Scene #4755:

Owner	Pose
Inga Freyjasdottir	With only frustration and more questions, the group leave the haunted house behind in order to move on. Inga has a hunch and her runes to guide her toward their next location, stopping every now and then to consult the bones carved with runes or to sort through whatever threads of the wyrd she could find in this place that might lead them forward. As far as physical signs, they find smears of blood occasionally that are fresher than the rest. Still wet, human in scent. It is likely they will run into the occasional group of zombies, but they are nothing the group cannot handle so long as they don't let themselves become overwhelmed. Finally, something tall looms in the murky darkness ahead. Tentacles stretch outward around a large head, ghostly and haunting in the fog, a monster turned to stone. As they approach, they group sees a sign arcing over the pathway that reads "OCTOTRON". Little lights line the tentacles, the eyes of the mechanical beast glow with manace, thought it does not move. The trail of blood leads here. Inga blinks, her mouth opening. "Who would ever build such a thing?" she asks quietly. Then she notices something. There are small cabins at the end of the tentacles--and one of them is occupied. A small hand is visible. A voice cries out from one of the tentacles highest from the ground. A cry for help.
Staren	"I think it was supposed to spin while people are in those little carts there. It's a ride." Staren comments. Then they see a tiny hand and a voice. He considers for a split second, then manifests wings and takes off to inspect that cabin. "It might be a trap! Someone be ready if like, it grabs us or something when we get close!"
Finna	BLOOD is easy to track, and Finna remains ever in her familiar and comforting fox form, darting along the path. When zombies appear she joins in the fights by shifting to human and dragging out a sword from Elsewhere to slash heads off with, as she's not about to use claws and fangs and get herself soaked in zombigoo. The sword and her outright nimbletude seems sufficient to let her dance between coagulated blood and goo sprays and come of it mostly clean. ... Exalts. But now she's once more in fox form, head tilted weirdly at the... 'octotron.' Despite Staren's warnings - which she no doubt is keeping in mind - Finna wastes little time simply VAULTING up onto one of the immobile arms and heading for the voice...
Inga Freyjasdottir	As soon as they come close, something happenes. Electronics and mechanical parts start to whirr, the lights flaring as the monster seems to take a deep breath...and then it is in motion. The arms move quickly and violently, and if Finna is not extremely dexterous, she will be instantly flung from the tentacle and back to the ground. The ground, where zombies are now rushing toward the group at full speed, all bloodstained clothes and rotting flesh, ever-hungry for the living. the zombies on Solomon Island are /fast/, and there a /lot/ of them, as if they are being drawn toward the Octotron. They rushe the group for several different positions, driving them further toward Octrotron. Inga curses, backing toward the Octotron, calling a chain of lightning to crack into a group of zombies headed straight for her. The zombies are toast, sizzling, screaching and falling to the ground. She breathes a brief sigh of relief, only for her eyes to widen before turning...to take a fireball right in the face. Inga falls, in flames, and doesn't get back up.
Finna	Finna yelps, but it's too late! The ride begins to turn, quickly going waaaaay beyond Finna's ability to really deal with. She counters this adapting though, as any good Lunars would. Her claws grow sharp and longer, glowing silver. They CRUNCH into the arm's hull and dig in for extra purchase after a few moments of scrabbling. Still, she's groaning and yammering in a panic for the first seven seconds! Which is enough time for Inga to get ROASTED. THAT triggers a LONG screechy bark from the Lunar girl. Inga is a friend! NOW Finna's mad. And while she knows Inga can recover in time... for now her body is in danger from mad zombies. "STAREN! STOP CRAZY MACHINE! STOP IT NOW!" Where did all the god damned ZOMBIES crawl out of?! Why didn't Finna smell them earlier?! Nevertheless, she decides to spend a few more moments laboriously fighting the insane G-Forces by crunch-clawing her way up the ride's arms towards the car. That's when FIREBALL comes lunging from the octopus mouth! Finna reacts instantly by vaulting sideways with all her strength and out past the ride's bounds. The G-Forces send her sailing out of the fireball's trajectory and she hits the ground with claws aglow... scraping across the aging pavement and sending up sparks! The little fox... is rapidly becoming not so little. Silvery light flows from her flesh and the mark of the moon glows on her forehead. Lunar essence billows as her muscles bulge and flesh resculpts upwards. The little fox is soon a towering, seven-foot beastwoman mass of tightly packed muscle and savage fangs, claws streaming dense silver-blue energies as she stands guard over Inga. Earlier Finna had an AVERSION to getting all messy, but that was only so long as there was no reason to get so. Now as the zombies approach she answers them with a bone-chilling, outworld-forsaking HOWL and whirlwind lashes of her claws. Each one has enough strength behind it to not just THWONK zombies around. Heads will asplode, crushed from the force and speed!
