[21:21] <Ricochet> His eyes widen, and he scoops up his bag. "Guys, I gotta go." He almost trips over himself as he slings the bag over one shoulder, an indication of just how flustered or excited he is, as Rick never, EVER trips and falls. "Sorry, something came up!" He dashes out of the simulator room and up out of the rec center, not even bothering to change out of his gymnast attire before running across the quad toward the security booth.
[21:26] <Sisip> Looking over at Rick as he runs up her lips curl into a smile. "You made quick time, good, I like that." She hands Rick a little earwig, "Incase I forgot to give you one. Keep this on you. Tonight we're going to help some friends out. They ran into a bit of a problem. Something nasty laid an egg in them and we're going to try to kick big daddy's ass and make him take it out without hurting them. If you're not up for it let me know."
[21:26] <AnE> Eden walked up to the gate -- calm as a damn saint, watching and waiting. A hand lifted, waving to Sisip. Poor thing looked a leeeettle bit pale as she stood there. No team stuff yet -- so she was just chillin' in jeans and a t-shirt and some sort of padded vest. Gloves and whatnot. She looked around for the, erhm... reinforcements. "Hey. Sisip." Her stomach was in knots, though she didn't know if that was because she was nervous or because she was about to have a stomach burster. Looking at Rick, her eyes widened a bit -- this guy?
[21:26] <Ricochet> "I AM SO UP FOR THIS." He practically shouts, then looks down at himself. He's wearing his orange and black unitard. "I uh.... I should probably change, right?"
[21:30] <Marcus> The call had come - Which was a surprise to him. He had expected that he would have to kick things off. Never-the-less it wasn't long before he was walking over towards the gate himself, face set with grim determination. Tonight they were going to get rid of this problem. When he spotted Sisip and Rick with Eden, his steps slowed. He shifted eyes to Eden questioningly and, when he got close, he issued a questioning, "Hello?" To the other two. The young man was wearing narrow fit (not skinny) jeans, well-worn work boots and a buttoned up black-plaid shirt. Around his neck hung the necklace, the gem currently shifting colours between yellow and blue.
[21:30] <Sisip> "Hey Eden, how are you feeling? Everything ok? Everyone ok?" She moves over to hug the girl before she looks over to Rick. "Do you have anything with reinforcement on it?" As Marcus steps up she gave him a wave. "Marcus, Eden, this is Rick, he's goign to be helping us tonight."
[21:31] <Ricochet> "I..." He blinks. Reinforcement? "No, not... no, I don't."
[21:33] <Marcus> "Yeah, I know. We've met." Marcus turned his gaze upon Rick, giving the boy a small frown. There was a moment where it looked like he was going to argue but then sighed and shrugged. A hand reached up to rub at the back of his neck, "So I guess Eden told you, huh?" Looking to Sisip. He knew that she could handle herself. The fact that Rick was here, however, was slightly off-putting.
[21:34] <AnE> "These are the only people who're in on this, Marcus -- nobody else. Sisip knows what she's doing, and and I figure it's better than nobody-" Because the other infectee was nowhere to be found. "-and...uh. Well, one reinforcement can't hurt, right?" A sheepish shrug. She knew what they agreed to, but with one of them missing this was going to be damn near impossible without a little bit of help. Sisip was good! "I... I mean... let's get ready to go, right?" Mostly directed toward Rick. "To be fair, I doubt we'll be dealing with gun-toting hicks tonight."
[21:35] <Sisip> She looks Rick over, "Then what you're in is good, just .. don't get hurt?" She grins. Was she serious? "When we get back we'll need you to sit with Yen Wang and get measured for a suit." Looking back to Marcus and Eden she purses her lips, "Just the two of you? Where are we headed?" Wasn't there a third? Maybe they'd removed Kylie's like they had Krys's? One could only hope. She nods, "Not just Eden, but yeah, I know. We'll get you figured out and safe, both of you." Sisip knew what she was doing? Gods she hoped that was right. Nodding a bit she smiles reassuringly, "Let's get going. Where are we headed?" She looks over to Marcus, then Eden and Rick. "Everyone pile in, Lynx is faster than a car."
