14311/The Dreaded Beneath the Pond

The Dreaded Beneath the Pond
Date of Scene:	12 March 2023
Location:	A Duck Pond in New York City
Synopsis:	Row-ho, row-ho, row with weapons loosed, The incidental crewmen did in the devil goose Row-ho, row-ho, before the smell sinks in Tommy Shepherd exploded the demon cobra chicken!
Cast of Characters:	Nettie Crowe, Megan Gwynn, Gabby Kinney, Belinda Gutierrez, Tommy Shepherd, Lydia Dietrich

---

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    A Chilly day in New York City broken by cold wind
    Brought together a group of fighters ready to fight what lies within
    The becalmed and still-ed waters of a quiet little pond
    What dreadful spirit dwelleth here brought from the great beyond?

    Row-Ho-Row-Ho row with all your might
    Row with harpoons loaded ready for a fight.
    Row-ho-row-ho and with harpoons loosed
    We'll win the day and do away with --

    Nettie Crowe had sent out a note to the Justice LEague dark to assemble allies and be at the ready, and to meet at this location. Her silver-white hair was pulled up into a loose ponytail, she was wearing a pair of round sunglasses that she found in a trunk from the 1960's, a black leather jacket that was two sizes too large on her short frame and had the word BOLLOCKS bedazzled on the back in rhinestones, a thick sweater, and ?black jeans that have been patched and repatched over the years, and a pair of Doc Martens that are older than most of the members of her Justice League Dark. A lit cigarette hung from her cheeks, stinking of too-sweet cherry flavoring as she held a bag of thawing frozen peas to her side, some bells on an iron ring, and a fricking harpoon.

    A long rowboat is next to her, but the pond is only about fifty feet in total across --and maybe six feet deep.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn found the lyrical note a bit mysterious and curious, but then Nettie is a mysterious and curious individual so what did she expect? All the same she sniffed an adventure and the young chaos faerie liked nothing more than an exciting new adventure.

So she arrives on the dock, dressed in her purple and gold argyle sweater and blue jeans, her green pea coat thrown over top, gloves hands stuffed in her pockets as she glances around for the others. Brr, a bit chilly out today..

Gabby Kinney has posed:
It had been a pleasant, lazy Sunday of hanging out preparing to watch the newest episodes of The Great British Bakeoff on Netflix for Gabby. Of course she was doing that at Tommy's place because he had the Netflix account, and was a baker so could appreciate the nummies made on the show. Potential inspiration, and plenty of snacks were around. When the JLD call comes out the news is shared with Tommy.

That's essentially how the two ended up here. Gabby traveling with Tommy who was the best speedster express around, and she still had a bag of cinnamon rolls brought with. For snacks, and potential pond luring bread. Mostly for snacks.

Her own attire was pretty casual for her: Leggings, ankle boots that zippered up the side for ease of removal, a Gengar breanie hat for warmth, and hoodie with a smaller leather jacket overtop. All suitable for keeping warm in the chill.

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Fate? Destiny? Random chance?

'Sleeping hours' are a long-distant memory for Belinda Gutierrez; days are often spent running errands, making parcel deliveries, or taking recovered and refurbished parts from the old junkyard out to customers who want them. Though some deliveries are more esoteric than others....

The girl absently tugs her collar tighter at her neck, another glance spared for the (poorly) handwritten notecard. "Delivery especiale for--" Stare. "--'Miss Chance'?" She groands inwardly, rolling her eyes, half-expecting nobody at the pond dock to recieve--

Sniff. Cinnamon. Cherry. And the sudden, savage, immediate reminder as her stomach growls -- almost suppertime. Almost suppertime NOW.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Given that Tommy is only here to deliver the goods -- the goods, in this case, being one Gabbatha Kinney, purveyor of fine magical bone-knives -- he's not really taking in his surroundings beyond a mild nose-wrinkling at the cold. That he hasn't immediately sped off is really a testament to his character growth, as well as, y'know, how much he likes Gabby.

    So he's here in jeans and layered jacket-hoodie-shirt, rocking an 80s-inspired colorblock look on that outermost layer as he returns Gabby to her feet, his hand leaving the cradle of the back of her head where it had been previously protecting her from whiplash.

    Then he shrugs at her, content to follow Gabby's lead. Or scram, if Gabby says to scram.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia woke up to a message sent to her by none other than Nettie. It's a cryptic message as is her wont, and found her way to the docks to find Nettie with an actual freakin' harpoon. She, herself, is dressed unusually. That is jeans, and a plain white t-shirt, with her poofy brown hair pulled back in a barely tamed ponytail. Over her shoulder is slung a messenger bag filled with supplies that she might need for casting. And, as always, is the ever-present field of stars that surround her, twinkling in and out of existence.

