2020-01-25 - I'm Mr. Icicle. I'm Mr. 10 Below

August was just stepping out of Espresso Yourself, a cappuccino in hand. His foot's finally mended, the sprain responding well to rest and various anti-inflammatories, so the red moon boot of the last couple weeks is now replaced by a sturdy hiking boot. He's in denim jeans, a black suede jacket, and a dark gray hoodie under the jacket. Clothes to keep him warm.

But not enough to combat that feeling as it steals over him. The door to the coffee shop shuts behind him, and he freezes in place. "Damnit," he mutters.

Nobody notices the tiny art and writing supplies store tucked in at the end of the strip. It was likely once part of one of the other stores, but somewhere along the way part was walled off and given its own space. Kass is exiting this store, hurriedly shoving her supplies into the messenger bag she carries. Tugging at the knit cap on her head, she quickly tugs on a pair of matching knit gloves and glances around, taking only a single step before the feeling sets in, making her shoulders hunch up and roll like something itches fiercely between her shoulderblades. Sighing heavily, Kass seems resigned rubs at her eyes then stares up into the sky and shouts, "Fucking SERIOUSLY?!?"

Rick Heading into the strip mall, Rick is looking a little lost in thought as he heads further into the mall. His expression is a bit distant as he looks around, blinking as he hears the shout from Kass. "Oh? What..." he begins, trailing off and looking around. "What the....?" he mutters, just as much to himself.

Beth comes out of the Pizza Kitchen carrying two boxes of steaming warm pizza in both hands as she bumps the door open with her hip to step out. She starts towards the direction of the street quickly as she's keen to get into her car and out of the cold. She is dressed in pumps and a skirt for work but there are thick tights on her legs and a dark charcoal colored swing coat over her blazer to keep her warm. It doesn't help of course. A look of startled confusion that quickly transforms to concern crosses her face as she stops and that strange sensation comes over her. Her nose twitches like she needs to sneeze and her eyes water.

August is of half a mind to dive back into the coffee shop, right until he hears and sees those fleeing people, hears that scream. He takes a last drink of his coffee, sets it down, and heads towards that scream. He sees Kass and Beth, both of whom he recognizes, and then Rick, who he's not met but he can see the Glimmer on him. His mouth thins. Maybe they'll help, maybe not. He keeps moving towards those sounds, asks one of the fleeing people, "What is it?"

Nodding to those people he sees, studying them all for a few moments, before he hears that shruek, which makes his mind slip back into work mode. "Where did that come from?" he asks, frowning as he starts making his way in the general direction of where he believes that sound came from.

Sighing heavily, Kass shifts her messenger bag towards her back and heads towards the fleeing people, more specifically, reluctantly trailing after August. She glances back towards Beth and Rick and mutters, "Might as well come along. Nothing to be done for it now, They've already caught us int he Dream. No getting out of it until we've beaten the level. Think of it like a video game without any power-ups or respawns." She adds after a moment, "A really fucked up, shitty video game." Then she's brushing past August and heading straight towards the wet sounds and the shriek. "Someone should say the line. Not gonna be me, but SOMEONE should."

Beth puts her pizza boxes on top of her car when she reaches it, puts her hands on the side of her head, and grimaces slightly before she starts towards where August and now Kass are heading. At the confirmation from Kass that they are Dreaming she lets out a sound of disgust. "Goddamn it I really wanted some lunch with no bullshit." She heads in the direction of the sounds as well then.

August pulls up short, coughs and looks aside when he sees the mess. "Fucking hell." He eyes those footprints, starts looking around for their source. Whatever it is, it's big, and apparently, mean.

Frowning as he sees the scene they bhave arrived t, wincing a bit. Stepping closer to look at the remains, he kneels down to look for clues there. "I'm supposed to have a day off..." he mutters, mostly to himself, before his gaze goes to the blood on the wall, following it up the wall. "Something's there..." he mutters, loud enough for the others to hear it. "Be alert..."

Beth is shocked when she sees the gory scene as that amount is startling even to the most seasoned of those who work with the dead. However, she is not repulsed and when she sees the gore she heads in that direction. Crouching down she eyeballs it carefully to determine what exactly it is, and the longer she looks the more concerned she becomes. Her eyes stray towards the blood splattered wall before they turn upwards. She gets a sinking feeling in the bottom of her stomach. Standing up she says, "Find cover! There is something in the sky and it's nasty." And then she does what she's just suggested herself running towards the closest thing that will offer shelter from above.