[21:36] <Ahriman> Fergus had a wild hair to do some night shooting. Since the campus/compound didn't have a range, he was headed for the rec, and the sims therein. His first task, though, was to make it from the dorms and across the quad. Cargo shorts, loose-ish gray t-shirt, flip-flops kept him clothed, and a black knit cap to kept his hair in place. He whistled a jaunty ditty as he strolled.
[21:37] <Ricochet> He kind of makes this face. (°O° ) at the mention of getting a SUIT. He can barely speak, he's so excited, so instead of embarrassing himself he just gets into the vehicle, buckling himself in as quickly as he can.
[21:37] <AnE> "You have the address on hand, Marcus?" She hoped so! He took that paper, right? Either way -- they got to ride in a helicopter, eeeeee. A nod of her head and she'd slip on her headband to keep silvery locks out of her eyes before climbing in and getting all settled for what would probably be a shorter fly than Eden wanted.
[21:38] <Marcus> "An address down town." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the piece of paper he'd re-written the address on. "You, uh, have GPS in that thing, right?" Marcus handed it over towards Sisip and, like the others, would pile in. The helicopter didn't creak as much when he got in as it did Eden.
[21:41] <Sisip> Climbing in she looks at the paper and nods, "I don't need it, I've flown over this town enough that it's already in my head." She chuckles as she points to the headsets, securing hers. Flipping switches the whine of the rotars fills the air, the steady thupthupthup increasing. Finally at speed she lifts up the chopper, voice coming through the headset, "So what's the sitrep? Anything we have to go on other than an address?" thupthupthup and the chopper heads off towards salem, arcing in the air like a steel lynx of doom and death.
[21:43] <Ricochet> He keeps his mouth shut, looking between the three of them and listening as best he can, trying to ignore his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest.
[21:45] <Marcus> He put on one of the headsets, adjusting the microphone. "Not really much. It's abandoned. There's probably more of those...homeless people there. You know the ones that attacked. I think they're all gifted." He furrowed his brow, "I don't know if it will happen...but we. I mean, Eden and I. We might lose control. You should stay away if that happens." A glance to Rick, then looked back through the front window.
[21:44] <AnE> "Not a damn thing, except...well, be ready for anything. Seriously. These things implanted freaking nasty bug spawns in us." Eden grumbled as they headed toward their destination -- a warehouse. When they landed, Eden'd be stumbling out and tightening her gloves, making sure her contacts were... in. They were! That was sort of hard to miss, actually.
[21:47] <Ricochet> As they land, he fixes the earbud in his ear, figuring that's important. He unbuckles himself and hops out after Eden, abuzz with energy. He'd been listening to them on the way, and he'd gotten a basic idea of what was happening, but it was hard not to be a little terrified. He takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. It's as easy as Sisip said, just.. don't get hurt.
[21:48] <Sisip> remembered. The mutated dogs, the blood boy, the whole horrible affair. Coming through the com again Sisip speaks to Rick, "Rick, do not let any fluids into you... blood... spit.. tears... that's how it gets you." Finally landed, a few blocks away from the address the injin climbs out. Standing on the roof of a building she points over. "Ok, we're headed two blocks that way." She smiles over at Rick, reassuringly. "Stay close, you'll be fine."
[21:49] <Ricochet> He nods, a bit stiffly. He's pretty sure he can keep himself protected with his field, if it comes to it. "I can do this." He says, quietly, mostly to himself.
[21:54] <Marcus> He remained mostly quiet throughout the trip, then hopped out immediately when they were landed, He moved around the landing zone, looking around and seeing if anyone was watching them. Sisip pointed in a direction and Marcus paused, getting his bearings. Remembering what he saw on Google Maps. He nodded, "Alright. Just. Be careful everyone, please?" He didn't want anyone to get hurt. Marcus started to walk in that direction, glancing back.
[21:55] <AnE> Communicator in place, Eden brushed herself up before stepping up to Sisip's side. She was so ready for this to be over. "What she said. That's how I got infected. And Marcus, too -- he's...got a point. If we start freaking out...well." Cringing a little at the thought, she looked in the direction she was pointed and sucked in a deep breath, dipping her head in a slow nod. "Right." Getting down would be easy! She walked toward the edge of the rooftop and began to float, "If you need help down, stay close. If you don't want to spin around, Rick, I...suggest you keep your distance." Woosh! Because walking own the stairs to get outside was overrated, she'd head for the ground this a-way and start walking toward their destination.
