2020-03-17 - Burning Down The Murray House

August arrives with Finch and Ignacio, dressed in clothes he won't miss: a plain shell jacket in white, denim jeans, a red, long-sleeved shirt, and some work boots. They know about this place well enough now that he's not taking any chances; he has his handgun with him as well, and a crowbar. Bring it, House of a Thousand Jerks.

Finch is wearing some old, grungy, field gear that she can get rid of without any pain. She's in black cargo pants with multiple pockets, a ratty old tee (clearly she takes after her father and keeps a pile of those on hand) and a black hoodie with a white graphic of a figure being chased by the silhouette of a Velociraptor and the slogan, "Running - Sometimes we all need a little motivation." Some beat up old black converse hi-tops are on her feet. She has a backwards baseball cap on, just a plain one, no slogans or teams on it. Something to turn around and tug down if unexpected people show up that could place her at the arson site. The only weapon she has is herself, but that's pretty potent. She grimaces as she stares at the hulking outline of Murray House, darker against the sky, standing beside Iggy and August.

"Hi August!" Lyric greets him like he's some long lost friend. There's a smile on her features as she continues. "This time we can do it on purpose." As far as weapons go, she's empty handed, unless a small can of mace is a weapon, but she doesn't usually carry anything much. Wearing a pair of jeans and a band tee shirt with a hoodie over it with combat style boots. No electronic devices on her person. The other two with August get a wave as does Devlin.

Elazar arrives with Minerva dressed in dark bown hiking boots, black jeans and a long sleeve dark blue shirt with bandana around his dark curly hair. As far as weapons go, it looks like he's just got a crowbar and his fishes have some athletic tap wrapped around the knuckles thin enough he can still hold things, open doors, grab onto edges before plummetting into pits of doom.

With the miserable mix of rain and snow, and him being the first to feel its effects, Everett's worn black leather jacket has the collar up. Unzipped up, the green shirt beneath sports the beginning of spots when drops and flakes make it past his outer shield. He follows along behind Lyric, lit cigarette dangling between his lips to combat the cold while his thumbs are tucked into his jean pockets. He takes a slow look at those present with unconcealed distaste.

Ignacio watches the house with that sense of foreboding, but if the sarcastic sunnovabitch can't keep a lid on his calm who can? He is absolutely not dressed in anything spectacular, but does have his reinforced leg brace on, one of many Mets hoodies, and gird in determination sponsored by a Xanax. His hand lifts to Lyric and drop, fingers finding the spot between Finch's shoulder blades. Right, lucky rabbit's foot. We good. He looks at the house and says, presumably to it, "Soooo we've gathered as your friends because we need to talk to you about some behaviors that are... hampering your ability to achieve health and happiness... also it's been pretty douchey." Yes. it's time for an intervention. For a building. Yes he also finds himself hilarious.

August snorts at Ignacio, glances sidelong at him, expression wry. He gives Lyric an up-nod and a small smile, though Everett gets a warier expression. August doesn't know him all that well, isn't sure what to expect of him. "Ready as we can be," he says, fingering the crowbar. "What do you want us to do?" He pauses, studying her, adds, "Need a little...boost? For when you put down the zones?"

Lyric's wave gets a bit of a brow arch from Finch. She's trying not to look at any faces too hard. They're all about to commit a felony, at the very least, so calling out people's names and getting to know one another kind of ruins one's plausible deniability. She elbows Iggy to that effect. She has her serious business face on. Not something she pulls out too often. It is a growly expression that is painfully reminiscent of Ruiz.

Aidan has gone relatively subdued today for evil house purposes, but also it's St. Patrick's Day and cold, so there's slightly-ripped jeans and his leather jacket over a green Christmas sweater featuring lots of lights (pattern, not actually light-up in this case) and with a pair of beat-up green-plaid knock-off Converse. Also gloves, because... still kinda cold.

"Hey," he greets those assembled, with a quick, bright grin, a little extra for Ignacio's interventiony-ness. Possibly he should have a weapon, but if he does it must be hiding in a pocket. Or, you know, his mind. August's answer and following question get a seconding nod. "Ready," he agrees, "Just let let us know which bits when."

Lyric is kind of eager to do this, with the history of the house eating kids and all. The handprints on the walls she'd had the nightmare about. Once the greetings are given she looks back to Everett in time to catch that look he gives the others. Distaste? August? Her brows arch in silent question, but it's not so silent so long. "You don't like them?" Indicating the others. She is distracted from it all by Minerva though and her new mode of dress. Walking over, she joins closer in with the others. "Nothing from me, but be careful in there."

