Steampunk'd!

"It always pays to be prepared. And one does get so bored of seeing the women in their petite shoes after a while," Victor smiles politely. "But there are greater things afoot. We should see what is happening outside. You head up to the landing and look out of the windows, I'll look out of the front door. Don't hesitate to sing out if you spot something."

Lis nods and starts undoing the enormous hoop skirt, revealing that's she's also wearing trousers. Once it's off, she digs in the crinoline and pulls out two odd looking guns, handing one to Victor. "Ben's been messing around in the workshop again," she says, before taking off towards the stairs.

"How on earth does this thing work?" ask Victor, too puzzled by the gun to comment on the trousers.

((Thumbs up for steampunk boots! ))

"Twist the valve on the top and press the trigger," Lis calls from the second floor. "Be careful though, it shoots compressed radiation." She continues on towards the balcony when a strange humming filled the air. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear wha-" Victor stops, and stares around. The humming builds, and he can literally feel his teeth rattling in his jaws. "What could be causing that?"

"It sounds like it's coming from--" The window next to Lis shatters as a small body flies in, slamming her into the wall and pinning her there. The grip on her wrists is cold and... metallic. "I think I found it!" she calls, kicking at the Lost Boy.

Victor twists the valve and pulls the trigger, irradiating the Lost Boy.
"Do you think it's working?" he asks.

"The gun?" Lis wrinkles her nose as the machine's face melts off. "Yeah, I think it's working." She drops to the ground and nudges the small boy with her toe. "Maybe we can analyze the machine and see if we can find our who tampered with it."

Victor shudders. "Do you want to or shall I?"

Lis smiles and touches his shoulder. "I'll take care of him, why don't you fortify the rest of the house?"

"Thanks," replies Victor, patting her hand. "I'll get the doors closed."
He runs down the stairs and grabs the heavy oak doors, dragging them shut, but not before he spies several dark shapes with glowing eyes stalking across the lawns. He slams the doors, and leans on them, breathing heavily.

Crouching, Lis carefully peels back the synthetic flesh from the metal skeleton. On the forehead is the Russian crest, but below that is a strange symbol. Lis squints and runs her finger over it. It looks like a metal skull with stars coming out of its eyes. "Hmm..."

Victor grasps a buffet table, and starts dragging it, eliciting screams and shouts of protest from the other guests. "No time to explain!" He shouts. "Just trust me!"
A couple of the guests who saw the Lost Boy attack Lis help push the table against the doors. "Now for the windows," murmurs Victor, before shouting at Lis. "Dear lady, what have you discovered?"

"There's a weird symbol under the Russian crest," Lis calls, rolling up her sleeves. "A sort of skull with stars coming out of its eyes. Ringing any bells?" She grimaces. but pulls out a small knife and cuts a slit down the torso of the Lost Boy.

"None I can think of. Doesn't sound very French though. Is it North American? I know the Union have stars on their flag."
Victor runs back across the hall to the windows near where Lis is, and tries to drag another table towards them. He sees what she's doing, and groans, clapping a hand over his mouth.

Lis winces apologetically, but gently worms her hand into the frame, pulling back the rest of the skin. Wires and gears gleam in the dim light, still ticking slowly. "It's almost like it's in hibernation mode," she murmurs, tilting her head and bending forward to get a closer look.

"I'd get away from it, if I were you," warns Victor. "Never trust a broken device."

Lis wrinkles her nose and picks up the machine quickly. She crosses to the window and throws it out, then tackles Victor. Seconds later, a boom rattled the windows. "Gas bomb," Lis says, sitting up.

"That's new," replies Victor, nonplussed. "I've seen them with steam guns, but never something like that. Here, help me with this table."

Lis nods and stands, crossing over to the table. "Where are we putting it?"

"Across the windows. We don't want that to happen again."

Omg, I'm so sorry I haven't been on in awhile. I got caught up with school, and now I'm in France, but I AM back.

Lis nods and pushes against the heavy table with her shoulder. "I'm going to go upstairs and see if there's a way out of the mansion, or at least try and see if the Boys are in some specific pattern."

Hola! Is it too late to join this?

Uh... dunno. Ask Regret, it's his chat.

Alrighty, I guess I can just wait for Regret to come back and answer then.)