March of the Mindless

Players

Jono

Penny

Norton

It's pretty cold out tonight. Not as cold as it has been but it's definitely moving toward winter. The streets aren't overly crowded thanks to the weather but there are a few people milling about here and there, moving on to their next destination. The occasional car cruises by and lights wink in the various apartments and shops lining the road. There's a subdued atmosphere; sort of a melancholy air that has dampened the mood.

Norton is off duty at the moment, so there's nothing keeping him from taking a walk. His trench coat’s collar is tucked up against the cold as he makes his way slowly down the street. He doesn't seem to be paying all that much attention to his surroundings - and whenever he does react to the world around him, it's in the form of a glare at something or someone that's caught his annoyance. But for the most part, he's in his own world as he trudges along.

Penny is just getting home from school and a little time spent at the SUFMA office on campus. She's got a couple of books pinned under one elbow, while the other cradles a small paper bag of groceries. She looks a little cold, especially with her jacket left open as it is, but is mostly lost in thought as she makes her way along the street towards her apartment. Now comes the tricky part of trying to get her keys out of that huge purse with her hands full, hm. She begins sort of awkwardly juggling her load to free up a hand.

Hands dug deeply into his leather jacket, Jono huddles against what cool air there is today. Even if it's a little on the milder side, the jacket's a bit too thin for this weather. His guitar case has been slung onto his back and he appears to be heading from the direction of Washington Square Park, one of his favorite busking spots. Spotting a familiar face across the road as he seems to be heading toward the same building, he hollers, ~Pen!~ as he looks right and left before moving to jog across the street to meet up with her.

There's a loud sound from within the lofts; as if something -very- heavy was just dropped or even more appropriately, destroyed. It shakes the walls and causes a dog to bark somewhere down the block.

Norton is snapped promptly out of his reverie by the abrupt, loud sound. "The fuck was that?!" He looks off toward the lofts, brow furrowed and body tense. Acting on instinct, he takes a step toward the source of the noise (at least, as far as he can tell) and feels quickly to make sure he has his gun ready to draw beneath his trench coat.

Penny is doubly startled from her thoughts, first by Jono's shout, which causes her to just lift her head and look over with slightly befuddled surprise. At the surprisingly loud crash from within the apartment block, she whirls back, dropping her books in surprise, her expression mirroring Norton's question. Quickly, she stoops to collect her books, realizing only after the fact that she actually recognizes Norton. Straightening back up, she looks over at Jono, jerking her head slightly towards the apartments, before beginning to move, of course, towards the sound of the disturbance out of curiosity. "What's going on?" she asks of no one in particular.

~I was just comin' to see ya, gel,~ is about all Jono gets out to Penny as he approaches, slowing down to his usual long-strided yet casual gait. The loud noise and shaking walls grabs his attention rather abruptly, pulling it away from Penny even as she drops her books. ~Wot the...?!~ he exclaims, immediately turning to face the building, dark eyebrows furrowing in an indication of a frown despite his lower face being hidden behind a scarf. Glancing down at the blonde, he replies, ~I don't know. Was that in yer buildin'??~ He's not noticed Norton just yet.

Silence reigns for the moment. Except for that dog and people peeking out of their windows and from shops to see if there's anything noticeable and outside.

Norton glowers, walking up to the building that he's pretty sure the noise came from - and walking right past Jono and Penny in the process. "One of you, get ready to call the cops." Without even looking at them, he produces a badge and flashes it in their general direction. "No fuckin' clue what that was, but it didn't sound like your average domestic scuffle, an' I might need backup. You hear..." He now glances directly at them, and he recognizes the peppy blond girl. "...me? ...Huh." He blinks.

The news that he was just coming to see her gets Jono a quick grin from Penny despite everything else going on, but her attention is quickly back on the strange thump in the not-quite night. "Yeah, I ... think it was," she replies, frowning a little. "I hope everything's okay." Since the building hasn't exploded or anything, she takes another step forward, trying to peer up into the windows to see what's going on. At Norton's order, she does pull out her phone, distracted enough herself to wait for him to recognize her rather than get all up in arms about it. "Don't look at me, I had nothing to do with it," she informs him innocently as he does finally recognize her. "Any idea what's going on?"

~Huh... wotever it is, maybe it's done,~ Jono starts, glancing over at the building curiously and even a little cautiously still. As Norton speaks about calling the cops, Jono spreads his hands a little and replies, ~No cell phone here, mate... but it seems the gel here has saved the day in that arena.~ This last is added as he sees Penny pull out her relatively new, very fancy cell phone. Peering at Norton as the man seems to react strangely to Penny, he asks, ~Somethin' wrong, mate? I mean, other than the non-domestic scuffle thin'.~

The door suddenly flies open so quickly that its ripped off the top hinges in the effort. The person behind this portal assault is a man dressed all in black who has just finished kicking that door. He leads another five people all dressed as he is and two of them are holding a young woman; an unconscious blonde lying amidst them all. Though more than those details, it's a bit hard considering what just happened.