The question poised to him from Lyric gets the gorilla to look around once more, pouts his bottom lip and gives a quick shrug of his shoulders. He has nothing further to add, turning his attention to Minerva when she lays out the battle plan, Everett continues to follow Lyric like a stray, waiting until after her own delivered pep-talk before he takes a paw from his front pocket in favor of her back pocket, using the action to lean in her direction and murmur something for her.

August grimaces at Minerva's request to not be healed, but with Devlin there, he feels at least a little less concerned by such claims. "Understood." He glances at Finch to make sure she does as well; she's as itchy a healing trigger finger as he is.

Finch listens to Minerva and nods her understanding though she looks displeased about the healing part. She's ready, though. She slides one hand into one of Ignacio's to squeeze it reassuringly, before freeing it up again so she can use both hands to weave her Glimmer as needed. She gives August a shrug. She'll do her best not to heal the unwilling, unless it's him or Ignacio then they can fucking shut their cakeholes and take it, dammit.

Aidan doesn't look super-thrilled at the request not to be healed either, a hand absently moving to rub lightly over part of his chest, but he nods as well. "'kay," he says, "Wait here and then set things on fire. I can do that, I think. Um. Good luck!" That bit to everyone, apparently in the last-things-to-say realm.

Elazar listens to the speech by Minerva while looking over some familiar faces from the meeting and then some new faces too. "Are you guys still planning on dropping big trees on the house once it's up in flames?" he wonders looking from Minerva to some of the others. "And how long will it take to do that if you are?"

Ignacio stands entirely indifferent really to who is helping so long as people are helping. There's a look of concern on his face. He tried. They all did. This situation did not get better. Looking to Minerva he says, "Got my phone for emergencies. I'll try to keep you guys on scan when you go in. I'm... bad for labor but I make a fair voxcaster." Looking to Finch he gives her hand a squeeze back and a faint smile. Nervous. he's nervous. Any sane person would be though. "Right Operation:Neighborhood Watch is a go then."

Lyric nods a touch solemnly to Everett and glances to his cigarette. "You know, big wildfires have started from someone throwing out a cigarette. Too bad this wouldn't be that simple." There's a whimsical smile that follows the wods, but she falls silent again as she listens to Minerva. The wind shifting is alarming, especially with that laughter from Skeletor. She looks over to August and shivers a little. She'd seen the Skeletor before, even tried to set it on fire with August. They'd succeeded in almost burning down the house then. "I'm ready when everyone else is. Be careful."

A call of dropping trees on the house perks Everett's attention, casting a look to Minerva's fiance, Elazar. Everett's focus then turns to the surrounding trees, calculating height and distance away and maths and where did this headache come from. The thug squints, rubbing the finger pads of his first two fingers over the wrinkles between his eyebrows. His head turns when he hears Lyric speaking, moving the soothing fingers from his forehead to brush wet hair away. His big head nods in agreement with her, distractedly wondering where he might have placed his axe.

"Yeah yeah yeah," August mutters under his breath at the laughter. He looks between Eleazar and Minerva. "You sure you just want the two of you going in? No additional backup?"

Elazar gives Minerva a look when August questions it, certainly seems like he's not adverse to some extra backup. Those eyes of his.

At the laughter Finch grits her teeth. She is not going to be in a cage. She is not going to be a dead bird. This jerk send little birds into her windows and nearly killed them, if she hadn't healed them. She really thinks Murray is a grade A prick. "Let's get this done. The longer we're standing here, the more chance we have of being seen."

"Like August said bfore, we could at least try and make things kinda go more your way," Aidan adds to the older man's suggestion of backup.

Ignacio watches considering things, for all his smartass comments, from a tactical angle. Looking to Minerva he taps his temple, "Doc, call. I can hit you back. Faster than yelling over shrieking and fire." He takes a step back looking to his fellow Boardwalk wharf rat, "Aidan, you too. Kinda like you not incinerated, man."

"Safety in numbers and all that." Lyric backs what August says to Minerva and her fiance. At the less targets comment, she nods, understanding. Watching as the two go inside, she looks at the others, "Burning down the house." Hey, she's a musician, everything's a song.

A glance is given towards Finch at her impatience, the disinclination on his appearance relaxing somewhat before Everett turns his head back in Lyric's direction and as he had before, murmurs a few words down to her. Once given, Everett looks back towards the house, Minerva, and Elazar. It isn't until Lyric says something that Everett nudges her with the elbow belonging to the hand in her back pocket, "Are those lyrics to something? Oh. Marshmallows, hotdogs, and beers?" They brought snacks.

"We'll keep our ears open." August also keeps his eyes open, looking around for anyone snooping, or like they might be calling the cops.

