It was crowded, as usual. Daphne's wrinkled her nose as a burly man bypassed her, elbowing her on the arm and the chest. She followed his progress from the corner of her eyes, resisting the urge to rub the sore spots on her body. There was a time she'd loudly complain about it--maybe cause a scene; demand an instant apology--make him grovel but it was time consuming. Not to mention energy consuming.

She finally found room at the counter to fill up the paper cup she had already paid for with coffee. Pressing the buttons, she waited for the muggle machine to do its thing. Normally, Daphne would prefer coffee but she hadn't been sleeping well the past few nights, and tea just didn't have the right amount of zing to keep her alert for the job.

Okay, she was definitely going to have to invest in some larger shirts soon, 'cause these oversized t-shirts just weren't cutting it anymore. But not today. No, today she was stocking up on some more urgent needs. Food stuffs. In the haste of planning departmental things, Roxanne had let her cupboard go nearly bare. Which wasn't a good thing to do ever, but especially not when one was pregnant.

She pushed her shopping cart up the aisle, looking for a certain cereal. Dang, she couldn't have missed it, could she? There were so many different kinds, that it was kind of hard to tell. What if she had? Or maybe they were out? That would be about right. Perfect way to top off her already less than stellar week. And to make it worse, she could feel her eyes tearing up. Over cereal. Ugh.

It was Zoe's break and she was CRAVING chocolate. Not just any chocolate, but a Cadbury Caramel bar. Deciding it was both work the walk and having to deal with the muggles, Zoe headed to the convenience store near the Ministry.

"Hello there" she said as she walked past an older gentleman behind the counter. He seemed rather tired and not very happy to be there. That was one thing Zoe frequently noticed, Muggles rarely looked happy at their jobs.

Once she reached the display of candy and other treats, Zoe grabbed two Cadbury Caramel bars, one custard cream, and some lemon curd. Smelling the coffee, she decided to get a cherry slurpee instead.

Satisfied with her selection, Zoe took her treats to the counter to pay. "Good day, sir. I would like to purchase these with money." She smiled at the elderly gentleman as she took out her muggle money and placed it on the counter.

Marion never quite enjoyed that place so much... this store had the strangest customers sometimes, and she felt uneasy with some of them for some reason she couldn't explain.

The last place she would like to take her son was there, but today she had no choice. The woman held her three year-old tightly against her side as she walked around the store, pretending to look nonchalant. Why her husband insisted in go to that area sometimes she would never understand, but he always sounded so argumentative and even though the things he said didn't really make sense... they kind of did.

Marion picked up some powdered milk and went to the queue to pay. It was only then she heard the woman in front of her saying she would like to purchase that with money. See! See, right there! Those were the kind of weird people Marion was suspicious about. What kind of talk was that??

The 32 year-old eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyed the person in front of her and held Colin tigther.

With her massive love for all children, Zoe couldn't help but notice when a little one was near. When it was a cute little one, it was impossible for her to not say something. "Hi there big guy." She said to the little boy with a kind smile on her face.

She could feel the eyes of the mother burning through her, so Zoe thought she would have a little go and getting her to talk. "What a sweet little one you have. Are you off to the park today?"

Zoe heard the gentleman at the counter cough to get her attention and turned back towards till to take her snacks and change. "Thank you" After securing her chocolate treats in her shoulder bag, Zoe stepped aside to hopefully talk to the lady. "I'm Zoe, by the way. I work for a day care and the kids always seem to love the park just up the road."

She brushed her shiny red hair off of her face and flashed another bright smile. The little boy seemed to be looking at her shirt and Zoe realized she had forgotten to take off her blinking 'MISS ZOE' name tag. She quickly adjusted her jacket to cover it and hoped the lady didn't see it. Seriously, I always forget something when I go around Muggles, she thought.

YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP!

The 4 crups had followed their noses down the street which had lead them to the muggle convenience store. Their forked tails wagged eagerly as they jumped up on racks containing sandwiches and one crup went straight for the hot dogs.

Noticing the little 'dogs' enter the store, Zoe quickly tried to figure out how to get them out before a Muggle noticed or got hurt. She knew that crups hated muggles. "Here little doggies, here doggies" she coaxed. Hoping the little crups knew she was a witch, she placed her hand on her wand inside her cloak pocket and whispered "Accio hot dogs" She sent the hot dogs rolling out the door and crossed her fingers that the crups would follow.

