The Lost Cog (Nivansrywyllian, Ravenwoodwitch)

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Flitz wasn't handling his first exposure to action very well. He could still taste bile on his tongue, and he could feel it burn in his nostrils. He should have been grateful, he supposed, that it dulled the sickeningly coppery scent of blood that hung thick in the air.

Masahiro turned at the sound of the thief's voice, and he gave her a tight smile, before striding back towards the crime scene. "Take care of the Tinker." He said, amusement coloring his voice.

Flitz glanced up to the thief, and scrubbed the back of his hand across his mouth. "I... I don't know what the purpose of something like this is." He lifted his gloved hand, and touched it to one of the tubes full of colored liquid. His other hand dropped to a hose, hanging loosely from a port in the machine, and ended with a needle-like protrusion, but far too thick to be used for blood transfusions and the like. "Maybe if we could get the machine back to Wilhamina, she'll have seen it."
 
"Getting it out? Huh," she sighed. "I'm not even sure how they got it in here. This could take some finagling."

Bo averted her eyes from the grizzly scene, and tried to find any places to carry or wheel the machine out. It actually looked to be stuck to the wall, meaning this little sucker wasn't going anywhere.

"er," she eyed Flitz. "Do you have any way to contact home-base? maybe they can look long-distance."
 
Flitz was glad that the scene of the murder was well out of sight. He wasn't about to head back to that bedroom for all the world's gold. "You could go with a message, I suppose..." He said, uncertain. "I don't know any way to make a telescope that can see through walls, though." He leaned closer to examine the spike-ended hose. "I think... I think this may have been meant for the insertion into a living being. It's sharp, and hollow, like a needle. Much thicker, though."

The Tinker eyed the machine up and down, before sidestepping to press his face to the wall against which it rested. "It's attached." He said, his brow creasing with contemplation. "Masahiro and Keeva can procure us a cart. I'll see about disengaging it from the wall without wrecking it too badly." Now that the Tinker was away from the gore, and closer to his element, he seemed to be more confidant.

"I hesitate to send you out on your own, since Bowler told us to stay in pairs. Maybe it's best if you stick around here while we figure out what to do with this machine. Did you see anything else on your way down? I didn't get a good look." Falling through rotten floor didn't lend well to taking in the scene.
 
(sorry for the delay; got a little lazy >>)

Bo sat down on the dead wood, trying to recall what she'd seen on the way in. "There's our window," she said. "Lots of leftovers from someone living here. The obvious murder scene...and..."

Quite suddenly, she jerked back up to her feet. She mounted her foot and quickly climbed back up to the rafters. There had been something just above the machine, something she'd ignored...but...

"Ah-ha!" she said. "There's a switch up here; should I pull it?"
 
Ebenezar paled slightly once again at the mention of the murder, and he felt his stomach do a backflip. Swallowing another surge of bile, he turned his eyes attentively to the machine. He stooped to study the base of the mysterious gadget, as Boletta listed off the things she'd seen. When she bolted for the rafters, his brows rose, but he didn't follow.

When she called down that she'd found a switch, his heart leaped into his throat. "Gods no!" He said, quickly. "We don't know what it does. Why don't you and I head back to the office? 'Hiro and Flynne can hold down the scene and do their investigative thing here. Then I'll come back with Mina, and we'll figure out just what this thing does."

He glanced again down the hallway where the bedroom door lay. Counting his blessings that the scene was out of sight, he cleared his throat. "Will we be going back over the roofs, or would you like to take the streets?"
 
(Sorry for the wait)

Bo put her ear to the window. "I don't hear much in voices," she said. "So let's head by the road. "

Moment of excitement gone, she began her descent down the railing, and back by Ebenezer's side. Her face went softer for a moment, still seeing he was very green around the gills. This kind of scene was so far out of his league, he looked like he'd be glad to be back in the shop.

"Hey," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Anything I can do to help? You look like a lost tad-pole."
 
Ebenezar nodded his head firmly. "The streets it is," He agreed, making for the near, back door. He paused at the hand laid to his shoulder however, glancing back to the Cog's resident thief. "I... I've seen blood before. Death. But I've never seen... I've never seen what was done to that woman." He sounded as if he was trying to explain his reaction to the grisly scene. Kicking himself for being silly, Ebenezar moved for the door, as he spoke.