    "A harpoon?" she asks twitching an eyebrow. "I didn't think you meant literally. If I had known I would have brought my own."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    And it would not be appropriate to take to water without an expert. A black crow wearing a tricorne hat alights on Nettie's shoulder.

    "LADS AND LASSES An' Honored Others! The Bonnie Crossbones awaits to be boarded! Adventure and DEATH on the water!" the crow... well. Crows.

    "Aye, that's the trouble with me, isn't it? Never know when to take me seriously, Miz Dietrich. Pleasure to have you on the hunt!" Nettie gives a grin to Lydia first, reaching to clasp her shoulder. Next comes Gabby, and NEttie gives a fond grin to the younger leader of the JLD. "Miss Kinney, glad to have you aboard, an' who's this then?" she asks, looking to Tommy with a critical eye. She puffs on the cherry-scented cigarette a moment, then gives a toothy grin. "You must be Mr. Shepherd. Pleasure to meet you boyo. I'm Nettie Crowe." she introduces herself plainly.

    "MISS GWYNN! Prepared to face somethin' from the very depths of Watery Hell today? Come aboard lass! Grab up an oar!"

    And then, to Belinda. The young woman gets a curious look over from the old crow with the BOLLOCKS jacket.

    "Feel up to hunting somethin' risen from the very bowels of a most twisted Hell, cold and frozen with the chilly hearts of betrayers, lass?" she questions -- and no matter how she answers, Nettie states "GOOD! Aboard, aboard, grab an oar -- we head to the middle of the lake!" she barks, and shakes the ring with the bells on it.

    It does, in fact, feel colder and more vicious here, at the water's side. The mud sucks a little more at shoes, the boards of the dock creak as if trying to hold in laughter, and there's something insidious about this whole thing...

    ... and a quiet...

        echoing...

            Low...

     hiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssss...

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Oh. There she is, and she's carrying a harpoon. Cool! Megan smiles and waves to Nettie as she steps towards her. "Hiya, what's. with the harpoon? We hunting giant whales or something?" she glances at the boat and the oar and grins, taking the latter. "Sounds good to me!" she pauses only briefly to wave to newcomers, some of whom she knows better than others.

"Heya Gabs, how goes?" she forgets the name of her speedster friend but definitely recalls seeing Tommy around somewhere and she grins and waves to him too. Belinda she doesn't know well, nor Lydia, though they're both given a smile and nod before she heads for the boat, "Lead on!"

Oh, oh wait, they're hunting something from the watery depths of hell?! Sounds....Funnn!

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney grins at all around as she lifts a hand to gesture up at Tommy, giving his cheek a fond pat as well. "This is Tommy everyone," she introduces only to pause when it's obvious Nettie is ushering EVERYONE on board. Her head tips back toward the pale haired speedster with a look of mild concern. "You want to join in on this? It's okay if not, I understand," she assures him quietly knowing he wasn't fond of being the heroing type.

"Won't be my first 'thing from the depths' to fight though last time it was the ocean. That was a bit harder." A pause before she adds, "And um, I actually *can* drown, it's just way harder than a regular person for me." Or ... perpetually die at least. She wasn't a hundred percent on what would happen if she were drowned and remained submerged.

It doesn't stop her though from raising a hand to wave as she starts for the boat herself. "Got my own built in harpoons. If anyone needs some knives I've got some extra. Regular types."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Belinda manages a "But I do not know how to row, I--"--

And that is all the answer she manages. That nagging perception, like a feeling at the back of the teeth--

    And she blinks again, staring at the oar in her hands, seated upon the boat's bench as pretty as you please!

"--never been on el barco!" she begins again, says again, eyes widening in surprise. And that *tingle* again, leading out. Somewhere. Like a scent on the ragged edge of noticing.

She bites off further comment, glancing at the others. Mostly old people, slightly-less old people, Tommy from--! "Game night!" she exclaims, surprised and pleased and--- "...depths of hell?" she asks, blinking anew. Long breath, quivering. Something old, something wet, something... vicious.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    "Oh hey I guess this is what we're doing," is all Tommy's reaction to being ushered aboard. He's already been introduced via Gabby, so he just raises a hand to give a cheeky little salute to the rest of the 'crew.'

    Though at Belinda's recognition of him, Tommy tips his head to the side and smiles. "Yo." Knowing fellow HHHS peeps are here, he straightens up a little bit. Time to be on his best behavior.