Hm.... this woman didn't look so... how could she put this? Strange? Too light of a word, but that should work for now. She seemed like a nice young woman, especially now that she had gotten to talk to Colin and he seemed to be reacting nicely. That was always a good sign. Didn't kids notice when something was wrong with adults? Marion supposed so.

Colin smiled brightly and waved a cheerful 'hello' to the lady who was speaking to him. "Hi, hi!" He did love attention and that nice girl seemed to like him! Yaaaaay!

Marion stepped up to pay once the other woman moved. She was half expecting the redhead to leave, but she seemed to like young ones. "Thank you." She said, smiling a little and giving the money to the cashier person. "Um, I'm not sure. My husband has some errands to run around here," And hopefully the woman wouldn't ask much, because she really couldn't recall what he had said to her. "I... might as well go to the park for a bit, I suppose." She answered now getting the bag the gentleman was giving her with the powdered milk. "Oh, okay. Maybe Colin will like that. I'm Marion." The 32 year-old was holding Colin on her right arm, so she couldn't shake hands properly with Zoe. A head nod and her best I'm-trying-not-to-be-awkward smile would have to do.

Marion was trying to make out whether Zoe would want to go with them to the park or not when a bunch of puppies entered the store. She was about to smile at them when she noticed they all had TWO TAILS!?!?

O__________________________________O

"Are those... TWO tails????" She watched as Zoe tried to call their attention before they ate up te entire food supply or something. That did prove she was a nice and smart girl, Marion supposed---- O____________O

How in the WORLD were those hot dogs rolling about like that???? WHAT WAS HAPPENING???????? She stepped back and held Colin tighter against herself. "What's going on???"

Colin beamed of joy at the doggies. He moved around and pushed his mummy slightly to try and go down to the floor. He wanted to play with them! "I want down!!" Let him doowwwnnn, mummyyyy!!

YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP!

Forked tails still wagging, the crups were content tearing through paper wrappings and eating whatever they could find on the shelves. That is until their attention was drawn away from their food and towards the other humans present.

There was something about some of these humans that was....beyond unpleasant. Perhaps it was their odor or just the way they were looking their way. Whatever it was the crups DID NOT like it and began to hunker down and GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWL.

Not even the floating hot dogs could distract them as one crup lashed out towards the muggle with its teeth bared.


GRRRRRR GRRRRRRRR GRRRRRRR GRRRRRRRR

When the notice had been posted that Crups were on the loose, Charles had been occupied at that exact moment. However, by the time he had booked it from the Ministry to the piercing & tattoo parlor, he had spotted four of the crups making a run for it, and the spindly gentleman did the same.

Charles had to be sure his wand was secured away in the inside pocket of his suit jacket when they entered muggle territory. But it was only a few moments more that he continued persuit and followed the creatures into the convenience store. Of course they would come here, it was packed with food. Unhealthy, delicious muggle food.

He heard voices, but paid no attention as he quickly searched the rows, trying to appear as... normal as he possibly could. But, at 6'4", it was hard for Charles to exactly blend in, especially with the way he had rushed into the store.

He heard the familliar growling of an angry crup-- A sound he had heard as a small child, as his neighbors had bred crups-- and steped around a corner as one of the crups was lunging for what appeared to be a muggle and her child.

"Oi!", he tried not to shout, snapping the fingers on one hand to try to get the crup's attention. The lanky fellow crouched down, quite the funny position for someone of his height, and hoped that the crup might be enticed to come away from the muggles. If they could keep the creatures from attacking anybody, it shouldn't be much of a problem to round them up.

Should it?

He glanced around at the damage the other three were doing and was without a clue as to how to get them to stop without using magic. He had nothing in his pockets, and even if he did, why would they be swayed by that when they had the entire store at their paws? The irishman looked up at the ladies, the source of the voices he had ignored, one of whom he recognized from work. Good. So he turned his attention mostly to the other woman and the young boy.