"I don't usually have so weak a stomach. When the dolls marched on the college, people died. That was execution though. This was... This was something else. Why would somebody do that to a body, Bo?"

Confused, blue eyes turned back to his partner. He tucked his thumbs behind his belt. Doubts ghosted across the surface of his mind. "What sort of reason could there be?"
 
Bo shrugged her small shoulders. "We still can't figure out what that ripper fellow had against Prostitutes," she said. "There's really no asking why people can be so sick."

She moved her shoulder in a following gesture, than walked out the back door. The Backstreets were not as familiar as the roofs, but she felt comfortable enough to defend them both. Hopefully, she could guide Mina back here later, if the old girl would get the color back in her cheeks.

"Not sure how well Miss Mina will handle it," she admitted. "Did you see her when that ghost showed up? She was as white as, well, a ghost."

It was intriguing, given how stoic the woman usually was. As the ninja kept even pace with her comrade, she pondered on what about the creature bothered the old girl so much. Was it seeing death in it's true form? Seeing that which she was trying so hard to prevent from grasping her husband?
 
Ebenezar strode along beside the woman, seeming to have regained some composure with the distance from the scene of the murder. "I hadn't noticed, particularly. I was fairly shocked myself. I mean, I've heard of hauntings, but... For a specter to employ a detective agency? That's not usual." His gloved hand rose to scratch at the nape of his neck, a thinking habit he'd picked up during his days at the college.

"Maybe something about her..." He paled again, "Expiration caused her particular ability to retain cognizance. As a matter of fact, I'd wager that machine had something to do with it." With that idea, the lean tinker wilted slightly. He was going to have to come back with Wilhamina, to further study the machine.

"We'll get to the bottom of it, though. We always do." Turning an eye to the thief once again, he stuck his hands in his pockets. "Do you know her well?"
 
"Not personally, no," Bo answered. Her hands went behind her back, tiny fingers linking softly together. "But it's impossible to live with a high-born family and not hear her name at least once. The Diamond Quarter's falling star is a little hard to miss."

With any luck, she'd have some idea what the machine was. As they neared a narrow strip of alley, she made her steps lighter. Still no one following them, but that didn't shake the feeling that they were being watched somehow. She fidgeted, and put her hood up higher.

"Stay close," she whispered. "I don't think we're alone..."
 
Flitz was gifted in a great many ways. Stealth was not one of them. His boots continued to thump heavily on the cobbles. Although he strode with surety, subtlety was lost on him. He took after Masahiro, in that manner.

He'd been most of the way through opening his mouth to ask further after the rather mysterious Wilhamina Metzger, when the warning of pursuit came. Shoulders tense, the tinker plucked from his belt a knife that was rather too little to do much good in a fight. His gloved hand however, remained free. He cast about for the source of pursuit, but couldn't see hide nor hair of followers.

"How can you tell? I don't see anyone." He whispered, as if his words alone would carry, and let their pursuers know that the pair were onto them.
 
"That's the thing; I don't either," she whispered. "It's not normal, whatever it is."

She saw it first, coming at them from above. With a shove, Bo sent Flitz down into a pile of dead leaves. Moments later, two dark claws wrapped around the thief's shoulders and yanked her into the air. With a yelp, she was sent several feet up, back onto the roofs. The claws belonged to a shadow beast, it's sole features being two large yellow eyes. Otherwise, Bollette could only make out a blob of semi-solid black, with arms extending out.

"GRAGH!" she brought her leg up to it's chin. It dropped her in response, and the thief just managed to grab a drain pipe.
 
Ebenezar grunted, as he went careening into the piled leaves. By the time he righted himself, the thief was already dangling from a nearby rooftop. Without a thought as to how she got there, Flitz darted for the nearest window sill. Up to it he climbed, accidentally putting a boot through one of the glass panes in his haste.

From there, he climbed to a rickety looking balcony that overlooked the alleyway. "Hang on!" He snarled, the balcony groaning in protest as the tinker climbed. Up to the eaves parallel to Bolletta. He hadn't seen the creature that had tried to spirit away his companion.

"What is it?"
 
