The House of Teeth (Con't)

[Katrielle Layton]

Continued from here due to Net Nanny problems.

The creatures had gathered around the climatologist, swiping and clawing at her. Thank goodness she wasn't wearing her parka, otherwise she would've been caught and mauled a long time ago. She let loose a freezing spray in a wide arc, backing up from the group that was trying to surround her. "Back! Get back!" she shouted, reflecting the frozen claws of a monster with the back of her blaster.

Said beast dared to press the assault, trying to rip into her. Mei grimaced when a set of claws hooked her in the stomach, but it didn't hurt as much as she expected. Maybe waiting in a block of ice for several years toughened her skin up? Now that the monster had to pull its hand out, she retaliated and started spraying the beast. Slowly, it began to seize up, freezing entirely and becoming the first monster-popsicle. She lashed out with a foot, pushing the ice sculpture along until it crashed into another group of creatures. The one she had frozen earlier burst free of its prison, whimpering and scampering away.

Mei took the free moment to look around for Yuuka. She found her quickly, the latter having pierced one of the invisible monsters with the tip of her parasol. Strange-- just a few moments ago the parasol didn't seem all that sturdy, let alone strong enough to be swung around like a weapon. Guess that was a little bit of her Youkai showing.

One of the creatures managed to grab a hold of Yuuka's shoulders, and Mei rushed forward to try and help. Before she got very far, she heard yelling from behind her. She couldn't make out what was being said, but it must've been Kung Fury that had been shouting. Spinning around, she was just in time to catch the karate cop delivering a well-timed kick to a beast right next to her. Had that thing been about to kill her? "Thanks, Fury," she said breathlessly, turning around to find that Yuuka had taken care of the creature from earlier.

The two suggested that maybe they should retreat, and the climatologist nodded in agreement. "Yeah," she huffed, turning tail and fleeing, "it was somewhere over here. Come on!"

The race to the house was surprisingly short; after about 30 seconds, the shadow of the building came out of view. Although it wasn't in any state of disrepair, the structure still looked old, much like one of those old plaster and wood houses one would find in the suburbs. The paint had worn out long ago, leaving the place a dull, grey mess. The lights were off.

They reached the door and piled in, scrambling around in the darkness. "Could anyone find a light switch?" Fury asked, stumbling away from the doorway.

"You do that-- I'll hold them off," Mei replied, looking out into the world. She could hear the monsters drawing near, and her hands began to shake. Taking a deep breath, she aimed at the ground right in front of her and fired. Slowly, a wall of ice began to rise, blocking the entrance as she ducked back inside.

Fury had managed to find the light switch, and now everyone could see that they were in a living room, complete with wooden tables and chairs. The climatologist pulled out a chair and dragged it over to the door. Something was pounding violently on the other side of the ice wall. "Help me barricade this!" she shouted, tucking the chair underneath the doorknob.

However, that would prove to be unnecessary. The ice blockade shattered, and the monsters immediately moved on to the door and windows. No matter how much they pounded, the structure remained steady. Eventually, the pounding stopped, and there was silence.