Kass casts an almost artistic eye towards the frozen spread of meat and viscera before her shoulders hunch and roll once more and she's canting her head to look up. "Well.. shit. That's not great. Stealth hunter, big enough to have a splash zone. Fuck.. its this Donkey Kong?? Are we... hm." Cutting herself off, Kass shakes her head and starts backing away, not necessarily finding cover but at least taking herself out of the immediate impact zone. "If we have to start hopping barrels, I'm gonna be annoyed."

August nods at the others, noting the blood spatter on the wall; he's in the process of looking for something to hide under when it strikes. "Fuck!" he yelps, diving clear. Are these Dream constructs, or real people? It's so hard to tell sometimes.

He licks his lips, eyeing the thing. Now comes the question--do they run, or try to stop it? He looks askance at the others. "Are we running for it, or trying to stop it?" He can't do this alone, so if there's a quorum to run like hell, well, run like hell it is.

"What the..." Ducking under something as that's adviced, Rick grimaces, instinctively reaching for where he keeps his gun when using it. But since it was a day off, he didn't bring it. "Oh..." He looks towards the creature, frowning as he hears August's words. "How do we stop something like that? We probably should, but how?"

Beth's eyes widen in horror as the monster makes it's appearance. She manages not to scream as it dive bombs Kass. "We need to run! How would we ever fight that?!" Is her response to August. Her eyes search frantically. Need to hide...need to hide...

And then she does something she's never done before. She hides herself. Beth sort of just begins fading into the background. She's harder to see and hear. She is unaware of this change as she rushes towards Kass to begin helping her up.

"Ow, fuck! You...OW!" Kass hisses and curses first at the swipe from the claws, then howls quickly after when she's sent off her feet to land hard on the ground. "Oh its on. Look here you frozen Frankenstein fuck, I just wanted to go home and PAINT." Picking herself up, slowly, carefully, she doesn't trust herself on icy streets anymore than she does in heels. She takes the helping hand that Beth offers, reaching out quickly to grip a street light so she can stand, shivering at the sudden rush of cold against bruised skin. "Owwwwwwww. Okay. Okay. This thing has to go." Looking towards August, she shakes her head, "I'm not running. That's what it wants. What They want. I won't give them the satsfaction." Glancing to Rick, she lets out a breath, "One piece at a time." Looking to Beth, she murmurs, "If you're not a fighter, get to cover, its cool." She reaches out with her free hand, like she's got a grip on something. To anyone that senses Glimmer, Kass lights up like a Christmas tree, twisting, then wrenching sharply away to the sound of sharply cracking bones and that purring rip of flesh. One of the creature's arms comes flying back towards them.. without the monster attached. Black ichor spurting a hot trail across the icy streets.

August watches Kass tear the thing a new one, blinks in surprise. So, it can be hurt. "I guess we're doing this," he says, and steps out, moving towards the thing. He shakes out his left hand, curling it like he's holding something, summoning tiny sparks that swirl together into a tear-drop shaped fireball of orange, yellow, and a hint of lavender. "Okay asshole. Time to pick on something your own size." He heaves it, careful to set his feet in the ice so he doesn't slip and fall. The fire splashes when it lands, erupting over the thing. The creature doesn't burn, though: it melts, save for the bones, which heat and explode like pine trees in a wildfire. August staggers back from the smell and flying bone fragments, surprised. "It burns," he says, coughing, trying to move clear. "If you've got a way to light it up, have at it."

Rick frowns as he listens, trying to figure out what to do to help with this. "Now this is when I wish I had my gun..." It's muttered a bit thoughtfully while he looks around rather carefully. Moving to help at least trying to keep people calm.

Beth is not a fighter. She watches as Kass sort of rips a piece of the monster off and she says, "Yeah. Clearly you got this. Uh...I'm going to fuck off now." And then Beth does exactly what she says she's going to do and runs away from the direct fighting to find somewhere to hide from the monster. Or, at least, hide better than she is currently hidden. She finds a wall to duck behind, her glasses-wearing head peeking out to watch. Taking in a few breaths her brow furrows as she tries to make whatever that thing is very afraid.

While August lights the monster up and calls out that its vulnerable to flames, Kass tightens her grip on the lamppost and reaches out with her free hand. Trying to take hold of the flames already crackling along its frame to move them farther along, trying to help the hungry heat along its natural path. Something, however, seems to give pushback on that hold. Frowning, she reaches out again only to be rebuffed once more. Her eyes shift and meet the beast's for a brief moment, lip curling into a snarl of impotent anger against the creature.