    Cuz you know beforehand, he definitely wasn't going to behave.

    He flashes a concerned look over Gabby's way at mention of drowning, but he doesn't bail. Not yet. He can always run across the water if need be.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia nods to Nettie placing a matching hand on her shoulder. "Good to see you again, Nettie," she says with a grin. "So what are we hunting today?" She tilts her head at the sound of the hiss. "I take it it's that."

    She looks over her shoulder and gives Gabby and Tommy a nod. "Good to meet you, Tommy. I'm Lydia. Don't worry Gabby. I don't need to breathe so if you sink I can come get you. One of the perks of being dead."

    She lightly hops into the boat, somehow keeping it from rocking when she lands. "If we need to I can fly ahead and scout." She considers the boat for a moment, and says, "I could probably use my power to push the boat, too if people don't feel like rowing. But I hear it's good exercise."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Oi. They're young and motivated, let the kids row. You've got strength, you get a harpoon." Nettie states, tossing a spare 1800's whaling harpoon to Lydia as she steps into the boat and perches with one leg up at the fore.

    "Aye, not a fear of drowning less you get pinned beneath the creature's wings or head, but worry not, Miss Kinney. I'm a veteran at these sorts of things." The crow -- the bird one, not the batty one -- states to Gabby, and he flits to perch on the teen's head.

    "Corvax, familiar, at your service." he introduces himself, seemingly quite cheery that they're going to be going to the middle of the little shallow pond, in the courtyard of a REALLY fancy condo complex. There's people staring out the windows.

    "Mr. Shepherd! Miss--" Nettie pauses, and then looks behind her, and to Belinda.

    "Sorry, horribly rude of me, your name please?" she asks to Belinda.

    "RAISE SAI -- err... OAR!" she rings her bells-on a-ring-again, and the water seems to stir. Expectantly.

    The wind picks up with a surprisingly warm, wet feeling. Makes everything all clammy.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn frowns a bit at the term 'kid' even though she is still pretty young, probably younger than at least half the people here minus Gabby of course. "Hey, I can row, sure, no sweat, just point the way!" she licks her lips nervously as the monster is described, and laughs a bit, "Hey no sweat, between all of us I'm sure that monster is toast..Bit what's it doing in the middle of a pond anyway? Took a wrong turn or something?" she glances around, hoping others will help with rowing.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney gives Tommy's arm a reassuring squeeze. She'd say more to try and reassure him but it usually back fired for her when she did such things. "It'll be fine," she assures as one of the oars is taken up. It wouldn't bother her to row at all. "Thanks Lydia, appreciate that. By the way Tommy, Lyds is on the 'bite okay' list if she needs it." Best to at least inform the significant other.

Belinda, the unfamiliar girl is given a grin. "Hi! I'm Gabby, that's Nettie," a roll of her eyes upward toward the crow familiar now perched on her head has her add, "This is Corvax. Sorry, looks like you got roped into some supernatural stuff. We'll keep you safe!" She assures. "Sometimes things like this just... pull people into it, though."

"And sometimes things have always been here, just not bothered until something annoys them, Megan. At least that's what I'm finding." There's a pause as she squints skeptically into the gloom. Even her better than average eyesight had trouble in certain situations. "Hiss?" Her eyes narrow further. "... Did someone give the goose a knife?"

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
"Gutierrez," the girl states absently in answer to Nettie, hands squeezing upon teh smooth-rough feel of the timber. Rise, forward, down, swoop-- she bites back a breath at the smooth rowing motions. "Belinda Gutierrez, sophmore out from Happy Harbor, and why do I know how to row a boat?" Rise, sweep, swoop, oar. "Supernatural, si-si. But I am from New Mexico! The wettest things there were when Papa turned the water hose on us for rough-housing!"

Sniff, breath. That scent again, nipping at the back of one's teeth. And the breathy, wet hiss. Fingers tighten perceptibly on the oar; eyes narrow as she stares with a grimace, a shiver as she searches the water's surface.

"I also do not know how to swim," she adds nonchalantly, quietly, focusing on the stroke of the oar. Rise, sweep, slice, swoop.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Apparently Tommy is rowing. And Megan isn't the only one who bristles a bit at being referred to as kid, but Gabby is there to tell him that everything's fine, and she's enough of a distraction that he just sits down with his oar and puts it into the water.

    Okay, rowing. They're rowing. "Welcome to the madhouse," he says over his shoulder to Belinda, giving a little shake of his head. He's just mimicing what he's seeing, for better or worse here. But his oar does stutter in the water a bit as the wind kicks up.

    "This is gonna be one of those days, isn't it," is muttered under his breath.

