[img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjExNi5hY2FjZWYuUTJ4aGJtTjVJRkJoZEhKcFkycy4x/burn-out-fade-away.regular.webp[/img]
Luca [@FernStone], Sloane [@Atrophy], Britney, Adora [@Mixtape Ghost N] & Everyone Else
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[quote=Britney][color=f4eb93]”... [i]Sorry about that, Clance.[/i]”[/color][/quote]

Was that sarcasm?

Britney had earned herself another half-assed clap from the boy's grimy palms, payment in kind for the equally half-assed comment, although Clancy avoided giving in to the temptation to suggest where Britney could aim her [i]next[i] spear - he left that unspoken.

[b]”Sure.”[/b]

Faint green light spilled from the other Greenwood girl - Kashmira - washing over him with no effect, Clancy chose not to join the brief huddle that formed, instead setting his attention on their supposed destination as Autumn stepped up to lead them on. He kept an eye on Luca and, to a lesser extent, Adora. They weren't in their best shape, and he had considered they were already in bad shape with unfriendly eyes on them, and this was all [i]before[/i] they'd reached the vault. 

That soon changed at least. Greenwood girl led them out of the tunnel and into something out of an art gallery. 

The others probably had their eye on the vault, the overengineered mechanical system that would've looked old by his grandparents' standards, never mind the people in the room. Whatever its workings, it would be difficult to get through.

[i]Probably.[/i]

The vault was [i]their[/i] problem.

Clancy's gaze, on the other hand, was set on the statue of the dog. The [i]Starving Dog[/i], although to look at it, the model from which its likeness had been sculpted was probably better fed than most dogs he'd met. What it was [i]really[/i] made of was a question present in mind. Marble, maybe? He wasn't a rock expert, but he knew that the stuff was heavy, but also easier to crack open than something like granite.

Then again, this was a [i]magical[/i] statue that didn't follow logical rules or reason. [i]Sounds familiar, right?[/i] The irony wasn't lost there, either.

[quote=Adora][color=fd8a6c]”I'm the only one who can give Luca or Sloane an opening.”[/color][/quote]

Clancy rolled his eyes as they considered their plan of attack. [I]Why wait for Father Wolf when you can just get eaten by his cousin?[/i] For Adora's sake, he cut in.

[b]”Nice try, but you weren't there when some of the [i]stupor[/i] friends met me at the biker club. They had dogs that size, too.”[/b] [i]Or something like that.[/i] [b]”And maybe you hit your head a little too hard back there and forgot which one of us is still walking around without some glowing green [i]bullshit[/i] to fix things.”[/b]

It wasn't intended to be mean spirited, but being blunt and direct came across as subtly as a lead balloon.

[quote=Luca][color=6B8E23]”How much can you handle like this, Clancy?”[/color][/quote]

He looked at Luca, shrugged, then glanced downwards at the shadowy abyss yawning through his torso. It was [i]starting[/i] to close up, pale flesh gradually edging back over the underlying skeletal shadow, not unlike watercolour spilling across a canvas. It would take a while before it cleared up, and would probably not make it in time before they had their next punch-up.

[quote=Luca][color=6B8E23]”If you’re less hurt than Adora then… you’ll be able to hold it back best.”[/color][/quote]

The boy realised, perhaps a few seconds slow, that Luca was asking if he was capable of stepping up so Adora wouldn't have to. That she was in far worse a shape than he was or would ever be.

[b]"I'm not [i]hurt[/i]."[/b] It was easy to forget how bad things [i]looked[/i], sometimes.

[i]Irritated[/i] was a better description, present company accounted for. The damage was superficial, an [i]interruption[/i] at best. Outside, it meant people asked questions, but in this circle there was no illusion to keep up with. Perhaps in part that was a relief, what made it [i]easy[/i]. Not that he wanted to go through the experience of peeling himself off the end of a large wooden tree-trunk again, [b]"But I think you're right,[/b] he gestured back to Luca, then nodded over at Adora, [b]"Could say a lot of stuff about you both. You're [i]not[/i] okay, and you still have getting out of herle to worry about when this is done."[/b]

[quote=Luca][color=6B8E23]”If Layla, Alizée, Aislin and Britney can immobilize the statue… I could also destroy it. It’ll erode like any other stone I bet. Then we won’t have to deal with it on the way back out. Unless we’re hoping for a secret passage inside the vault, or a perfectly timed teleporter?”[/color][/quote]

[b]"How long would it take you to get through stone?"[/b] It was a rhetorical question, mostly.

[I]Too long, too much risk.[/i] Clancy shook his head, giving voice to his feelings on the matter, [b]"Not worth it."[/b]

When the biker had set the deer-goat-dog things on them at the club, he'd slowed them down, hurt at least one of them bad enough it didn't get up, They weren't too different in size to the statue either, either, but they had still been [i]living[/i] things, made of [i]meat, blood, bone[/i].

Could he stop it? Of all of them, he probably had some of the best chances, and had nothing to lose. Could he [i]break[/i] it? [i]'Maybe'[/i] was his best answer.

[b]"Here's a better idea. Sloane was right about trying to hold it down, [i]immobilise[/i] it. While that's happening, I'll try and hold it, hit it, break pieces off if I can. I don't know if it's smart enough to know it can't hurt me. Doesn't feel like it's really ‘alive’ like that, but I'll keep it busy.”[b]

Like a big cat sizing up prey, the boy pivoted a wide berth around the stone canine, easily dwarved by its size, a puppy by comparison. The only thing it was missing was a coat of red paint [I]Funny,[/i] he considered, without betraying a sense of humour to the others.

Thinking back to Sloane's suggestion, he added onto the strategy. [B]”Adora and Luca should save it for the way back unless they don't have a choice. You'll just get in my way.”[/b] A half truth, equally blunt as before.

[B]”l can still do as much damage as I can. If you've got anything for me, like a stick to play [i]fetch[/i], now's your chance. Otherwise, do what you need to open the vault and slow Clifford here down. Get what you need and [I]run[/i]. If it doesn't stay down, I'll catch up when you're too far to be outrun.”[/b]

Then, after another seconds pause, he shot a comment in [i]someone's[/i] general direction, [b]”Try not hitting [i]me[/i] this time."[/b] 

Clancy, for his part, was as ready as one could be.