"I don't know!" Bolletta shouted back, fingers holding tight. "Look out!"

SLAM! The black Ozze crashed down the eaves between them. Large claw had formed giant bricks, and the creature continued to pound them onto the gutter. Thee eaves began to bend under the weight, and Bo suspected she was about to drop, or that it was going to die trying. She panicked, and grabbed the balcony and attempted to sit up.

"Give me your arm!" she said, reaching out to him.
 
Ebenezar let out a startled shout, when the thing smashed into the building beside him. He jerked away from it, one hand coming loose from it's hold on the eaves. He glanced down, the two stories he'd climbed. The fall wouldn't kill him, if he landed correctly. If he hurt himself in landing however, the great flying beast would be his end, for sure. With a grimace, he glanced over to his companion.

His arm reached for the woman, regardless of the great beast overhead. "I'm supposed to be saving you!" Protested the tinker, despite his obedience.
 
The thief smirked. "You did."

First, she helped the tinker up and away from danger. Moments after he was out of danger, the creature's fist came down again. It attempted to hit Ebenezer, only to swing at air. It was distracted from her, giving ample time for her foot to smacked into the creature's back She wasn't strong, but she was strong enough to knock the black creature over the side.

Bolette sighed, and wiped her brow. "What...the...hell was that?!" she said, in a most unladylike-like-fashion. "Where are the others?! They didn't hear any of that?"

There was a scuttling sound on the pavement below. Her blood turned cold, and Bo quickly looked over the side. The creature walked on four crab-like legs back inside the house.

"Mercy, the others..." the girl cried. "Damn!"
 
Ebenezar grunted, as Bolette helped him to safety. He let out a yelp of alarm, when the great beast's limb whistled through the air in front of his face. Only quick reflexes kept him from getting clouted off of the building, and into the open air.

When the thing fell from the roof, Flitz let out a cry of glee, but it was short lived. When it scrambled into the building that his compatriots were in the midst of investigating, he felt tension bleed back into his shoulders. Where had they been? They must have heard the beast, if nothing else. Gripped with fear for the Easterner, and the team leader.

"We have to find them," He insisted, clambering for the roof -and the roof-access they'd used earlier- in haste. "They're not equipped to deal with that... Thing."
 
The thief swore, and followed after the Tinker. She continued to do so as she ran to the window. She quickly dived back in, and landed on the floor.

"Mashiro! Keeva!"

Nowhere to be seen, but that creature was. It stopped right in front of her, and stared at her with it's empty eyes. With a gurgle, it shifted. It grew claws, body become muscular, with scales and horns. As it grew more demonic. the Thief sprang back to her feet and backed up.
 
Ebenezar shot through the window like a flash, hopping down through the hole he'd put in the floor earlier. His eyes glossed over the gore-covered bedroom once again, and he tried not to notice the sickening scent of blood filling the air. Of Masahiro and Keeva, there were no trace.

Grimacing, he crept towards the doorway, as Boletta dropped through the hole he'd come through moments before. The door, which had been left ajar, creaked as it swung inwards, allowing the beast access to the gory scene. Thinking quickly, Flitz stepped behind the door, to be hidden by the angle of the creature's entry.

As the beast came to a stop in front of Boletta, the Tinker pushed his way out from behind the door, and launched itself at it's back. Steel flashed, and a punching-dagger snapped forward from his gauntlet, as the man uncoiled. He tumbled into the beast's back with all of his weight, thrusting his blade towards what he hoped were vulnerable, soft targets near the thing's belly.
 
The thing screeched, rearing backward. It stood on hind legs, and stumbled backward towards the wall. It banged the tinker in an attempt to knock him off, and went to go a second time.

Bolette, thinking fast, grabbed some cords from the floor. She swung them high over her head, almost like a lasso, than threw them forward. It coiled around the creature's neck and began to block off the air. It ceased making all sound, and was tugged forward like a dog.

"Die, dammit!" she hissed. "Keel over already!"

And, finally, with no air, the black sludge froze. It gurgled and slowly melted into the floor. It was little more than a black puddle when the cord finally slipped off it. Bolette dropped the chord, and rushed towards her teammate.

"You crazy Sod, are you alritght?" she asked.
 
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