    Still, he's not one to forget his manners (yes he is). He dips his oar back into the water and says, "Nice to meet you. Wait, you're dead?" to Lydia. At this revelation he looks... let's say 35% surprised. Because he's seen some stuff, okay?

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia laughs as she catches the harpoon easily. "Aye, aye, Captain," she says, giving Nettie a salute. She slings the harpoon over her shoulder like it weighs nothing and stares into the distance. She scowls and glances over to Gabby. "Do you hear that? It sounds like something is snoring."

    When it's mentioned that she's on the 'bite okay' list she turns and gives Tommy a fangy grin. "Good to meet you, Tommy. Don't worry. I only bite if you ask me." Between the fangs, the pale complexion and the strange golden eyes, it's pretty easy to tell that she's a vampire.

    Belinda gets a nod. "Like I said. If you go overboard I can get you. It'll be alright."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Miss Gutierrez!" Nettie rolls her rr's properly, and she gives a smile.

    "Aye. It sleeps in the... uh... shallow. Not the deep, I s'pose." Nettie gives a soft snort, and then she holds up the bag of frozen peas. She shakes her bells again.

    "THOUGH I KNOW WE SHOULD BE WARY, STILL WE SUMMON SOMETHING SCARY -- FOWL DEMON WE TURN LOOSE! HORRORGOOSE -- HORRORGOOSE -- HORRORGOOSE!"

    hiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssss...!!

    And with the frozen peas thrown into the water, the waters of the pond begin to part, rippling, the reeds whistle and whisper, and from below them a reddish light glows as two eyes open, and a head the size of beachball raises up, out of the water -- a creature most water-foul!

    "HONK!" its call echoes, its wings spreading like the darkness of a cursed night over the little boat.

    

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn meeps as Lydia effortlessly picks up the harpooon, "Wooow you're super strong.." she croons before nodding to the others that pick up oars. "Right we got this, not the first time I've fought a hellish creature from the depths.." although she frowns at Gabby's comment, "Yeah, I hope we're not bothering it, but I'm sure Nettie knows better than to stir up a wasp's nest. Must already be a threat, right?"

She glances back to Nettie for confirmation on that, ruching a brow at the ritual to summon the monster..With frozen peas no less. "Oohboy, here we go.." she gives pause, staring at the honking creature, not sure where to begin.

"Errr hi? Sorry to disturb you?"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
As they move deeper in, the somewhat excitable and attention-everywhere Gabby actually grows calmer, and more focused. She continues to row along with the others though her eyes sweep over the la--er, pond--taking in what details she can. When Lydia mentions something snoring she can only nod. "Like something with a breathing problem," she has to agree.

Or a giant goose bill, she reasons, once Nettie summons it.

Calmly she places the oar back into the boat so it doesn't get knocked astray while the "Horror Goose? Please tell me that's not it's real name," gets summoned to loom above them. Either way she rises up in the boat carefully with hands at her sides. With a sigh she suddenly lunges forward.

How she manages to dash on a small boat is unknown, but she's suddenly launching herself past the stern? Bow? by Nettie to leap the distance to the goose's neck with arms flung wide to tackle with a WHOOP of air rushing from her lungs, and glowing blue claws springing from the back of her hands.

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Belinda raises an eyebrow, turning to question Nettie's words (and possibly sanity), frozen to a halt as the tingle positively itches at the back of her teeth, the shiver rattling down to her bones. The beachball-sized head rises at the top of its sinuous neck; she takes one look, staring at the monstrous, demonic, unspeakable...

"..mejor Ganso de Terror!" she whispers, eyes widening in swift surprise. She grimaces, oar lifting out of the water as she gazes at the bea--

Blink, pause! "I swear I will not go pond-bathing!" she exclaims to Lydia, practically growling the words. Huff! "I do showers, not baths," she adds, grumbles, sour expression on her face even as she tugs the oar in, setting it down, grasping one of the boat's sides for balance.

Priorities. And also impressed at Gabby's leap! "Watch for wings!" she adds, rocking with the small boat's movements.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    "I know at least three... four people who would probably object to me letting you do that," Tommy says to Lydia with a half-smile, his elbow casually resting on the edge of the boat. Until he remembers he has to help with the rowing, and back to that he goes.

    You know. Until the giant goose is summoned, and Tommy's expression goes up to a solid ~70% surprised. That's definitely a new one. He lets out an exasperated noise, sort of a phlegmy gasp, as Gabby launches herself at the beast.