"FUCK!" Norton takes a step back abruptly, surprised. The pavement beneath his foot cracks audibly when he does so. He rallies quickly, however, and he now puts his focus on the newcomers. "Backup," he hisses under his breath to Penny and Jono, before taking a step toward the the six people in black. "HEY, YOU!" He holds up the badge for them to see. "Officer Norton Fisch, NYPD. Stop RIGHT THERE, an' put the girl down nice an' slow." He's moving towards them as he talks, but slowly. Perhaps he's trying not to spook them too much?

"It's all right," Penny is in the process of assuring Jono, regarding Norton's reaction to her, but she doesn't get much further than that. Having taken several steps forward to see what's going on, she's a little too close for comfort when the door suddenly comes flying open. "/Jesus/!" she exclaims, this time dropping her bag of groceries in her surprise. In a rare show of self-preservation instincts, she lets them lie as she stumbles back a few steps, her now-freed arm coming up in front of her face as if the door might come flying right off. "What the hell...?" She's not quite as quick to rally as Norton, and is only just starting to puzzle out what's going on, glancing sidelong at Jono with wide eyes.

Jono jumps visibly as the door slams open, grabbing for Penny's arm a second later to try to pull her back away from the building seeing as she's obviously too close. It seems he already had that in mind before Norton even suggested it but not quick enough before the door busts open. ~A bit outnumbered, aren't ya, Officer? How long does backup take?~ he asks in low tones to the man. ~Call 911, Pen...~ he mutters to her, whether or not he gets a hold of her.

Now that the door's out of the way, it's obvious that these guys aren't unarmed. Though the kicker in the front seems without a weapon, two of his buddies flanking him -are- carrying. One has a shotgun, the other a large pistol. A man in the far back sighs audibly. "Get the fuck out of the way, all of you." His presence is obvious; it's something more -felt- than anything. In fact, it's hard to say that his voice was even heard rather than simply 'known'; like it was shoved out into everyone's minds. "We do not have time to dally. If you wish to continue to be a police officer, then you should just let us to it."

Norton's eyes widen at the sight of the pistol and the shotgun. Well, crap. And he's not even wearing Kevlar this time. Looks like the direct approach might not work so well this time. And then there's the guy at the back speaking into his head - not his favorite feeling. "...Gah... rgh... fuck!" He grits his teeth. "...The hell are you tryin' ta do? That's all I'm askin'. There's been too many fuckin' questions lately, an' even if I can't STOP ya, I might as fuckin' well get some ANSWERS." As if to symbolize his willingness to step aside, he tucks the badge back away inside his trench coat. He's very, -very- carefully avoiding giving away the fact that he's using that gesture to cover reaching for his own gun.

Penny allows Jono to pull her back further from the danger, quite willing to move in a little closer to him. But as the surprise begins to wear off, she starts to regain her footing. "Don't you dare," she mutters, as the bad guys suggest Norton just leave them to do what they're doing. Her eyebrows go up a little as he starts demanding some answers from them, but Jono's instructions, she remembers why it was she got the phone out and begins quickly punching in the right numbers and then bringing the phone up to her ear. Unfortunately, there's not much to be done to disguise what it is she's doing. Unless they'll buy that she's just a ditzy enough blonde to decide now is a great time to call up a friend for a chat?

Tilting his head to one side, Jono seems a little perplexed by all of this. Or perhaps it's more that he feels unsettled at all this 'feeling' of the man's presence and voice. Trying to appear unimpressed, he tries to place himself between Penny and the men as he calls out, ~Oi! Ya in the monkey suit. Whatcher do to the gel there?~ Either he's really brave, really stupid or just figuring Norton might need a little bit time to be bought. ~Or are ya goin' to be that much of a git that ya won't even tell us that much?~

The shotgun is raised and aimed in Norton's general direction but let's be honest; it's a shotgun. It's going to do a lot of damage if it fires. The men basically are stopped for the moment, waiting for the 'boss' to finish talking or give further instructions. "You witness the Light," The man says. "I've hunted for her for -months-. I've got her. and you -will- move or be amongst the first to die. I don't care either way."

Crap crap crap crap CRAP. Shotgun. Too much spread... can't risk drawing the gun now. It stays in its holster. Norton takes a step back, arms spread, when he mentions the Light... which causes Norton to glower even further. "So -you're- the one behind all that fuckin' Light malarkey, huh?" He eyes the shotgun carefully. "...well, I ain't gettin' killed over some bitch I ain't ever met." He continues to back away... no, back away isn't the right word. To the side. Away from Jono and Penny. He's sweating as his mind races, waiting for just the right opening...

Penny gives Jono an impatient look, not really directed at him but at how long it seems to take to get an answer on the phone. Her eyebrows go up a little as the man mentions the Light, but then finally she gets an operator and her attention is back on the phone. She spits out the details quickly, able to give the exact address since, well, it's hers, but she ignores the order to stay on the line, instead hanging up once all that is done so that she can focus on what's going on here. A shrug is offered, her expression somehow both hopeful and cynical that help will arrive in time. Despite being way over her head, she doesn't appear to be entertaining any thoughts of retreat.