Staren	Staren flies towards the car with the kid in it, but the whole thing starts spinning! "Damn it!" He looks around at the approaching zombies, then back at the machine as Finna suggests stopping it. May as well try! Ignoring the zombies for now, he flies in close, under one of the high tentacles, to the base of the machine. If it's tall enough for him to stand by it without getting hit by passing tentacles, he starts cutting a hole in the casing with his plasma sabers. If it isn't tall enough, he attempts to ride the base of a tentacle, where the spinning is slower, and cut the hole into the casing next to it, so he can get a look at the workings and try to figure out a way to break the machine with as little chance of flinging the cart off and hurting the kid as possible!
Inga Freyjasdottir	Inga will get back up, eventually. But only as fast as her spirit can travel from the nearest anima well. It might take a bit. Meanwhile, the Octrotron continues it's rampage, and the waves of zombies seems unending. They just keep coming! And as zombies have NO sense of self preservation, then run right into the now quite large Finna's glowing claws. They shriek as they die, rotting flesh rended by the Lunar's claws. The zombies are no match for Finna even in a small group...but in a larger group they might be troubling. Is there any end to the waves? It seems as though moments after striking down one group another appears--all trying to push Finna and Staren toward the Octotron and the deadly fireballs. When Staren gets closer to the base of the Octotron, he has tentacles to dodge as well as fireballs. Even at the base, the arms swing down low, trying to slam into him and send him flying. He manages to grab a tentacle as it is turning, but nothing inside the tentacle reveals any weakness--just mechanical parts. He could take out one limb, but the rest will keep turning. However, as he cling to it and it spins toward the back, Staren may spot what appear to be a couple of gas tanks. This could be what is making the ride run...
Staren	In the chaos, Staren hasn't even noticed someone's fallen! It's hard to see the battlefield now, with everything all spinny @.@ He's not sure how to break the machine, and severing tentacles sounds like a good way to smash the car with the kid in it into a horde of zombies (that would be bad.) Instead... hey, gas tanks! Well, that's an idea! He'll deactivate his swords and hop down and try to disconnect the fuel somehow. If soft hoses are involved, he'll try to just rip them free with the armor's strength or cut them with a knife. If it's hard pipes... he looks for a convenient valve to turn, and if there isn't one, just tries to break a connection at what looks like a weak point, carlessly poluting the environment. But what's a little spill to save a child, right?
Finna	Finna HATES zombies. It's not that they're terribly threatening indeed. They're stupid. They lack grace and forethought, planning and cunning. They're just a mass of flailing limbs and bites without direction or guile. Mindless, boring. She doesn't even need to spend any effort to guess their next moves. But it's kind of hard to dodge and parry the things when they've surrounded you. She weaves like lightning nevertheless, body swerving and swaying as if it lacks joints entirely at times and in patterns that seem to even predict when a zombie will stumble or its rotting limbs cause it to swing even in an unintended direction. But through it all, their grasping hands and gnawing teeth slowly chip away at her strength and stamina. Because she's positioned over Inga, and not going to budge until the wisewoman gets back up. Finna hisses and seeths in frustration and AGONY, her white fur increasingly splattering with crimson blood. Her own. Yet the primal beast within's starting to see red. A deep, furious snarl's building in her throat. She may be readying to show off why the Moon's Chosen are so feared across all Creation if she needs to.
Inga Freyjasdottir	The gas tanks are pretty solidly built, not flimsy hoses but good, hard pipes that look as though they are in fairly good condition. However, they are just metal, as are the tanks themselves. A well placed shot, strike from a plasma sword or slash from Finna's claws would do the trick. With one of the many tools at his disposal, Staren is able to break one of the connections. The reaction from the hateful machine is immediate. The whole structure gives a horrible shriek as it grinds to a stop, rusty gears screaming into the night. There is a small explosion from the head where the fireballs had originating, smoke rising as the gas pours from the cut connection onto the ground. This give Finna a respite from the zombies. They no longer seem to be drawn to the Octotron. Finna is left alone to catch her breath, surrounded by a pile of bodies. However, when the tentacles stop short, the door to the little cabin where the child is held flies open, the child flies from the car with a scream, grabbing the handle of the door and trying to hold on. But his little hands are slippery with blood, cuts in his palms, just like the child they found earlier that disapppeared. He slips, and begins to fall.
Finna	Finally, the tide of zombies goes down! It takes a bit, but Finna's left gasping and panting. And once that's done she begins dragging Inga's kinda-scorched body closer to the ride... unwilling to get toooo far from her... but then. Click-clunk-THUD! Finna turns her great vulpine maw about, eyes locking onto a naaaaaaaaaaasty sight! Well, a fall from that short height probably wouldn't KILL, but the injuries wouldn't be good. And depending on landing... could go very badly indeed. Not that Finna's the kind to think in such DEPTH. She reacts instantly on instinct, instead! The huge MURDERFOX, mind now clear of the building rage, leaps with a worried yowl and scrabbles to place herself under the boy and break his fall with her body and try to catch him if she can. Said body is unfortunately covered in zombie yuck. That won't be pleasant.