Finch watches and waits, letting her Glimmer surge and well behind her eyes, feeling it in her fingertips, waiting to be released.

Elazar purses his lips when Minerva responds to the bit about extra people, hefting up the crowbar and remarking "I promise one of us will make it out." then they're inside and he's never been in here before so he more or less has to follow Minerva or get lost.

Aidan shrugs as the offer's ignored a second time, hands sliding into his jacket pockets as he settles back to watch. Well, one does; the other gets rerouted to a finger-gun of acknowledgement to Ignacio, who gets a grin as well. Wharf rats unite! "Thanks. I'd prefer you not being a pile of ash too," he replies cheerfully, with a small headward gesture that's either agreement to the instruction or an indication that Ignacio is invited to 'call' as well. "I kinda want marshmallows and beer," he adds, presumably to Everett though his attention is now definitely on the house. "Maybe after though." His hands emerge again, fingers flexing and stretching a little.

Ignacio lets his head swim in a figure eight murmuring, "Yeah I could go for a Cuervo after this. We live I'll buy first round at Deuce after this." His distraction though is taking his focus. The pair head in and Ignacio watches the ground. He murmurs, "Satellite is up." Which is shorthand for those familiar with his particular knacks.

Everett isn't one to pass up a free meal. Or blessing. While it was August that started it, it's Aidan that gets the brute's attention, putting his hands on Lyric's shoulders while he tells the other man, "She'll take whatever witchery you've got." He adds, "Whatever you can spare. Then your first 'mallow's on me." Not literally. Aidan's attention on the house, Everett glances back and casually reaches inside his jacket, unsnaps something, and casually extracts a beretta and points it down. He wraps his other hand around Lyric's shoulders, looks at the house and adds: "'Murika."

"It's a song." Lyric tells Everett, leaning in to listen to what he says before giving a grin his way. "Marshmallows are good, but not with the accelerent. Might taste pretty bad." She doesn't say much else until Everett puts his arm around her and she grins at him. "That looks kinda deadly. Hope you're good with it." Though she does nod to Aidan and the others, "A drink and food would be great after."

Elazar gets taken by surprise, perhaps because he wasn't really expecting a skeletal ghost to actually bull rush him from the room. Hitting the floorboards and rolling with the unnaturally strong push. When he manages to get back onto his knees the door is closed and he pulls out the crowbar to rush the door, trying to break the lock... Ghosts lock doors right, they don't secure them with will?

August starts at the scream, just barely doesn't go running in there. The sound of the door slamming just reaches him, and he pushes his instinct in that direction, reaching out to shatter the door. Slamming doors are a no.

Finch opens up her mind to Ignacio, tuning in to him. Blood begins to trickle from one nostril as the essence of some massive grey bird of prey seems to circle inside his head. <What's going on in there?>

The door breaks, probably from Elazar's sweet crowbar right? As it breaks the man kicks through the debris looking about in hopes Skeletor or more importantly Minerva is still there.

Lyric doesn't really know much about the mental thing and reading minds. She's certainly not adept at it, so most of the happenings are over her head for now. She's too focused on getting the fire going as soon as the words are given that it's time. The scream deters her a bit and she falters briefly, looking between the others. She doesn't help start it yet, but she's poised.

Ignacio relays this and looks up with an expression a little surprised, "Alright, team, Doc says look sharp. They got everything set up and are doing the 'by the power of Grayskull' bit where the FX department gets involved. Look out for ghosts and lens flares." His hand reaches out to steady himself and pops the look up. "Short story? Shit's about to get loco up in here." He pauses and hesitates, "She's... not in the house and said to torch it when the dude comes out. " He pauses and points, "That one. Go go go!"

Casually looking at the M9 in his large paw, tilting it a little to let the matte black finish absorb the light, Everett then considers Lyric for a moment and her aspirations. Maybe he's not so stupid. "No," he says deadpan, "horrible shot. So you should stay behind me." The sound from the house, the scream, causes Everett's attention to turn up, then other people who've been waiting more diligently rush forward. With Lyric staying put, so does Everett, though he takes his tree truck arm from around her shoulders to brace the butt of the gun with both hands. The synopsis is confusing until the short story.

Elazar walks into the room with the bloody handprints then quickly looks around. Luckily for him he's an architect ! So running down halls he manages to get the big rooms first. It only takes five minutes of sprinting about before he determines whereever Minerva is she isn't in the house so he smashes a window out with the crowbar and hops the fuck out of the house on the first floor calling out, "Burn it down... And someone find Minerva, she vanished inside but she's no where to be found."