Jono blinks once. Then he blinks again. ~Shite! That's Cassandra!~ he hisses at Penny over his shoulder. ~We have to help her!~ Turning his attention back toward the group holding the limp blonde, he calls out, ~Bollocks! Ya've just got a wee gel there. No 'light' that ya keep yammerin' on about. Ya've been had, boyos. Admit it. She's no giant glowin' lightbulb!~ Keep talking, boyo, and it might distract them just enough... for what, though? He glances over at Norton as he pulls away from them and makes that speech about not dying over someone he's not met. He frowns slightly, but then turns his attentions back to the group at the door. Too much talk about killing and dying for his liking. Reaching up hesitantly, he starts to pull his scarf off, showing odd black bandages below. Perhaps he's just a little warm.

The men begin to push out at a pace that suggests they are far from concerned or worried. The man replies with a bit of a chuckle; again, heard in the head not by the ears so much. "This woman holds the Light. She can see things in you people that you don't want her to see. The Light is not literal. It's what I will use to dominate mankind once and for all," The shotgun guy keeps his weapon trained on Norton. The pistol is raised toward Penny and Jono. "Tonight is the last night. When she is in front of me, the world will suffer greater than any moment in history."

Norton glances briefly - VERY briefly - at Penny and Jono as he continues to move away from the two of them. It's hard to tell from his look whether he's annoyed or surprised and impressed by Jono's talkative attempts at distraction. And then he looks at the shotgun... still trained on him. Crap! He'd been hoping to avoid this... but the only way to distract -these- guys, it seems, is to take drastic measures. As such, in the middle of his stride, he abruptly stomps down onto the ground... with all of his strength. And when Norton's involved, there's quite a lot of strength to go around. A miniature earthquake ripples across the pavement, no doubt setting in motion a living nightmare for local plumbers and road maintenance in the process. But Norton's more concerned about the immediate future - seizing what he prays is a moment of surprise from his shotgun-bearing assailant, he ducks low and barrels in, swatting at the shotgun - if he connects, the force would certainly be enough to launch it out of the hands of the average person.

Penny looks a little surprised that Jono knows the girl, though perhaps a few things are clicking into place. Still, she's a little more focused on the here and now. Her eyes go wide as the pistol is leveled in her general direction, and she freezes other than to very slowly drop her phone back into her purse. "Not good," she murmurs. But then the ground suddenly goes all shaky under her feet and she throws out her arms for balance as she tries to regain her footing. Looking up just in time to see Norton's heroic attempts at disarming the man, she claps a hand over her mouth, and she can't do much but watch with widened eyes.

There is a -gun- pointed at him and Penny, Jono mentally notes. Guitar case and jacket are both slipped off and left on the ground next to him as Norton makes his own decision. And for some reason, the gun-thought narrows down to 'gun pointed at Penny' in his brain. This triggers an automatic protective response: first, he makes sure he's directly in front of Penny so if anyone gets shot, it will be him, and second, he reaches beneath his jacket and starts undoing the buckles attached to his bandages as quickly as his guitar-playing fingers can do so, loosening bandages... only to be thwarted after the first one as he finds himself trying to keep his footing as the would-be earthquake is triggered. ~Bloody hell!~ His arms flap about wildly for a moment before he resumes trying to undo the bandages.

This tactic seems to work. The people stagger; all but the 'boss'. Two of the men let go of the woman to catch their balance and that means the others end up letting her go. She hits the ground -hard-.

The shotgun is cast upward by Norton's blow and goes off, firing harmlessly into the air (albeit loudly). Two of the guys dive toward Norton with rage filled eyes and they look pretty tough. The pistol guy looks ready to pull that trigger at Jono...

Savage victory alights in Norton's eyes as the shotgun is taken out of the picture. It opens a lot more options to him. Options like grabbing the man in front of him and hurling him bodily at the man with the pistol. Norton is one of very few people who can do this one-handed, grasping the front of his collar and shoving him toward the other gunman. He does this as swiftly as he feasibly can, trying to ensure that if ANYONE gets hit, it's the man he's throwing. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean he's successful... and it certainly leaves him somewhat open to being tackled by the other two once the former gunman's been sent airborne. "ARGH! Fuckin' bastards..." Although he is strong enough to keep standing as they rush him, chances are he's still gonna HURT from whatever they're about to do to him.

Penny is not so well-versed in guns to be able to immediately tell the difference between the sound of a shotgun blast and the crack of a pistol, and so as the shotgun goes off harmlessly, she still lets out a little shriek, thinking, if only for a moment, that there's a bullet hurtling in their direction. Flinching, she throws her arms up as if to protect herself; of course, it's just instinct, since she does know enough to know that would do nothing if the bullet actually /were/ coming at her. All of this happens in a split second before she realizes, no, not shot, and drops her arms breathlessly.