"Perhaps it would be a good idea to leave, ma'am-- To keep the boy safe, of course," he clarified, searching for a reason to ask them to leave. "I believe these dogs may be strays, watchin' the way they came runnin' in here. No tellin' if they're mad or not." So to speak. Charles held out a hand to try to coax the upset crup towards him, not that he truly expected that to work.

Seeing that the crups were not going to cooperate and leave the store, Zoe decided it might be time to get some help. Just as she was about to get help, she noticed a man trying to coax the crups towards him. She assumed he had to be a wizard or he wouldn't have dared signal the crups. After a moment more of thinking, she realized she knew the man from the Ministry. What luck! Just the help she needed.

Zoe looked to Marion "It's a pleasure to meet you." She glanced and saw the fiercest of the crups head towards Marion "If you are finished with your shopping, why don't we step outside the store. There is a bench we could sit on, if you would like. Those dogs seem to be a bit mad."

Placing her hand around her wand again, Zoe prepared herself to defend Marion and her sweet boy against any possible crup attacks. "Those hot dogs sure were strange, weren't they? I bet one of those dogs knocked the cooker and sent them rolling." she quickly added as she slowly walked towards the door, giving a wink to the man attempting to round up the crups.

"Shoo!! Shoo!!!" Marion had backed off with Colin and now was pretty much cornered between some of the store's shelves as one of the strange dogs came her way. "What are you???" She asked horrified, obviously not expecting the animal to respond. It was an animal after all, as strange as it was.

The very tall gentleman trying to coax them went unnoticed until he came up and spoke directly to her. Marion was having a rather difficult time trying to hold Colin up, as the little boy struggled himself to get free. "Colin, this is no time to play!" She scolded the kid, who didn't stop his mini-restle to get down. "Strays, right." The woman repeated nervously, nodding to the man. "They all have two tails!" The fact that was freaking her out the most, actually.

That and the rolling hot dogs. Gulp.

"Tell me about it." Marion looked at Zoe as the young woman commented on the things. "That was no ordinary roll, though, I'm telling ya!" Nope, Marion wouldn't buy that. That was all very, very strange and extremely spooky. And the worst is that she could complain all she wanted to her husband about these strange things and he would just laugh it off. It freaked her out!! Maybe it was a good idea just to leave the store...

"I want dooowwwnnnnnn!!" Colin wiggled his little body as much as he could, kicking his legs and pushing his mum's arms as strongly as he could. He did manage to get a bit lose, but not enough to get down, unfortunately. He dropped his body to the front as if he didn't realise he could fall head-first on the floor if his mother weren't holding him so tightly.

Reaching out a hand, he waved it right at the doggie's face. Maybe the doggie would come to his hand just like his little turtle back home!!! Colin always managed to get the turtle flying right into his hand whenever it didn't want to play with him. It worked every time, mhm! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! Doggie!

Zoe could tell that Marion was getting freaked out. "You know, I bet these are those dogs they were talking about in the news a few weeks back. There was some breeder who was trying to cross bread a Jack Russel and some other dog and it went wrong. An entire litter of puppies" she said it very matter of fact and hoped that Marion would believe her. She was only a Ministry day care worker. They hand't prepared her for such events.

"Hang on to mum, Colin." Zoe didn't think the crups would bother the little boy, but better to be safe and sorry was always the way to go with kids.

Wanting to get Marion and Colin out of the store, Zoe started walking towards the door a little quicker, trying to position herself between the crups and Marion. "So, do you work around here? Or, do you get to stay home with Colin?"

Zoe shot a desperate glance at the tall man from the Ministry. He needed to get those crups out of there, pronto.

Charles nodded a bit at the look his fellow worker gave him, relieved that she was trying to usher the muggles out, while he was wracking his brain, trying to figure out how to corral the crups. Food wouldn't work, so he had to try to appeal to the crups' energies. If he could coax them around the corner of the isle and out of sight, he could safely muzzle them, perhaps. Something. This was not his department, and he had no animal-catching experience, apart from birds.

He still had his hand out to the crup, waiting for it to decide to come to him, when he glanced down at his tie dangling towards the floor in his crouched position. When one had to improvise...