Staren	The machine screeches like a dying monster. What's up with that? And the zombies have stopped, although he can see plenty in the distance. Hmm... There's no time to react to anything besides the kid, though! When he sees that, he starts to fly, but the fox is faster, so while she catches him he starts looking around for any approaching monsters... and the rest of the party. "Where /IS/ everyone?!"
Inga Freyjasdottir	It is at about this time that Inga's spirit once again reaches her body. Her chest rises as she takes a breath, her healing kicking in as it begins rapidly repairin her body. She sits up, her eyes wide, gaze locking onto Finna as she catches the falling child--or at least breaks his fall. Foxes are softer than concrete. She is relieved to see Staren is still alive as well. She guesses it was only herself that got caught by an unfortunate fireball and the others were able to manage without her. And rescue the child. The child, crying, gets to his feet, and upon seeing the terrifying, gore covered fox creature, screams and runs away. Away from the Octotron. As he runs, a pattern similar to the one in the haunted house reveals itself on the concrete, lighting up and glowing with malignant purpose. But instead of disappearing, the child runs out of the perimeter of the pattern--and there is a burst of energy, a recoil. Whatever spell was tying the child to the pattern snaps back on him. He comes to an abrupt stop, crumpling to the ground like a puppet who's strings have been cut. Inga shouts, getting to her feet after locating her staff, but Staren or Finna will probably reach him first. The child is alive, but thoroughly unconscious.
Staren	"Hey, no, wait! We're the good guys!" Staren reaches a hand out towards the kid, then chases after him. The pattern activates, "Aw, NO!" but... it only knocks the kid out. Staren looks at him for a moment, checking sensors. "...He's still alive." He looks to the others, "What do we do now?"
Finna	WHUMPF! The child lands... panics... and runs off, leaving Finna looking sheepish and also REALLY GUILTY! But what she was supposed to do! She bounds after him still in the giant fox form... but slows after the freakish magic happens. ... And she reaches out on nearing him, deciding it's probably a good idea to drag him away from the weird glowing pattern's edges. Once she's gotten him about ten feet further from that though... the seven-foot foxwoman's form shifts and melts, shrinking to something human. Clothing appears at basically the last moment, clothing typical for the locals. She's still kinda got an issue of being stained with yuck, though. And she's also wearing a belt that sports two holstered pistols - one is a Glock 19, the other is a Smith & Wesson Model 627. She's quick to draw the Glock, though the safety's still on. "Now we figure out what the glow is. Quietly. No more zombies. Inga? You know magic things better! Staren, what made the machine go crazy?"
Staren	Staren looks at Finna holding the glock. "Do you know how to use that...?" He shrugs. "I don't know what made it go crazy. I guess I can look, assuming it wasn't just magic..." he walks back over to the machine, looking for a valve to stop the flow of gas and then searching for whatever manner of controls it has.
Inga Freyjasdottir	Inga makes it over to Staren and the child. "I think it is broken...but don't take him near that /thing/ again," Inga advises, then reaches into her pouch and pulls out a roll of bandages. She uses these to wrap the boys hands. "Its the blood. The blood activates it. The spell...it's..." she closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. She opens her eyes and looks to Finna. "Did you feel it when the spell activated? The energy is being drawn to a location. It's...flowing like a river. When I...died...I felt it from the other side. I believe it is originating from that...thing," she says, pointing toward the Ferris wheel. "It's originting there, flowing back toward the haunted house I believe," she explains. What this all means, she can only guess. And she has a guess, but she doesn't necessarily want to voice it. "The thing we saw in the haunted house...the shadow. It's behind this. It's purpose though, I do not know," she says. Inga looks back to the boy. "We need to get him somewhere safe, then meet up with the other group...I am fairly sure our seperate paths lead to the same place," she continues, looking over her shoulder again toward the ferris wheel. Whatever possessed the machine, it is nothing but a machine now. The flow of gas can be stopped, but it does not appear it will move again any time soon. It may be dead now--but it still looks incredibly creepy.
Staren	"So what passes for 'Somewhere safe'? I don't think we can leave him here... I mean, /anywhere/ on this island. Except maybe the firehouse." Staren comments.
Inga Freyjasdottir	"The firehouse is safe, as is the church," she tells Staren. "You move quickly....can you take him to the church? At least we know there is someone there who will help him," she says. "We'll wait for you."
Finna	"of course!" Finna barks over at Staren a tad indignantly, though the indignation's gone almost instantly. She glances around for any zombies she could pop thorugh the skull, but decides better of it quickly. Firearms are loud! She answers Inga though... by shaking her head. "All I felt it was... hunger and malice. Your nose for those things is better! What's a Ferris--..." She looks off into the distance where Inga was pointing. "Oh." That's a wheel, alright.
Staren	Staren nods, and tries teleporting. If that doesn't work, he'll need to fly the kid by broom. Either way, he eventually comes back.