Those deft fingers yank loose buckle after buckle in seconds, having dealt with this system of clothing for years now. ~I don't think so, mate. Got enough holes in myself already...~ comes Jono's near-challenge to the man with the pistol. Both hands reach up, fingers digging beneath the thick cloth under his nose and pull down abruptly on the black wrappings which bind him. Immediately, white flame explodes outward from what should have been just an exposed chest, with an audible -FOOMP-. It appears to be aimed directly at the pistol-waving thug, whether or not this fellow also has one of his comrades soaring through the air at him; Jono was too focused to see this attack.

"Fools! Do NOT let the Light go!!" This from the master. The two guys that dove on Norton attempt to maul or stab him (one reveals a knife). They are not holding back at all and are definitely trying to cause severe damage. The body of one lands on the other gunner who goes down with a loud 'Gah!' Before either can hit the ground, Jono's attack knocks them piss silly. The gun does not go off but rather skitters across the pavement toward the street.

Norton isn't exactly holding back either, but his momentary focus away from the other two costs him - not only does one get in a pretty decent punch on Norton's side, but the one with the knife very nearly finishes him off - he twists out of the way just in time to change a potentially lethal knife wound into an incredibly painful nonlethal knife wound across his abdomen, slicing clean through his clothes and drawing blood. "ARGH!!! You... fuckers..!!" He responds to them by swinging wide with both arms. This isn't like during the riot, where he was carefully pacing himself to avoid injuries to others - he's knocking them aside with enough force to not only splinter bone on impact, but also likely to send them flying to the side as well. Pain wracks his body as the movement aggravates the knife wound further, but he keeps standing through sheer effort of will... for now.

"Woah." Penny just stares at Jono with wide eyes. And perhaps because her brain just /can't/ deal with what just happened there, she somehow hones in on that gun as it goes flying. Hm. She hesitates slightly, not really wanting to give up the shelter of staying behind Jono, but it proves to tempting. And so, suddenly, and without enough forethought to really warrant it, she darts out into the open to make a dash for the gun wherever it's finally come to rest.

As the pistol- and shotgun-toting pair seem to be out of the picture and Norton seems to be dealing with two of the others, Jono ceases the jet of concussive flame at its source so that he stands there with the white fire licking out from what seems to be a gaping hole in his body, though it's mostly hidden by the intensity of the light caused by the flames. Apparently without a lower jaw, since the flames seem to come out of there, too, he can't frown at the boss, save with his eyebrows. A quick glance at Cassandra is afforded before he focuses on the boss, perhaps losing track of the fact that there were six, not five, perpetrators. He's not seem Penny duck out for the gun, so focused is he on the immediate threats. ~Wot now, boyo? We goin' to dance?~ he asks, taking a step forward.

"She can't be safe forever," The boss says with a sneer, literally vanishing before the eyes of any who are watching. Norton's attack sends bodies flying; one slamming into the wall with a sickening 'crunch' that sounds very much like his spine snapped and the other goes tumbling down the stairs and into the street, unconscious. As the master disappears, his cronies literally just collapse, dazed... unconscious or just plain befuddled. Those that were tossed and or otherwise assaulted groan. A lot. The woman remains dead silent and unconscious.

Norton goes wide-eyed as the one in charge just plain vanishes. He also doesn't seem to be thrilled about the guy with the flame-spewing chest. "...You've got to be fuckin' SHITTING me!!" He takes a step towards where the boss once stood, but pain blossoms anew in his chest, and he groans in agony. "Oh Jesus Christ..." He collapses to the ground, not unlike the recently-disabled cronies around him, although in his case there's that fully visible gash, still sopping blood.

Penny grabs up the gun and turns triumphantly to train it on ... no one. Well, then. Her shoulders sag, and then she drops it awkwardly to her side, only now really seeming to acknowledge she has no idea how to use one of these things anyway. Holding it gingerly, she sort of jogs back over towards the scene of the crime, figuring it safe to approach. "You okay?" she calls out to Norton tentatively, also giving Cassandra a grimacing look. "I /did/ call 911." She casts a glance towards the street as if hoping to see them approach, her gaze somewhat skipping past Jono since she's still not quite sure how to deal with that yet. But she can't be that cold, and her eyes are quick to return to him, at least to make sure he's also all right.

As the boss disappears, Jono blinks and takes a step back, suddenly realizing that Penny's not behind her as she had been left. ~Shite.~ He turns briefly to look for her, panic in his 'voice'. ~Penny?!~ he calls out, then zeroes in on her form... holding the gun. First, he's relieved that she seems to be okay. Then, holding out a hand, palm outward, he says hesitantly, ~Maybe ya should put that down, Pen...~ He's torn. He wants to go see that the girl's okay but Penny is his first priority. ~Ya okay?~ he asks the one with the gun.... then glances over his shoulder at Norton. ~Shite... he needs a hospital... wot's takin' them so long?~

People who were looking out their windows aren't anymore. Once that shotgun went off, the curious took cover. People on the street who had taken cover peek now, looking at the carnage. A siren can be heard off a ways.