    Then Tommy's cruising across the water at superspeed, running a circle around the pond (and the goose) so that his feet throw up a wall of water that... maybe... will keep the Horrorgoose contained.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia just //stares//. "It's a goose. A giant, evil goose." There's a bit of a scowl, "Wait. Aren't all geese evil? I think I read that somewhere." She nods to Megan. "Yeah. Just another perk of being dead."

    She unshoulders her harpoon and holds it in the ready. "What do you say, Nettie? Are we able to drain the horrible evil from the goose and make it just a regular evil goose? Seems better than just trying to kill it."

    Lydia's laughter is light and airy at Tommy's comment. "I'm sure. I keep myself well-fed from my harem so we won't have to worry about that any time soon."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "GABRIELLA SAINT MARTIN KINNEY DO NOT -- oh, fuck it --" Nettie states, pulling her wand and launching a blast of dark violet energy at the goose in question! Aye, a giant, particularly evil Gooo-OOOOOAAAAUUGH!" Nettie begins, and the goose then reaches down. In lieu of teeth on its tongue, which would be abd enough, this great, dark black goose has what looks like a thick, suction-cup covered tentacle for a tongue, which has snapped around Nettie Crowe's left foot, and then the witch is snapped up --

    --AND SWALLOWED.

    "HONK!" it gives a triumphant honk that echoes. Gabby's claws do find purchase, and she would find herself embeded in the generous busoms of the massive goose --- well, its chest at least. THere's a lot of feathers here, and the goose gives a hiss and tries to death-roll like a crocodile, contained by the wall of water from Tommy's speeding around, and one wing tries to overturn the boat!!

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn blinks at the goose, "Hey waits isn't it just an innocent, albeit very big g--?!"and then Nettie is swallowed whole and she mutters under her breath, tossing aside her oar and diving in the water after the giant goose demon monster..Thing.

Thankfully her wings keep her pretty buoyant both in water and on land, and she can more agilely traverse between the two as the giant creature thrashes about madly. She has no powerful explosive abilities, just a soul dagger, which she summons now from her chest, a glowing pink mystical weapon the size of her forearm. She snarls at the creature, grasping it expertly in her hand, diving towards the creature's head, attempting to drive it through wherever she can hit.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"Nettie!" Well that wasn't what Gabby intended at all. She rather thought SHE would be the distraction to Goose-zilla while the others backed her up. Now Nettie was snacks. Grasping on to a multitude of feathers she wriggles her small body into the downy breast of the goose. Down, down, closer.

The rolling was problematic, but once she was buried a bit into the water-repelling feathers it didn't do much other than make her feel like she was on a tilt-a-whirl. She had a goal now, too--Get down to the skin of the goose to cut into the gullet and get Nettie out. So long as it was a normalish goose instead of ... whatever it was. Soon enough she's hacking, and some feathers fly free from all the struggling.

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Any thought that this might have just been a really (really) mutated nightmare of a goose positively quails at the sight of that dark, tentaclly, nasty... /tongue/. Snapping out, lashing down, catching and wrapping and /snacking/ on Crazy Pea Lady!

"Caramba," Belinda utters under her breath, both hands on the boat's gunwhales; the semi-still wind of the pond is suddenly ripped apart by Tommy's hydrokinetic whirlwind rush, and Megan's swift leap to join the jaws of the Killer Goose's mad twisting.

No time for second thoughts-- Belinda snarls in frustration, shoving the half-forgotten box of parts under the bench's center with her foot; the little boat rocks dangerously as she tugs her jacket from her arms, shoving it down before she kicks off her shoes.

"Odio los banos!" she complains savagely, drawing a quick breath and--- hopping out of the boat into the water. With all the grace of a floundering frog as she trips over the boat's rail, headfirst to the cool waters.

"Dios!" she screams, colorful as the cheerful splash comes with one vanished Belinda later.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Running. Now that's something Tommy does actually know how to do. Much better than rowing, which already has his arms a little sore. Sure, call him out, he never skips leg day but arms, yeah... sure, maybe he should focus on those a bit more.

    He extends a hand as he's running, directing his power outward with a pinch of concentration showing on his face. Not that, well, not that anyone can see him right now given that he's traveling near the speed of sound to stay afloat. But he *is* concentrating, and soon enough... a puff of feathers explodes somewhere near the goose's back end, as several feathers vibrate so hard that they fall apart at the molecular level.

    "Aiming," he says to himself, cursing under his breath, then sticks his hand out to try again. Somewhere maybe a little closer to the demon goose's actual tuckus.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Right. Murder it is," Lydia says dourly, golden wings unfurling behind her and lifting her up in the air. "Hey! Horror goose! Just try and eat me, and see how well I go down!" With that she tosses the harpoon at the evil goose's head with all her might. She's never thrown a harpoon before so God only knows if it'll hit.