August cuts a glance at Ignacio, stares up at the house, mind seeking. "She's--gone. Not in there." He grips the crowbar in his hand tight enough for his knuckles to turn white. When Elazar comes running out, he says to Ignacio, "Can you do that? Find someone based on something they own? It's a kind of power someone like you has."

He shudders. He really doesn't want to light the place up without knowing where she is. But they may have no choice.

Evil ghost yelling possibly good! Female-sounding scream not so much. Aidan looks about ready to head in, though he holds it back, exhaling with partial relief when Ignacio updates them on the continuing plan. Okay, if both their folks are out, then... He takes Ignacio's cue, hands drawing toward his chest to form up a fireball, and once Elazar's clear, both hands push quickly forward, wrists facing each other and fingers spread. He does not actually exclaim 'hadouken', but that's definitely the motion.

At the call that she's gone, Everett looks over beside him. Not that he's checking, but that he has an idea. A hand comes off his gun to smooth his wet hair back, and looks at Lyric with speculation. "Do you think? Maybe she was pulled across The Shroud? Can we go and check?" he asks the pale woman.

At the go ahead, Finch raises her hands, somewhat like an orchestra conductor. An unseen wind lifts the ends of her hair, just a little, like Drew Barrymore in Firestarter. Her fingers begin to dance, moving in the manner of a puppeteer pulling the strings of an unseen creation. And the creation starts. Flames spark out of nowhere and a roiling ball of fire begins to form between her hands, the light reflecting like dancing motes in her dark eyes. Then she thrusts the ignited ball of power at the house and it soars towards the place, going for the roof first, where it can collapse downward.

Ignacio is trying. Nothing is... nothing's happening. Poor guy is just terrible with fire or lightening or anything. He's a communications guy! The harder he's trying the less impressive it gets. He's not finding his point of clarity like Alexander's been coaching him on. He's still attached to the woman on the other side and the one next to him catching fire. When Everette asks about going across he turns and finds that moment! He doesn't snap at him but the tone is concerned and insistent, "I'm talking to her right now. She's okay. She said burn the house down!" And when he points the particles in the air seize and rupture into a flashing CRACK! of lightening causing a chain effect through all the wiring and, for those sensing the electric, he just blew out the damn wall sockets. Well. ahem That helped.

...also whoops. Happy whoops?

There's enough people to burn things, but burning isn't, as far as August is concerned, enough. This place needs to be torn down.

He starts with the load bearing walls, snapping the beams holding them up; moves on to other support structures, cracking them, stressing them where he doesn't straight up tear them out.

He moves down to the foundation slab and cracks that too, spiderwebbing it, shoving the pieces apart.

Lyric is so focused on the house on trying to bring it down with her glimmery powers, working on the roof and maybe a few of the surrounding trees since they were mentioned. Vaguely she hears Everett and she shakes her head, "We stay with the group like we're s'posed to." Having no qualms about finishing the job they were set to do first and foremost.

Elazar might not have the same abilities to destroy things, but upset boyfriends with crowbars... He breaks some windows.

Finch wipes the back of her sleeve across her nose, wiping away some of the blood coming from it. "Feel that? I think old man Murray just left the premises. I think we ought to drop a tree or two on it though, just to be sure," she murmurs to August and Ignacio. "Also might make it look like a lightning strike or something."

His question, and presumably Elazar's and August's, having been answered, Everett shrugs his right shoulder. "Sweet," he murmurs, watching what's going on, the destruction, the lumber, being leveled at the house. The smashing of panes of glass. He looks down at his gun, looks up at the house.

Never before having felt so emasculated, Everett contemplates taking a shot at the house, just to feel better. But the feeling comes regardless of a fired shot or not and he lowers his gun and repeats a previous phrase, "'Murika."

"Oh shit." Lyric says mid-celebration as the house burns and she adds to its demise. The sudden scent and calm just.. well even though it's soothing, she was anything but soothed! It wasn't normal amid the chaos! A look to Everett, she seems to trust his judgment, even as she listens to his commentary. There's a shrug, "Or something."

Elazar moves away from the house when things start exploding outward and in a fit of rage... Throws his crowbar through a window... It's super effective, but cathartic

Finch hears the boom a split second before she feels the shards of wood peppering her body. "Mother fucker." Ok, now she's just pissed off. Her hands move and she swipes them at a big old, very sickly spruce nearby, having it uproot itself to walk over and just plain old beat the fuck out of the house, pounding it into the ground, until it lays down on top of it to succumb to the flames.

August grunts in surprise at the explosion, directs as much of the wood away from Finch and Ignacio as he can. It helps, at any rate; none of the big pieces get through, and he just winds up with a shredded jacket and jeans. Could be worse.