[21:57] <Jeem> Once they've disembarked from the chopper and made their way to the address, they realize where they are. During the years Salem exploded into a booming metropolis, industries came and went. In the early 90s Salem had a massive industrial boom, and the waterfront was lined with dozens of business and corporations for any number of areas of industry, with extremely reduced and lax pollution laws and taxes to encourage such businesses to come to the growing city. After two decades, a large amount of said businesses petered out, resulting in a massive swathe of abandoned factory-space as far as a half a mile inland. It had become a hot spot of the homeless population ever since. They approach a large, column-fronted building on the edge of the abandoned area of the city, with the remnants of a sign saying CAPRIOLLA TEXTILES INT. overhead. Large double doors serve as an entrance to the building... with what look to be some Christmas lights strung up around the frame.
[21:58] <Ricochet> He backs off as she starts her antigravity thing, then dashes over and down the side of the building after her, maintaining a healthy distance to make sure he doesn't get caught up. Once they're both on the ground, he starts to follow. "Can you hear me through this thing?" He says quietly, touching his ear, hoping he's using the comm unit correctly. The last thing he wants is to be unable to ask for help if he needs to.
[22:00] <Sisip> Looking over to Rick she winks at him as she takes a running start and LEAPS off the side of the building, palms downwards as she buffets her landing. As they finally approach the area she looks around, eyeing the area. "Loud and clear, RickOShaaaay. Looks like they left the light on for us." Her little joke was there to try to break the obvious tension. "Keep your eyes open and your wits about you."
[22:02] <Marcus> Did the usual thing - Used the fire escape, or whatever ladder there was. It took him a bit longer, but he didn't mind so much. Gave him some more time to start psyching himself up. They approached and Marcus looked up at the sign above it. Capriolla Textiles. His eyes were drawn to the Christmas lights, then glanced back at the others. "Guess we go in..." He said, giving a small smile to them all. Then he started forward.
[22:03] <AnE> "Mmhm." A glance back toward Rick before her eyes were focused ahead. There it was -- a textile plant. Abandoned, no doubt, by anyone whose intentions were anything but shady. Now it was operated by god-knows-who doing heaven-knows-what. Sucking in a deep breath, she jogged up a little to catch up to Marcus, unable to match his smile. Instead, she placed a hand on the doors. This wasn't a trap. They just wanted their nasty festering spawn back. This wasn't a trap. They just wanted their nasty festering spawn back.
[22:05] <Jeem> The doors look like they had been locked by a set of big, heavy chains looped around the large ornate, possibly brass handles... and are now torn asunder, broken chain links lying on the ground before the doors.
[22:06] <Ricochet> He nods at Marcus' words, but hangs back. He's nervous, but he's sure they'll tell him what he needs to do when he needs to do it. He looks at the broken chain, really hoping someone did that with a jackhammer, and not their bare hands. He takes another deep breath.
[22:07] <Sisip> frowns, taking lead. Soft footfalls moving her into the building. Door busted open, yeah, that filled her with positivity. She looks around slowly, head tilted as she listens for any sound of movement. At her side her fists clench and open, flexing as she prepares for any sudden outbursts.
[22:10] <Marcus> Sisip took lead, but Marcus was very close behind her. He looked around the warehouse, or what little they could see of it, trying to spot an ambush. He was sure this was a trap, even though he had a similar hope to Eden.
[22:12] <Ricochet> He follows behind the others. At least in his gymnast uniform, he can move pretty quietly, no boots or sneakers clomping around, just the rubber padded soles on the bottom of his feet. He walks cautiously, looking around the warehouse around them, unsure what to expect.
[22:12] <AnE> It might have been different if they didn't have reinforcements. Maybe. This was a bad idea, though. She scurried along behind Sisip, though she was soon moving to her side -- she was a heavier target, after all. She wasn't afraid! Her eyes darted around, hands clenching into tight fists as she went into defensive mode.
[22:16] <Jeem> The doors creeeeeeak open when they enter. Inside is the interior of a massive, abandoned factory. Machines for the production of clothing, thread, etc fill the inside at odd placement, some of them piled up on top of others, along with hundreds of chairs, desks, filing cabinets, etcetera. It doesn't look like it's all material from the textile factory, either. Any number of odd pieces of furniture litter the inside, couches, recliners, etc. The large building looks like it extends nearly a quarter mile or more towards the waterfront, and might be just as wide. The heaping piles of machinery and othersuch seem to have a path carved into the middle.