A guy across the street screams suddenly, clutching at his head. "No! Ouch! Please... Jesus Christ it fuckin' hurts! NOOO!!!" And then he stops, turning to look at Jono and Penny and the other people lying there. "Must... kill..." and without hesitation, he -charges- them with his arms flailing wildly over his head. The look in his eyes is plain enough: pure insanity.

Norton grunts with pain as he wrenches his trench coat off - his own gun is clearly visible holstered below his shoulder. He then wraps the trench coat around himself lengthwise, effectively using it as an -incredibly- crude bandage. Clearly he doesn't have advanced first aid knowledge, but at least it's blocking the bleeding a -little-. "Argh... fuck.." He glares at Penny with the gun, and Jono with... the flames. "...Goddamit, girl... you jus'... can't keep outta... mutie trouble, can ya?" His attention is, of course, then drawn by the man being apparently driven insane on the spot. "...oh motherFUCKER." He goes for his gun. If he were in better shape, he'd be able to squeeze of a shot to the legs to incapacitate the man without too much difficulty. As it is, he's working through a pretty severe amount of pain, and it takes a precious moment for him to draw the gun, start lining up the shot...

Penny gives Norton a helpless sort of shrug. Can't keep outta mutie trouble is sort of Pen in a nutshell, now isn't it. She glances skeptically down at the gun in her hand and is just thinking about handing it over when the guy across the street suddenly starts up. She whirls around, and with her usual amount of forethought, raises the gun. "Stop or I'll shoot!" she threatens in an authoritative tone. And she looks like she means it too, so everyone involved had probably better hope she's not forced to make good on that threat.

Jono's already trying to re-bandage himself up when Norton speaks to Penny. ~Wot? 'Mutie troubles'? Listen here, boyo... I don't care if ya -are- a cop or no--~ He's suddenly cut off by that scream. Blinking, he turns to face the man running at them. ~Oh bollocks...~ he mutters distractedly. He does not want to use the flames again, apparently, because he's still trying to haphazardly tighten the bandages before he just gives up. Running toward the insane man, he balls up a fist and apparently prepares to try to clock him one in the kisser... apparently he's already too focused to really notice the fact that the two people behind him are trying to train guns on the guy.

"You. Must. Die!!!" The guy shouts. He doesn't seem to care about the guns. Something in his eyes dares the cop and woman to do it too. Other people start shouting, screaming in pain. A whole group of them shouting about how they don't want to give in... they don't want to and then... well, nothing quite yet but it's sure to be something soon.

Norton grimaces. His pain doesn't matter now. More people are suffering. More people are being... controlled, he can see clearly now. And he's not going to have the only officer on the damn scene be caught sitting down nursing a flesh wound. He forces himself to his feet, gun in hand. "God... dammit. When... I find... the bastard doin' this..." Whatever he WILL do to him is going to have to remain a matter of speculation. He doesn't have a clear shot at the first guy anymore, so instead he's focusing on the newly-afflicted bystanders, watching them, waiting to see who comes next. Let's hope flame-gut can take the first guy out.

Penny looks like she'd really like to take that guy up on his dare, but as Jono rushes out, it becomes too risky even for her. And then those other ones start up... Uh oh. She finds herself sort of flailing the gun around wildly, not sure where to aim it and still not having a clue how to actually accurately use it. "Jono! Careful!" she calls out, wanting to make sure he's aware of these new stirrings, and her gaze flickers off of them and onto Jono for a moment. "I think," she says a little more quietly, forcing her voice to remain level, "Maybe we ought to think of getting her inside or ... something."

'Flame-gut' seems oblivious to the fact that he's blocked any shots. With no one stopping him, Jono reaches the first man and hauls off with a punch aimed at his face, perhaps hoping to knock him out. He doesn't get a second to consider the other shouts around them, nor what it all might mean. He's just focusing on one threat at a time. If Penny's warning was caught, it's not obvious.

The others who were screaming come toward the stairs now, running... charging with that same madness. Jono's punch knocks the gun on his back and teeth tap at the asphalt as he goes down with a cry of pain. The others wave their arms and shout threats. They're closing... perhaps not quite a dozen. Right now.

Norton scowls, feeling like he's stuck in a zombie movie. And you -know- what happens to the injured, tough-as-nails muscular guy. He sacrifices himself for the good of the group. Well, SCREW that. Besides, the blonde has a decent idea. "...Didn't you say you live here? Then head to your room and lock the fuckin' door once we're through." He bends down, at this point just forcing himself to ignore the pain of movement, and picks up Cassandra, slumping her over his shoulder. "HEY, FLAME-GUT! FALL BACK!" With that, he retreats... er, initiates a tactical withdrawal... through the doorway, Cassandra in tow.