Well, I sure got it's attention, August's expression broadcasts. He shudders as it swallows the woman hole and turns to dive clear of the thing, hoping for some sort of cover from which he can focus long enough to try to break off a limb. He'd love to get it immobilized.

Grimacing as he sees the monster eat the woman, Rick ducks behind something just in case. He shakes his head a bit. "Sometimes I hate life..." he mutters, mostly to himself. "And then there are days like this..."

Fuck!" Beth breathes out as the monster swallows the poor woman whole. "Shit shit shit..." She mutters to herself as she tries to hit it with another wave of debilitating emotion. This time she tries something a little more complex: doubt. She wants to shatter that monster's confidence, yo.

"HEY! FRANKENFUCK!" Kass tries to get its attention away from August, yelling and cursing at the cryptid even as she lashes out once again. Trying to go for a kill shot, wrenching out towards its head. She doesn't quite manage it, opening up a wide gash along its face instead. "Dammit! C'mere you frozen ghoul! I'll take you apart a piece at a time!"

Managing to gather his wits enough to get something done, Rick makes sure there's a distraction for the creature. A bit off from where they are, there's what looks like a man standing, looking like he's gripped with fear. Hopefully a tempting target for the monster, so it'll be distracted from those that can fight back.

August slides behind dumpster, and from there, concentrates on one of the thing's still-functional limb, tearing at it. Well, at least it's flailing around on two now. He drags in a few shuddering breaths of relief as the beast turns away from them towards a figure that's popped up out of nowhere. "Good work," he calls to Rick, and climbs back to his feet. "Let's just dismantle it some more," he says, and concentrates on taking off another limb.

Beth continues to watch with her head peeking from behind the wall. Her expression is one of disgusted horror. To be fair it's super gross.

Rick offers a brief grin to August, as he concentrates on keeping the illusion in place for a few moments longer, then the figure in terror disappears. Hopefully that'll give them time to dismantle it even more. "Good job removing the limbs," he offers, loud enough to be heard, but still quietly.

Even though the creature might well be dead, Kass is not about to rely on 'probably'. Walking towards it, slowly, carefully, keeping one arm banded around her middle to keep out as much of the cold as possible, she reaches out to the flames still lingering, heightening and expanding them. Making it cover the entire body of the monster, spreading the flames along its body, even pausing to pick up the limb she'd torn from the creature to toss onto the pile. "Stay down this time." Letting out a breath, she keeps the hand over her stomach, slowly knitting her own clothing back together. Spirit is so useful! "August.. right? Are you hurt? New guy? Girl with glasses? Anyone hurt?"

August sags with the effort of tearing the thing open, propping himself against a wall. Oh--no, he's just trying not to throw up. And he succedes, mostly, but it takes him a second. He straightens, wipes a hand along the back of his mouth. He nods at Kass, saying, "I'm okay." And, true enough, he doesn't feel injured. He swallows, looks back over his shoulder at it. "We should get out of here. I don't wanna find out it can put itself back together the hard way."

He moves to Beth and Rick. "Hey. How you two holding up." It's the sort of question which invites honesty while also encouraging them to all get out while the getting's good.

Beth stands up a little more straight once the thing is dead and that feeling lessens. She glances to Kass at her question and gives her a thumb's up. When August comes over and asks the same question she shrugs a little. "My pizza is probably cold now." This is said a little sadly as she starts towards the direction of her car where the pizza is waiting on top.

Pausing as he sees the creature break apart and get burned, Rick grimaces. He stays quiet for a while longer, before he lets out a long breath. "I think..." He shrugs as he looks between the others. "I think I hate days off..." he replies, after a few moments of pause. At the mention of Beth's pizza probably being cold now, he's unable to hold back a bit of a chuckle.

"Good. Okay. Then lets get the Hell out of here before we find out this was the baby," Kass jerks her thumb back towards the burning pile on the ground. She glances towards her clothes to make sure she's been able to knit them all back together, giving a nod. "Okay." Then back to Beth with a faint smile, "Did you get the pizza insurance? You could get them to remake it for free!" Her gaze dips to Rick and murmurs, "Won't matter if its your day off or not.. trust me. I spent my New Years stuck in a terrifying Dream loop at work."