    Still, regardless if it hits, she shouts at it, "If you want tentacles, I'll //give// you tentacles!" At that, half a dozen golden tentacles sprout from her starfield, waving menacingly, and the all spring forward to wrap around the neck of the goose. "Give her back!"

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nobody should intend to be eaten. Especially not by a goose. THere's probably rocks down there. It's not a good time.

    Duckily this is not an innocent goose. It is a horror-able goose. Luckily the water is also only about six feet at the deepest, and as MEgan goes for the head, the goose takes a soul dagger to the neck. HersR
    It HONKS in irritation, and its long, sucker-filled tentacle tongue wriggles out into the pod water to try and grab at Megan's feet as the Goose snakes its head around -- and if it grabs her, it's gonna TOSS the pixie into the air and towards the buildings, over the watery wall of DOOM Tommy's creating.

    Gabby cuts down, down, to GOosiey... uh... down. There's a lot of feather, and there's also a weird amount of fat beneath the skin as the goose honks again, and it lifts itself out of the water, webbed feet tipped with claws as sharp as swords scraping along the bottom as it creates gusts of wind with its wings, trying to dislodge the clawing badger. Luckily, the boat doesn't dump Belinda's items into the pond as it rocks unsteadily, though into the water with the grace of a frog with three wooden legs goes Gutierrez!

    Where does a frog even get wooden legs?

    Tommy's Sonic the Hedgehog impression is going well. A little too well. AND SUDDENLY FEATHERS ARE DETRRIORATING AT AN ALARMING LEVEL. THIS GOOSE'S GONNA GET COOKED! THERE IS A VERY PANICKED HONK OF DISCONCERTING CONCERN. WHY ARE THE BUTT FEATHERS DETERRIORATING?! WHAT.

    And Lydia's harpoon strikes, from Hell's Heart at thee! THe goose honks again, and this time as the tentacles reach for its neck it tries to swipe Lydia away with a wing, paddling its legs to try and get out of the pond!

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn blinks as her soul dagger seems to do very little to the goose monster...Well that's interesting, it's never failed her before! Perhaps she just needs to dig a little deeper..But while focused on that, she is suddenly snagged by the leg and hurled into the air, which sends her flying into that deadly whirlwind of water! She might be distracted for a while..

Gabby Kinney has posed:
URp. All this flapping, and rolling, and jostling, and FAT. Have you ever smelled goose fat? Up close and in your face and in quantities that SHOULD NOT EXIST? Gabby's doing her best not to recoil as that would mean that she, too, would get dunked in the drink. A very shallow drink at that so it would probably cause damage.

"Yuck yuck YUCK!" She cries out as her hand plunges into the warm, goopy fatty... Let's not get too detailed. She's reaching trying to find the muscle under that fat. The tendons that, or veins, or... or eldrich goop she could sink her magic dispersing claws into. It's one last desperate inward stab, and slash, as she finds her grip falling away with a sizeable handful of feathers clenched in her opposite hand. Her weight and all the jostling about had finally caused them to snap free.

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Water boils and bubbles, froths and troubles, and, seconds later, from the white-capped ripple of dark water comes an explosion of form and surge and fierce, fearsome, furious flesh! From girl's height to monster's size, the wolf-creature bursts above the surface of the water, howling in all its soggy, frenzied, dripping, pool-soaked glory!

And possibly, potentially, understandably angry.

Swimming is unnecssary now As dark feet trudge beneath the pond's tortured surface. Reaching up to its (her) face briefly, the creature adjusts the dark blue domino mAsk on her features, slow strides still eating the distance between beAst and demon goose. Too deep to simply leap and lunge, the seconds stretch interminably As Whirlwind Racer runs, As Honey Badger frenzies, As Golden Vampire strikes with tentacled array!

As werewolf howls, and Silverdane finally reaches close, close enough to surge forward, to join in the fowl melee and press a heavy palm to the smal of Gabby's back, holding her to the body of the Goose.

"No falling!" she rumbles throatily, bracing with one hand to steady the Gabb, the other digging at dark feathers with a snarl.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    The sudden appearance of a werebeast from the water should probably cause Tommy some kind of pause, but if he paused, he'd sink. So no pausing! Just more running! He's starting to tighten the circle now, and in the same moment also trying again to cause some explosive mayhem near the Horrorgoose's hind end.