...He reached up his other hand and loosened the fabric, peeling his tie out from under the collar of his shirt, working the knot loose with one hand until it fell free. He held it by the broad end and tossed the smaller end towards the crup. What kind of dog, magical or non-magical, would turn down a game of tug-of-war? All Charles had to do was distract him long enough, right? If he had to sacrifice his suit to do so... He would buy another one.

"C'mere, puppy," he coaxed, stepping back with the hopes that the crup, or crups, with any luck, were feeling frisky enough to abandon the muggles and turn their attention to him. If he had to offer them both shoes and the legs of his pants, he'd do it. He didn't want to reach straight for the animal, especially if it deemed that Charles wasn't good enough for him. But once he earned the creature's trust, he'd certainly try.

Colin skid into the store. ... lovely. The muggle convenience store. He sighed and looked around. The crups... were growling. Which, was expected.

... they'd have to get an Obliviator out.

Hopefully someone in Magical Creatures thought to bring one along. He looked around before spotting someone waving a tie at the crup. The crups weren't going for him, which meant it was a safe guess that he was a wizard.

Of course, not working in the Ministry, he couldn't know that for sure.

"Is there a back room?" he asked loudly. "Perhaps that would be safer." he said carefully pronouncing the word. As in... they needed to hold the muggles too. Until someone from the accidents department was able to handle it.

Zoe noticed another man enter the convenience store with purpose. He was obviously a wizard, as no muggle would have acted that way seeing a crup for the first time.

Maybe he could help the Ministry gentleman. The crups were causing all kinds of trouble and she didn't seem able to get Marion and her little boy out of the store. When she heard the man mention the back room, Zoe realized that the situation must be getting too out of hand and an Obliviator would be needed. Although, she had no idea how they were going to contact one.

"Good idea, sir. Marion, why don't we head towards the back room. It will be much safer for your boy. It appears that these dogs are wild and may follow us out of the store if we go that way."

Attempting to keep her body between her new muggle acquaintance, Zoe tried to usher Marion and Colin towards the back room of the store. She felt sick to her stomach. Zoe had never been in a situation where an Obliviator was needed and she hoped it wouldn't harm Marion, or her boy, in any way. Although, there was something about her boy. He didn't seem scared at all by the crups and the crups didn't seem to be bothered by him. Very interesting, she thought.

YIP YIP YIP YIP!

Run away from the humans wizard things! And hands. There were hands going towards them. Yipping and growling, the pack of crups took of suddenly and went crashing right into one of the display cases of bottled water and knocked it over. Bottled water went crashing to the ground and rolled every which direction.

SCARY LOUD NOISES!

They ran around more, knocking into more things, growling and biting at anyone who came close to them.

Marion was too busy staring horrified at those beasts to listen to half of what Zoe was saying. Though she did catch a few words. "Oh, I can see how those went wrong!" She exclaimed almost dropping the bag with what she had just purchased as she tried to hold Colin still. She was too agitated herself to scold him for being... agitated.

She had to admit she was feeling a bit safer now that all of those people were standing between her and those weird dogs. So good to see how everyone was concerned about her baby and all. There were nice people out there after all. That was a relief.

Marion cringed and held Colin even tighter as the strange-looking dogs went maniacal in the store and knocked everything over, making them go even crazier. Back room?? The 32 year-old looked at them both with a still scared expression and shook her head. "No, no, no, I'll leave now, it's best." But they were all in front of her now, so she couldn't really leave. Besides, she was still pretty much cornered, even though the dogs were moving to the other side. She was pretty much cornered by people, which was far better, but still made her feel strange.

She mentally cursed her husband and sighed in annoyance, still really nervous about the whole thing. She would have to wait for the commotion to stop so she could leave, she supposed.

The Crups continued to knock things over, creating a giant mess and scaring the muggles in the store. Zoe was starting to get worried. She didn't have any idea how to help, other than keep Marion as calm as she could. It was getting crazy in there.

"I wonder if there is a back exit? Let's head towards the back room and look for one. The cru..er...dogs seem to be closer to the front of the store, so getting out the back might be easier." She once again tried to edge Marion towards the back of the store. Keeping her and Colin safe was her number one priority.

Eyeing the two men trying to deal with the crups, Zoe had a slightly panicked look. Those men NEEDED to do something, and fast. She needed those crups out of there and help with her new friend.