Penny finally closes her eyes and squeezes the trigger. There might have been some aiming at someone involved, but it all becomes moot since the unexpected kickback sends the tiny girl reeling with a squeak of surprise and her shot flying so high and wild that she doesn't stand a chance of hitting anyone, except maybe the facade of the building across the street. Opening her eyes, she stares at the gun as if it's betrayed her, and then, the idea coming to her in a flash, she twirls it around so that she can use the butt of it as a weapon instead should it come to melee. The other hand dives into her purse and digs around wildly coming up with not her phone this time, but her pepper spray. Yeah, she doesn't stand much of a chance here, but she'll give it her best shot. But then they're falling back, so she begins scurrying backwards, still holding out her weapons in front of her like they might ward off the crazy. "Jono! Come on!" she calls out in a more panicked tone, but also with that very loud voice of her that will not be ignored, dammit. "/Now/!"

Shaking his hand briefly, perhaps not realizing how hard he was going to be hitting the guy, Jono takes a moment to look up now, finally seeming to notice the others coming toward them. ~Bloody hell...~ he mutters. He's just about turned around to face Penny when he hears the bellow from Norton. Eyes narrowing, he calls out, ~Hey, Baconbits! Just make sure ya get the gel safe!~ If he's going to sling names, he's going to get them back. At least he didn't say 'pig' flat out? But it might be obvious that he's more than agitated. With that, he sprints back toward Penny as she hollers for him. If he had a mouth, he'd likely be scowling judging by the furrow in his forehead.

The people are closing, moving in even as Jono, Penny and Norton get inside. In another dozen or so paces, the first one will be at the stairs and the rest are close on that one's heels. They aren't armed... not with anything but insanity anyway. A voice shouts in the street; loud enough to rattle windows. "Bring me the Light. Kill the others." Despite the volume, it's calm and steady.

If Norton's rattled by being called Bacon bits, he doesn't let it show; he's busy organizing the retreat and trying not to pass out from pain. "Argh... c'mon, you two..! HURRY! We gotta... lock 'em out, before... erg... they get 'er..." He backs away into the hallway, and blinks. "...Dammit Penny, where the fuck's your room?" Oops. The one who's never been there before probably shouldn't be leading the way out. He continues to hoist Cassandra - fortunately, thanks to his mutant strength, the only thing difficult about holding her is the way moving with her aggravates his wound.

Say what you will about Penny, but it's only when Jono joins her that she finally turns to make a break for the doorway. The gun and pepper spray are rather unceremoniously shoved towards him for him to catch as she frees up her hands to go digging around in that monster of a purse for her keys. "Keys, keys, keys," she says a little maniacally, before finally coming up with them with a triumphant, "Ah ha!" And then promptly drops them. "Crap." But she only loses a precious few moments scrambling to pick them up before taking off again. "Six! Number six!" she calls ahead to Norton. "About halfway down! I'm coming!" And she does try to put on a little more speed with those keys.

Jono can be surprisingly quick when he needs to be. Fast enough that he's already caught up to Norton and Penny. He takes the gun and pepper spray, making sure that the safety's on before shoving both into his pockets as he watches her search for the keys. He then follows her, saying quickly, ~Pen. I've got -my- key...~ With that, he reaches into his front jeans pocket as they approach the door, pulling out a single key without any keychain or other keys to clutter up the act, holding it toward her so she can dart off to get the door opened... even as he looks behind them to see if he needs to buy them further time.

The first person comes through the door, shouting like a maniac. His words are totally indistinct; it's simple gibberish and as if he wasn't ghoulish enough, he starts clawing his face, tearing jagged fingernail lines down his cheeks. Blood coating his fingertips, he makes a grim promise of what's to come. The three heroes have maybe... half a minute to get in that door before that sick lunatic will be on them.

Norton moves toward and PAST #6, so that there's plenty of room for whomever has the key to open the door first. True, he could kick it in, but that would kind of screw the chances of locking the people out, doesn't it? He grimaces as another fiery jolt of pain rips through his body, and he steadies himself by leaning against the wall beside Penny's door. Blood drips past his crude trench coat bandage. "Get... inside..."

"Perfect," Penny says, reaching out to snag the offered key. Though she may have hers out and ready, there would still be the matter of the rather large key ring to sort through. Instead, that's tossed unceremoniously back in the bag as she rushes the door with Jono's key. A little flustered, it takes her a few tries to actually get it into the slot properly, but then she's quick to slide aside the bolt and toss the door wide open, gesturing for Norton to go first with Cassandra. "Invalids first." Which could apply to both of them, curiously enough. "C'mon," she hisses to Jono, to let him know it's time to run.

Rushing down the hall behind Penny, Jono's as fast as he can, not really needing to be told even once by Penny. He brings up the rear, making sure that the crazed guy on their tail doesn't make a sudden rush for them as he turns a bit, running half-forward, half-sideways. Finally, once all of them have gone into the apartment, he follows, swiftly slamming the door shut and fastening whatever locks are present before turning to lean his back against the door. ~Penny... do ya have a first aid kit? I think the officer might need some help...~ Gone are the names for now.