    But whether or not that works is not up to him, but up to this behemoth of a beaked terror, and since both Gabby and -- here is where Tommy's super-fast processing kicks in, allowing him to add two plus two and find the result of his fellow Happy Harbor student is a werewolf -- Belinda are going for a full frontal assault, well, Tommy might as well join them, right?

    He alights back on the pier, soaked to the bone from his prolonged run, but then he crouches down. A burst of speed propels him forward so that he can slam his fist right into the goose's stomach at superspeed!

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    The Goose is Angry.

    The Goose is Bleeding, glowing, lava-colored blood floating on the water. And as we all know:

    If it bleeds, we can kill it (Thank you, Predator the Musical).

    The honking of the goose, the stink of its fat, the worriesome sudden loss of its feathers and the the aid of the wolf makes the goose flap its wings harder, trying to take off, but it appears there is a lot of weight that's been added.

    "NETTIE! NEEETTTTIIIIIIE! GABBY GET HER OUT!" the crow's finally found his voice as poor Lydia and Megan get swept by a wing, and the goose turns just at the right point as parts of its rear end dissolve with the power of Tommy's mind (and destabilizing molecules), and the goose takes a super-speed Tommy to the gut.

    FOr just a tick, it appears time had stopped.

    And then the entire ass-end of the waterfoul blows out. It looks like an exploding lava lamp and smells like Gotham during July and garbage strike weather.

    Also, out comes Nettie, covered in Gross.

    At high speed.

    THe witch WHACKS against the building, and looks Utterly Stunned.

    The goose itself arches, curls its neck, and then proceeds to collapse down on itself, slowly, leaving what looks like soapscum and smells... well. Like Gotham during July and garbage strike weather.

    Except Somehow Worse.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney finds herself caught up by a werewolf. A quick sniff of air is taken automatically which she instantly regrets given the EXPLOSION of gore a moment later. The boost back up has her hefted into the air, still clutching some feathers and... then she drops again with a loud, messy SPLOOSH into the pond.

She's up again a few moments later making a deathly wail of "EW EW EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW," but the freak out is only because the danger is over. She dunks beneath the water again, swishing her hands above her head to push away as much of the oily GROSS as possible before she lifts again a bit less. Just. Less. There was no 'clean' to be had here.

"Please tell me there's a water hose at the apartments please."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Silverdane has the 'protection' of thick fur, at least, to keep the worst of the Gross from bare skin. But not bare nose. Never bare nose. Eyes bulging in horror, the werewolf emits a low wail, ears slanting back as she casts her glance around swiftly. Silver-haired crazy pea lady, THERE. Swift Runner-- THERE. Gabby---

At this point, restraint fails-- the werewolf twists for the water of the pond, and hated bath or no-- ducks beneath the surface with a moan of misery.

Shower. So much shower. And then *burn* the clothes.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    The thing about how Tommy's power works is he just kind of concentrates on a point and that point blows up. So he doesn't have to get anywhere near the thing he wants to explode. This is, in the moment, Very Important.

    Because Tommy is soaked down to his socks. His shoes squelch on the pier as he climbs back onto it. But he's just wet, and that's all, there's no disgusting goose goop covering him. He can only look on in abject horror as the true extent of how disgusting Gabby is. And how disgusting Belinda is too, because he's willing to bring in his fellow HHHS student into his considerations.

    Nettie, meanwhile, is kind of responsible for this, so she's unfortunately left out of Tommy's commiserating. "Hold on!" he says, and then makes a quick circuit around the apartment complex until he finds an open window, from which he borrows (steals) a thing of dish soap at high speed.

    Look, they always show it cleaning up birds from oil spills, and this is... sort of... like that, right?

    Wordlessly he offers up the bottle.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie's feelings would be hurt. Scandalizingly hurt. After all she only wanted adventure. Not to be eaten by a clearly demonic goose creature.

    She straightens up. She looks over the duck pond. She's soaked. She stinks. She's decently sure she's lost at least two of her earrings and there are some chemical burns along her now bare arms. She's lost her jacket.

    "Bollocks." she curses, tapping herself down and then producing one of her home-rolled cigarettes from a pristine silk pouch, and then she puts it to her lips. She raises a lighter, but there's not even a spark from the BIC.

    So she turns, and chucks it as hard as she can, and then lights the cigarette magically.

    She's untwisting the head of a flask before she just brings it to her lips, and tilts her head back.

    And once she's steeled herself with nicotine and alcohol, she looks to Tommy, Belinda, and Gabby. She offers the flask to the kids.

    "Nice work, duckies." she congratulates them.