Trying to get the crups attention, Zoe grasped her wand, inside her pocket, and gave it a little flick. She sent a small display of cans in the back corner of the shop tumbling to the floor. The noise was loud enough that the crups would have to notice, at least she hoped they would.

Working undercover as a muggle animal control officer, Aron entered the convenience store with two cages he had conjured while still at the Ministry. With the owner of the joint phoning in to the muggle police about a pack of stray dogs on the loose with strange looking tails, the Department Head knew he had to move quickly to contain what he could with several of his employees already out on assignment. Wincing internally at the yipping of the crups, he made his way towards the small crowd.

"Animal Control," he said while flashing a badge. "I'll be needing everyone to please step back and let me handle this." He set the cages on the ground and plucked a crinkly bag of BBQ chicken potato chips from the shelf (he would pay for that later) and began making noise with the bag. He was going to look like a real idiot in about, oh, five seconds. "Oh nummy nummy NUMMY!" he said as he pretended to eat some and dropped a few on the ground. Venturing one more glances towards the crups, he bent down and began to pretend to pick them up.

Hey, this trick worked with Seren's dog, so why not?

Holy holly why wasn't there anyone fro Creatures out here?

A back exit? Marrion looked over her shoulder and did see a door there. After a moment of silent consideration, she spoke again. "Maybe you're right." She nervously looked to the crazy dogs again and held Colin tighter as he kept trying to get down. "Colin, stop it this instant!" She exclaimed shortly, not realising it was probably her grip that was making him uncomfortable now.

Another man came in proclaiming to be form the Animal Control, which made Marrion sigh relieved. Instead of moving to the back room, she swallowed hard and tried to stand still as he attempted to get the animals' attention.

The toddler screamed in protest as his mummy almost killed him for squeezing him so much. He made more complaint noises as she scolded him and kept fighting his way to the ground, grabbing the plastic bag she was holding and kicking his legs about.

Not only was she bothering him with all of the squeezing, he also wanted to go and be loud with the doggies. So he screamed again, even though he was so far away from them, flailing his arms and kicking his legs some more.

The loud screaming tiny human certainly had the crups' attention. Ears down and teeth bared, they looked as though they were ready to attack. Just as one was about to leap towards the pair, their ears perked up at the sound of the bag that the new human was playing with.

YIP YIP YIP YIP!

They wanted to play too! AND THE SMELL! DID EVERYONE SMEEEEEEEEEEEEEELL THAT SMELL?!

Yipping and yapping, they cautiously ran over to the new human and his delicious smelling snacks. It had been too long since they had eaten a proper meal.

Rusty had work to do of course, he was the Obliviator. It was easy enough to spot the Muggles... and really they were lucky they weren't being attacked by the Crups, since that was normally what the creatures would do to a Muggle.

He checked the door and prudently flipped the open sign to closed. The Crups got the eye but his attention went to the Muggles.

Just... wait for the right moment.

Just as she was about to get Marion to go to the back room, a man entered the store. Noticing that he was like her, Zoe felt great relief. Someone was finally there to do something about the crups.

"It's alright now, little Colin, that man will take care of the puppies." She was worried for the little boy. It had to have been a traumatic experience for him. Plus, his mother was less than happy. "We should wait here until the gentleman can catch the dogs, then we can get out of here. Maybe head to the park?" Zoe was trying to keep her voice light and happy. No need to further upset her, especially with the situation coming under control.

Yet another man entered the store, flipping the sign to closed behind him. She assumed he was with the Ministry as well. Probably the Obliviator. Dang, she thought, she hated for Marion to have to go through that.

Aron was temporarily distracted by the screaming boy and just hoped that his own son would not turn out like that. Overly optimistic parent alert right over here. If his son was anything like he had been as a child, then he and Seren would have a bouncing bulb on their hands whenever they went out and were near sweets. And aquatic plants.

Sweet Merlin he hoped the boy didn't have Seren's taste in plants or else the plants would come to have a taste for him.

But, right, he was tossing potato chips on the ground to lure the crups into the cages. He caught Rustin entering the shop out of the corner of his eye, but did not acknowledge him other than the brief eye contact.

Come oooooooon crups...into the cage so we could get you back to the Ministry....