"Fucking cowards!!" Comes the voice as the door slams, fists pounding against the wood frame with a thunderous assault. Soon, it's joined by others. The sirens are much louder now. The police have definitely arrived on the block. Many people are shouting now; far more than half a dozen. They are chanting "We must get the light... We must get the light..."

Norton lumbers inside and puts Cassandra down on the first relatively soft surface he finds, probably a couch or something. He then unceremoniously slumps to his knees on the floor beside it. "Aaaagh..." He closes his eyes. "Fuckin' bastard... usin' people... ain't... right... rgh..." He lifts his head a bit at the sound of sirens getting louder... as do the fists pounding. "...Crap... you guys... stand back..." Unless someone gets in his way, Norton moves to brace himself against the door, in case the locks can't do it alone. Of course, he's hardly in a condition to do so... but that doesn't appear to be stopping him.

Penny ducks inside, winded, and tosses Jono's key onto her kitchen counter. "The big one is under the sink here," she replies to him, gesturing while grabbing one of her admittedly rather light bar stools and turning to use that to (impotently) barricade the door. When she sees Norton already standing there, she furrows her brow. "Oh," she says simply, putting the stool down on the ground. "Right then. So I guess we just ... sit tight and let the cops deal with them? The ... other cops, I mean. God, you should really sit down." Somewhat lamely, she gestures to the stool. "I know some first aid, but this is really ... not going to help with the whole applying pressure thing."

~Oh yeah, we're cowards fer not wantin' to get ripped to shreds by angry, crazed mobs of people,~ Jono mutters, shaking a bit as the door behind him is banged upon. He starts looking around for what heavy furniture might be best to slide against the door. The bandages hang loosely about his torso, so he keeps his distance from people for now, not even moving toward Penny. But then Norton's moving to push himself in front of the door and Jono, the lankier of the two, easily steps out of the way. ~Damn. Well, that should do, I'd think... hang in there. Maybe yer colleagues can take control shortly...~ he offers hopefully. He turns and moves away from them both, trying to focus on re-tightening his bandages again so that he can check on everyone. ~Ya okay, Pen?~

Shouts of challenge come from the street; unintelligible for the most part. The occasional word comes through 'Freeze!' or 'No!' A bullhorn breaks through the shouts and cries 'You will all desist immediately!' Then shots are fired. And pure chaos goes into effect. More sirens, more shouting, lots of wildness. The people banging on the door continue but now, they're hitting the door with something else. Perhaps a stick or something else heavy... a chair maybe?

Norton gives Penny a pained glare when she tries to get him to sit down. "You ain't strong enough t'hold 'em back. I am. I'll deal." He grimaces. "...jus' hope I don't gotta go out there an' kick their asses one by one." He continues to press against the door. At this point the only real threat to them getting through is if they destroy the door itself - an option Norton hasn't ruled out, and one of the reasons he's placed himself in the way on purpose. When Jono suggests the cops will take care of it, he grimaces even worse. "They fuckin' BETTER... hope they sent people who can actually... fuckin' pull their weight... not the Station fat asses..." He trails off. His focus is sort of not so great right now.

"You aren't going to be strong enough for /anything/ if you pass out from blood loss," Penny points out stubbornly. Yep, she's back. Rolling her eyes at him, she moves to get the first aid kit herself from under the sink. "I'm not hurt," she replies a little tightly to Jono's question. Which isn't quite the same thing, but will have to be close enough in their current situation. With a clatter, she drops the large metal box on the counter and flips it open to see what they've got. "What are the chances of /that/?" she asks a little skeptically of Norton's hopes on the cops. Coming up with some large gauze pads, a big roll of it, and some medical tape, she shrugs. Will have to do to tide them over. Assuming Norton will even let her try while he's on guard duty. She holds up the supplies and gives him a questioning look to ask just that.

Jono finishes up with the bandages and looks over at Norton at the door, wincing visibly at the sounds of gunfire and the continued bangs on the door. He then glances to Penny, perhaps catching the tightness in her voice. But now's not the time to question that. She's not hurt and that's the really important thing. So he busies himself with wandering over to check on the unconscious Cassandra, perhaps merely checking to make sure she's still breathing, since he has no first aid training.

The banging gets louder. More fists pommel it and it's starting to quake from it. "Get the fuck away from there!" A voice shouts. The fists don't stop. "I said get away from there! NYPD! Ahh!!" The rest are inhumane screams but they don't last long before they become gurgling. A gun goes off. Then more guns. Then lots of guns. Outside, in the hallway... people are going down. The door splinters... and then BLAM BLAM BLAM! It's silent in the hall. The street's a different story but for the moment... the complex is quiet.

Norton just glowers at Penny, apparently not ready to relent. But then there are the gunshots... and then there's the silence. "...oh... fuck." He closes his eyes and slides down against the door, thudding softly onto the floor. He looks... incredibly tired and weak, all of a sudden. At least he doesn't seem to be putting up any more resistance to first aid.