Aidan's eyes light up when the house does, and he does everything he can to encourage the burning. He's just going to focus on that for a while, looking quite pleased when the snap-and-scent arise. Anything vanilla-scented has to be good, right? Plus, soothing. Good!

When the sudden explosion comes he jumps, wincing as a couple splinters make it through his clothing enough to be felt, but come on: that explosion's also kind of awesome, and there's a sudden bright laugh even with the wince, before it's overcome with a moment of worry as he looks around. "Um. Everyone okay?" he asks, leaning to gingerly pull a splinter from where it hit a rip in his jeans. There's a little blood, but it'll heal right up soon enough.

With the sonic detonation, Everett turns to cover Lyric, even if that means taking her share in his back, hissing a breath into his lungs. He looks down at her, giving her a soft smirk for a second, before looking over his shoulder to watch the tree. Under his breath, Everett murmurs, "Stop hittin' yourself."

Ignacio pre-planned! He has the good leg-brace and forethought to have places himself in a spot far enough away in case the move-fast order comes. When Min's body hits the ground he furrows his brow and looks to Elazar, August, and Everett, "She's... I got her she's alive." Speaking out loud and over the link established he reaches out to the other mentalist, "Doc, It's Ignacio. House down. We see you. Talk to me. How are we? You're looking pretty rough here." He pauses and adds, "A concern, not a judgement."

Not expecting the explosion, Lyric watches, dumbfounded a little. When she realizes the splinters and shards are coming their way, it's too late for her to take cover, but Everett saves her face and the rest of her by being a physical barrier from the debris. Lifting her chin, she winces, realizing he had taken more than his share of the cuts into his back. "I can't heal, Everett. Go, go see the medic guy." Devlin that is. It's then she notices Minerva and just after that, the blood. "She said no healing, but the medic can see to her right? Basic, not glimmery healing? And the cops'll be comin' soon, we should really jet. With her."

"Whey does it smell like sugar cookies out here?" Minerva manages over the link. There's a twitch of her eye before it cracks open and she rolls onto her belly and gets to her knees before she vomits. Apparently she's alright if she's at least moving. She waves a hand in the air, "I'm fine." she mutters. Then her eye is frantically searching for someone as she tries to keep her head up. Most of the blood is coming from the side of her neck.

Elazar seemed pretty shell shocked when the house succumbs to the flames and then sees Minerva pop out again. When she finally starts looking for him, he meets her eyes and comes jogging over. "What happened to you?" and someone mentions the cops and he suggests, "Does someone have a big enough car for the medic to sit with her, I'll drive ours so it's not at the site of an arson."

"What, this?" asks Everett his timbre strained, indicating his back or his shoulder, he's flippantly dismissive, waving his gun with casual disregard, "It's nothing." Squaring his jaw, he puts his gun back inside his biker's jacket, snapping inside and pulling his hand back out, empty, trying not to let the pain of every moment just putting his gun away caused him. He waits until Lyric's looking at Minerva before lowering his head and making a wipe at the corner of his eye. Water, not tears. "I have a Grand Prix," he offers to Elazar.

Suddenly, Minervas! Aidan looks distressed at the state of her, and actually takes a step or two her way before supressing it. She made a request, consent is a thing. "You sure you're gonna be okay?" he asks, and lifts a hand at Elazar's question, looking relieved to have something to more or less offer: "I've got a van? It's over there some." A vague gesture toward where he left it. "...oh, his might be closer, though?"

Finch looks at Iggy and August, finally coming down from the adrenaline high of the power coursing through her. She holds herself back from trying to heal Minerva, though every fiber of her being wants to. "We should all get out of here, yeah. Fire and an explosion? They've already called it in by now."

August starts when Minerva falls out of the Veil, winces at the sense of her injuries. But, they promised, and Devlin is here, and there are people offering cars. "Yeah. Let's get going."

It was time to go, but Lyric knows Everett was hit by.. things. She narrows her gaze at him. "How do you expect to sit in a car with spears and javelins in your back?" Close enough. It may feel like that at least! "Can I get the worst out at least? She looks over to Minerva, "Or let someone else drive. We gotta go and get her out."

Ignacio nods to Finch in agreement and offers, "So long as it's not a clutch I...used to be a driver. We can get her to the hospital." He looks to the man that went in with her and says with no sharpness, "We need to move now in all regards though."

Elazar waits for people to figure out the car situation, steals a kiss of Minerva's forehead and a quick "You didn't die, so promises kept." and he's off to find their car, maybe he tailgates the one Minerva ended up in... the whole time, but at least he isn't honking.