head. His gaze was hollow and defeated.

There was no time to mourn the dead now and the news was simply accepted as grim fact as Jesse slid the van door shut and Bastien put the vehicle into reverse, tires screeching as they jolted backwards. The length of the van scraped alongside the fountain as he backed it out before managing to get it turned about enough to make for the streets and the city beyond.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Tiko

As the van tore off into the night, Damien turned his attention to the woman splayed on the floor at his back. Broken glass crunched beneath his feet as he approached her. That the woman yet drew breath was astounding, and yet it served to amuse him further as he knelt down beside her.

"Looks like your pack-mates left you to me," he noted.

He lifted her up into a sitting position and left her head to fall back to expose her throat. The one side looked like it had been savaged by a wild animal, but the other side remained unmarred yet.

"Rest assured, the rest of your pack will be joining you soon enough," he whispered against her throat.

He took his time as her dying body spasmed and twitched in his arms when he drove his fangs in to feed anew.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Tiko

Damien growled lowly against her throat as he fed deep, savoring and every last dying beat of her heart. He remained oblivious to the sounds of sirens arriving outside, and it wasn't until her heart took one last fluttering beat before falling silent that he finally withdrew his fangs to the sound of boots crunching on broken glass and the shouts of police officers.

"You, down on the ground! Now!"

He looked up and bared bloody fangs at the officers.

"Fuck, it's a vampire! Kill it!"

They opened fire on him as he dove forward, one hand closing around the hilt of Nieve's knife before he misted, leaving a group of skittish and bewildered cops in his wake.

"Where the fuck did it go!?"

"I don't see it anywhere, do you?"

"Nothing."

"There's an ambulance en route."

"It's too late for this one, she's gone," an officer said as he knelt down to check Nieve for a pulse.

"We've got a live one out here!" The shout came from out front of the Casino where Simon's prone form had been discovered.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Ronin and Tiko

Fifteen minutes after the first responders came onto the scene, an unmarked black car parked alongside the mess of squad cabs. The driver hopped out and opened the back door, a young, thin man in a black coat stepping onto the pavement and striding towards the casino, followed by a lightly-armored woman. The hilt of a slender sword peeked beneath the bottom of his jacket. For all purposes, he seemed to be heading directly towards the crime scene - particularly, the front door of the casino.

Two officers looked up as the pair of church officials started to approach the crime scene which was being taped off.

"Oh, you have to be fucking kidding me," one of them muttered.

"Hm?" the other asked while he was taking some photos of Raven's mangled body.

"The fucking Ravens are here," he muttered. "I better go see what they want."

"Heh, good luck with that," the other answered before he went back to snapping photos.

The other put on his best diplomacy face as he made his way towards the edge of the crime scene where a pair of officers were trying to hold up Archard and Sylviane from entering.

"Inspector Charles Aymond," he said as he offered a hand out, seeming uncertain whether to extend it to the Inquisitor, or the Paladin first. "What brings the church out tonight?"

Archard took it with a nod, sparing the inspector a passing glance. He seemed focused on the crime scene. "Inspector, a pleasure. I am Inquisitor-Archon Archard Pierpont." He gestured to the woman at his side. "This is Dame Sylviane Bellefleur.

She accepted the inspectors hand in turn, offering no words for the time being. Her eyes were elsewhere, taking in the crime scene.

The inquisitor stepped definitively inside the police boundary. "We understand that there was supernatural activity reported here, in connection to this..." He waived vaguely at the warzone. "...skirmish. We're here to investigate." His eyes flickered to the nearby ambulance. "Were there any survivors found?"

"Hey, hold up there," Inspector Aymond said as he grabbed Archard's arm to stay him. "Under whose authority?" he asked.

The thought that the church was going to pull this case out from under them before it even began had already set a foul taste in the inspects mouth.

Archard looked down at the hand on his arm. His eyes drifted up to Aymond's, a pale blue shade of hypothermia.