Penny stares at the door with wide eyes and raised eyebrows at the sounds of the battle being waged. "Hoooly shit," she says slowly, breathlessly. It's only when Norton collapses that her attention snaps back to him and the materials in her hands. She lets out a weary sigh and starts over. It's so tiresome being proven right all the time. "Just ... check to see if she has any injuries from when those guys dropped her," she suggests to Jono as she drops to a crouch in front of Norton. "This is just to tide you over until they can get an ambulance over here. You're going to need to get this taken care of," she informs him as she readies her materials and then reaches to move his clothing out of the way so that she can actually see the wound.

Apparently satisfied that Cassandra is still breathing, Jono moves away from her now, moving closer toward the door and the others before he stops in his tracks as the sounds from the hall horrify him. As silence falls in the hallway, he murmurs to Penny, ~She's breathing... I'm no doctor, though...~ He runs a hand through his unruly locks and lets the hand fall to his side impotently. Nodding toward Norton, he asks her, ~How's he doin'? How bad's that wound?~ He doesn't ask Norton outright, perhaps not wanting to tax him.

"Are you alright in there?" A voice shouts out with some authority. "Anyone? If you need help, please shout. Paramedics are on their way!" And it sounds like it too. More sirens and probably more cops. Maybe the SWAT team even. It's pandamoneum out there. Shattering glass, screaming... it's another riot. New York, the riot city. It -does- sound quieter than before... perhaps it's falling under control at last.

"Urgh... I'm a fuckin' cop, blondie," he grumbles to Penny as she dresses his wound - it doesn't look like it pierced any organs or anything, the worst damage is just the sheer amount of bleeding, highly exacerbated by his exertions. "I could... walk to the ER in my sleep." When someone shouts from outside, Norton looks up, as if trying to see the speaker - despite there being a door in the way. "...In here!" He shouts as loud as he can in his state. "Officer Norton Fisch..." He gives out his badge number and precinct. "And some civilians... argh... we could REALLY use a fuckin' ambulance..."

"Yeah, well, I'm learning to assume nothing when it comes to people's common sense," retorts 'blondie', no doubt oblivious to the hypocrisy of her judging people on that front. But at least Penny can bicker /and/ bandage at the same time and gets to that, placing the gauze over it and applying pressure. "Did you /see/ any blood or anything?" she asks of Jono as he comes over with his brief report on Cassandra's condition. "And he's well enough to still be a pain in the ass," she adds, looking back to Norton with a roll of her eyes, but her tone carries no real bite to it. "He's lost a lot of blood, though. All I can do at this point is try to stop him from losing too much /more/." She looks relieved to hear that the paramedics are on the way.

Eyebrows knit closer together as Jono mutters, ~She's just tryin' to hel, ya ungrateful git.~ He then looks over at the door, and winces a bit as Norton yells out. He then follows up with, ~Only two in here are hurt, though!~ He wants that to be clear so they don't waste their time checking on those two... and maybe getting too close to Jono and what lies beneath his bandages. He then says to Penny, ~I didn't see any blood. She's just unconscious. Don't know wot those wankers did to her. Maybe just knocked her out.~

There seems to be a shout of anguish that resounds through the area... a cry of pure fury... and all the fighting outside, all the people that were controlled, everything... just stops. Well, the people pull their 'confused flopping' as before. It seems that this sick bastard has been defied once again. And he's not at all happy about it.

"Hold tight! It's on its way, Officer Fisch!" Comes the response. "We're just cleaning up the mess out here so just stay inside."

Norton glares at the two of 'em, and utters a harsh, humorless laugh. "Pfah... y'call this... pain in the ass? You ain't seen me... on a good day." When the voice beyond the door says help is on the way, he sort of looks like he's going to say something else, but 'thanks' seems to be a bit silly, so he just lets it slide. He pulls himself away from the door, to ensure the paramedics have a way through, leaning against a wall elsewhere. He glances at Penny and Jono once more. "Ha... 's funny though. Never woulda thought... you'd be datin'... a mutie... SUFMA girl." And with that, Norton finally passes out. None will envy the paramedics that have to lift HIM onto a stretcher.

"Why is it I have no problems believing that?" Penny remarks about him being a much bigger pain in the ass when he wants to be. She follows him to the wall, as tenacious about this first aid business as she is about everything. But as he mentions their dating, she glances sidelong up at Jono before promptly returning her attention to her work with a much more thoughtful, perhaps conflicted expression. "Airway, breathing, circulation," she recites the literal ABCs of first aid without looking back up. "If she's still breathing and not bleeding, there's not much else we can do for her until the paramedics arrive." And so she's just going to focus on applying pressure to try and staunch the bleeding until someone more qualified comes along to relieve her of her duties.

Jono was being quiet for the time being until Norton mentions something about Penny dating him. He blinks, starts to hold up a finger to protest, then falls silent before he even finds his voice again. Apparently something about the sidelong glance from Penny just makes him refrain from commenting. Instead, he replies, ~Well, guess there's not much more I can do here either. Glad the cavalry showed up...~ He then moves over to one of the stools and plunks himself down on it.

Norton lies there. He's much more tolerable when he's not talking.