    "Anyone want to work for Miss Kinney and do this moderately full time?"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney slogs her way out to the peir again. Or even just out to the edge of the pond where she glances back toward Belinda commiseratingly. "I know, the nose, it's awful," she agrees with a little wine. Tommy's approach with soap is taken willingly with a single hand reaching out. She'd rather go home soapy and slightly less stinky if possible.

When Nettie rejoins them she's already just doing what she can to lather her hair and swipe sudsy bubbles from her face with her fingers. "Uh, yeah hi, leader of Justice League Dark. One of," she adds a bit quieter. "And this is sadly... not that unusual." A long, tired sigh. "Bigfoot was easier. Less messy. No fighty."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Like a great fuzzy alligator, Silverdane glowers at Nettie with a positively acidic look, just half of her head poking up above the water. Waiting patiently for her turn with the soap. And, without fanfare, tearing the bottle in half before she pours the soapy gel contents across her body.

"Am in school," she manages between-- oh god, the smell! She rubs both hands across her nose before she dives back beneath the water again. Scrubbing furiously. Trying not to dissolve into mad giggles!

"...blew up a goose!" she adds accusingly for Tommy's benefit, eyes glittering with fiery mirth. And a whimper. She glances back at the boat, drifting lazily at pond's center. Maybe the parts are oily enough? Surely motor oil residue would be a better smell than this?!

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    All Tommy has to say is "I don't do teams." Which has been his byline for some time now. And he's sticking to it, yes indeed. He remains on solid land while the others start scrubbing themselves clean, and he wraps his arms around himself against the chill. Not that that will help, of course, not with sodden clothes and the cold of New York in March setting in.

    He watches from afar with a faint grimace, shaking his head to the offer of alcohol moreso because he's not sure what's in the flask rather than, you know, that he's underaged and probably shouldn't be drinking. He just committed petty thievery so his girlfriend and his fellow HHHS student could both get clean after goose-mageddon, these things don't particularly matter to him.

    And then he realizes he's being an idiot, so he jogs in place until the wind generated by his super speed has dried him off.

    His hair's crazy, now. Even moreso than usual, sticking up at odd angles that refuse to abide when he combs his fingers through it.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Luckily neither do most of the mages, magicians, and others who generally wander through. It's nice to get paid hen you do get pulled into Miss Kinney's shenanigans, though, isn't it Mr. Shepherd?" Nettie gives a small smile, and then downs the rest of the flask.

    It definitely smelled like spicy pine.

    Nettie then looks over the water, and gives a soft murmur of words that tingle on the ear, and the old witch is suddenly clean and gooseless. Her hair is also sticking up crazily and mildly damp, though she looks rather grumpy and cross.

    "And you can always be part time. Have access to crash space, a work out room," she connsiders a moment.

    "Cadre of associates who've been through Hell. An' of course hazard pay." she jokes, fluffing out her sweater.

    Her crow, now missing its tricorne hat, brings her wand back to her before settling on her shoulder.

    "All on the condition you don't talk about your cadre of associates, I s'pose. But the offer's open."

    "What Nettie means to say is," the crow, who sounds like Harry Potter trying to be Jack Sparrow, "she likes the cut of your jib, and should you desire to hang you're welcome to regardless, at least on a part-time basis."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Silverdane glowers more, but... doesn't say anything, for now. Because giant exploding demon geese *were* more interesting than being shot at and yawning toothily in reply to various gang-members. And moonlighting in Gotham from time to time.

Though it might still give Mr. Stadler heartburn! Sigh.

The intensity of thinking can be detected by the slowing of her motions as she scrubs; water burbles around her as she dunks her head, a bubbly sigh as she rises again with a chuff. "...can think about it?" she finally manages gruffly, pausing to run her tongue over her nose with a grimace. So. Much. Smell. Shudder!

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"I know you don't, Tommy. No pressure. No pressure to you either," Gabby adds with a backward glance toward the soapy werewolf. Then she dunks herself into the cleaner water to rinse off bubbles before trudging soaking wet out of the pond. At least she didn't completely stink now. She was still intending on a hot, hot shower after this however.

"Take all the time you need. We're not just there to do this sort of thing, but to help out those who might need resources. Allies. People they can turn to when things get weird. That's us."

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    "Things get weird around me all the time," Tommy mutters, but he doesn't pipe up to actually say anything to the others. That he's really not much of a team player is evident in the way he steps back, away from the flow of conversation. He's still squishy in his damp shoes, though, and he cringes slightly at the feeling.

    Which prompts him to say, "I'm gonna run home for a change of clothes. Be right back." And then he's gone.

    Don't worry, he'll be back in a few moments, freshly changed but also with supplies for Gabby and Belinda. He's not completely antisocial.