"Forgive me, inspector," he reached into his jacket, "I assumed you would not believe me so incompetent as to infringe on this investigation without due process." He removed a parch of paper and offered it to the detective. "This document, drafted by the High Inquisitor and verified by your police department, permits me to examine all police affairs that I believe are related to the cases I am currently overseeing." He reached up and lay a hand on the detective's wrist, bringing his arm down in a slow, delicate motion. A smile twitched over his face - rose red lips just barely curving into a grin.

"The church thanks you for your cooperation." He nodded again to the ambulance. "Now then. Were there any survivors?"

The inspector read over the document with some level of irritation. Still, it could be worse. The document outlined only gave the Inquisitor the authority to examine the crime scene, not interfere with their own investigation.

"This way," he said as he handed the document back.

"You certainly have a way of making friends," Sylviane noted as the Inspector moved to lead them towards the ambulance flashing up ahead.

Archard fell into step alongside Sylviane. "If I wanted to make friends, I would have joined the clergy." He made a quick pass over the scene as they moved towards the ambulance, noting the damaged vehicles, the obliterated doorway, the curious strip of blood and fur resting on the pavement near a body...

They arrived at the ambulance. Archard's hands were in his pockets.

"No identification on him, and he's not talking to us," Inspector Aymond said. "Feel free to try your luck."

The individual in question appeared to be a young male, with his blonde hair slicked back and his leather coat spattered with blood. The front of his shirt was thoroughly soaked as well, but the wounds in his neck had healed over. A closer inspection would reveal several bullet holes in the back of his jacket, and in the front of his shirt.

For now he was laying in the ambulance with one hand cuffed to the side of the vehicle, and two police officers standing watch in case he tried to go anywhere.

"Thank you," Archard nodded to the inspector. He hopped up in the ambulance. "Hello, friend."

Simon simply lifted his uncuffed hand to give Archard the middle finger.

The inquisitor's brows raised. "I'll take that as a handshake." The archon reached forward and clasped the man's digits in his glove with a light smile. His other hand brushed over the man's handcuffed wrist. Simon would feel a short but bright prick on the side of his cuffed palm.

"Oh goodness me," the inquisitor drew back, "my apologies. My watch must have nicked you." He looked at the cut. A light layer of blood bubbled to the top. "Are you alright?"

"Go fuck yourself," Simon answered.

"I see you're making friends already," Sylviane noted. "I'm going to go look around."

Archard nodded after Sylviane. "Check the bodies, in particular. Make note of the causes of death and the condition of the corpses."

She was already walking away before he even finished his request.

The inquisitor looked back at Simon's hand. The cut was completely healed over.

"Inspector," he called out, not taking his eyes off of Simon, "in the event that this garou shapeshifts en-route to the hospital, are your men properly armed to subdue him?"

"We've got a truck en-route to come pick him up for transport," Inspector Aymond answered.

"Excellent," he trailed a gloved finger down Simon's bloody chest.

"Hey, get your fucking hands off me," Simon growled at him.

Archard almost looked surprised. "I apologize sir. Are you injured?" He glanced up at Simon's head. "Concussive trauma can be deadly if left untreated. Did you receive any head injuries while you were vandalizing this casino?" His other hand trailed up to Simon's head and ran through his hair, as if if inspecting it.

"I'm not saying shit until I get a lawyer," Simon answered as he jerked his head away from Archard's hand.

"Smart lad," the inquisitor stepped back, one glove with a blood sample, the other with strands of the garou's hair. "You have a good evening, now. Feel better." He stepped out of the ambulance, hands disappearing into his coat. It looked as if he were straightening his belt.

"I have no further questions for the suspect," he nodded to the inspector, "where did my companion head off to?"

"Fuck if I know," the Inspector answered.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Tiko and Ronin

Sylviane had found her way to the front lobby of the casino where more officer were busy tagging and photographing evidence. She did her best to skirt the broken glass, to avoid disturbing the crime scene as she entered.

The police didn't seem too pleased with her presence, but she opted for a more personable approach than her young co-worker.

"I'm just here to look," she said explained. "What have you got so far?"

One of the officers grunted. He was kneeling over Nieve's corpse. "Two bodies. One headless, the other..." He gestured to the mangled mess of intestines. "...yeah. No blood in this one. When we arrived on scene, a vamp had its fangs on her." The woman's clothing and body were littered in tears and cuts, a wide laceration on her inner thigh. Two gashes marked both sides of her neck, one akin to a bite, the other ravaged and mangled. There was a jarring crater in her stomach, from which her innards spilled onto the floor. She was blanket white, completely drained of blood - though a pool of it surrounded her.

"A vampire? You're certain?" she asked.

It wasn't that she doubted the officer but the peculiar nature of the statement left her questioning it on sheer principle. The bite wounds on the dead woman's throat could certainly have been a vampire, but they looked more like the ravagings of a wild animal. And vampires didn't typically disembowel their prey.

She knelt down beside the body to get a closer look at the bite wounds herself.

Off to the side she heard the sounds of retching, as someone lost their lunch - a rookie no doubt.

"Can't think of nothing else that bites your neck and sucks the blood out, can you?" the officer stood up and mopped his brow with his forearm. "If that wasn't enough, it did that ... smoke thing. When we shot at it." He shook his head, teeth grit. "Fucker disappeared right in front of us."

"There's quite a lot of things that feed on human blood, actually," Sylviane noted.

She was distracted though.

"Can I see that?" she asked one of the officers, gesturing for a measuring tape.

The officer shrugged, offering it to her.

She opened it up to measure the distance between the puncture wounds on the one side of her neck that was still recognizable.

"What about the other one over there?" she asked.

The other corpse sported cuts and holes in his clothing, but no noticeable injuries ... that was, aside from the fact that his head was broken clean off his neck. It wasn't a clean cut, his neck having looked as if it'd been ripped into, his spine shattered below the skull. The man's lifeless eyes looked up into the air with an expression of shocked fear. Despite sporting no puncture wounds, there was relatively little blood compared to what should have geisered out of his throat after decapitation. What blood there were was was black as tar. His skin was just as pale and cold as the other body.

"Wasn't sure about that one," the officer mumbled. "That black stuff coming out of it is unsettling." He squinted at the doorway, where one of the other officers was wiping his mouth of vomit. "Hey! Jons! Don't even think about coming back in here, go wash yer'fucking face off first."

She stood up and grabbed up a pair of latex gloves from a box that was set out and slipped them on before crouching down next to the head so she could part the lips to get a look at the teeth. Sure enough, what she found inside was a set of fangs. It brought a frown to her. Perhaps the officers assessment hadn't been misplaced.

She sat back on her heels, taking in the scene. The broken glass caught her eye. A few yellow markers had been set out where the shards of glass seemed to have been coated in blood and one officer was dropping a few pieces into an evidence bag.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Ronin and Tiko

Archard tapped up the steps, ruffling his nose at the stench that greeted him. "Charming," he looked at the pool of intestines, stepping around the glass and and blood. "Officer," his eyes flitted between the two bodies, "aside from these corpses and the one outside, were there any other deaths?"

The man nodded inward. "Four security guards. All dead."

"Cause?"

"Looks like they were shot."

Archard hummed thoughtfully. He looked at Sylviane. "The suspect in the ambulance is likely a garou. Are these two human?"

Sylviane frowned and stood up.

"Something doesn't add up here," she answered in response.

She moved off a bit, to speak with Archard off to the side while the officers went about their work.

"This is smack in the middle of Scion turf," she stated. "We've got a Garou outside, a dead vampire in here." She nodded her head towards one of the officers. "And that one witnessed another vampire feeding on the woman there when they arrived. Vampires don't hunt Garou, and I've never known them to get involved in the turf wars." She frowned again. "We would need to run some blood tests to determine if the woman or the security guards are human or not."

"Turf war or no, I haven't heard of vampires getting involved in anything Garou in quite some time..." He removed his gloves and walked towards the latex box. "We have a Garou outside in the wake of what looks like a warzone, in Scion territory. Turf war isn't a bad call." He swiped up two gloves and snapped them on. "That would make the opponents ... a rival pack?" He turned back. "...or were they battling the vampires?"