[22:17] <Marcus> The gem within the horse-shaped medallion had gone to glow a dull orange, with hints of yellow flowing through it and just a pinch of green fighting at the corner of it. The path through the machinery was eyed and then he turned towards the others, "It seems like the obvious path. Should we all go?" He shifted his glance to Rick, then back to Sisip.
[22:18] <Ricochet> Okay, he thinks to himself. Big place, lots of surface area. That's good for me, at least. He steels his nerves, following the others and staying quiet.
[22:21] <Sisip> sighs. This was going to suck, she could just feel it. Voices in her head were screaming at her to turn them around. One look though, at Marcus and Eden, made her press forward, "Stay near the group, Rick, don't you wander off." Her tone was light, but at the same time there was no arguing with her. She nods to Marcus. "All of us or none of us. We're a team, right?" She winks at him as she starts forward.
[22:21] <AnE> "Not much room for splitting up here." Eden mumbled, flexing gloved fingers as she walked, her heart threatening to burst out of her chest, much like the thing in her stomach was, uh...threatening to burst out of her stomach? This looked like the kind of place where horrible people hung out. Were they supposed to announce their presence or would someone (or thing.) come out to greet them? There was no point in dwelling on it, she decided, and then started to walk ahead with Sisip.
[22:23] <Marcus> He rolled his jaw and looked thoughtfully before finally nodding. "Alright." Then Marcus walked forward with Sisip and Eden. He glanced to Rick, "Hey, stick close to me, alright?" Well. Except for when he loses control. Then run the f**k away.
[22:23] <Ricochet> "Okay." He says in response to Sisip, and stays close with the group, falling in step with Marcus and trying not to look too scared. He was keeping his mind off his fear by trying to work out angles and trajectories in this place. There might not be a lot of room here for some, but it was actually a pretty good environment for him, at least he hopes so. Some of those surfaces don't look all that stable now that he thinks about it.
[22:27] <Jeem> As they start to walk through the big mountain of machinery, garbage, and cast off possessions, they'll notice crevasses carved into the clutter. Pillows, blankets. Cans of food, hand-cranked radios, old, tattered photos, newer, fresher photos. Signs of life. Further through the winding 'passage' they'll find a larger clearing with broken stools and chairs around a firepit, embers glowing beneath... and blood stains scattered around the fire as well.
[22:30] <Sisip> 's explitive deleted comes over the coms in a hushed whisper. She crouches just a bit, dark eyes flicking around the room as she holds up a 'hold the phone' hand. "Blood, could be old... or cooked." She wasn't an expert on what cooked/heated blood on concrete looked like.
[22:31] <Marcus> A hard look was given into each niche, checking for signs of actual people. There were signs of life, but nobody that he could see. An uncomfortable thought came to him: There seemed to be room for a lot of people to live here. This could be very, very bad. His heart was pounding and the man had to start counting out his breaths, steadying it. Further along the clearing was found and he, after obeying Sisip's 'stop' for a time, moved over towards the fire. He held his hand out towards the fire, feeling the dying heat come off of it. "Not that long dead..."
[22:33] <Ricochet> He halts when Sisip gives the order, and kind of crouches down low. He'd never seen anything like this before, and his eyes were wide as he silently stared at the blood stains around the fire. "What the hell..." He lets out, finally, keeping his voice low.
[22:33] <AnE> Eden bristled as she spotted the blood, but was able to look past it to take silent note of the extinguished fire, moving from Sisip's side and looking around. She glanced up after a moment, a brow hiking. ...cooked? "I wonder if they knew we were coming..." What did they do now? Call out whoever was here? Start trying to taunt them? Ugh. Her eyes rolled in the direction of the photographs. Maybe the person left in a hurry. Hopefully it wasn't Creeper McBellypet, he seriously gave her the creeps. She wasn't going to wander off... far. But she did scootch away as everyone crowded around, her eyes darting around.
[22:35] <Jeem> There's a bark of some sort, muffled, but still loud enough to echo through the factory. The path continues away from the fire. More signs of what must have been carnage await them - the further they go, they find more and more blood stains, living nooks torn up... and eventually they will find a body, lying before a set of double doors that have creaked open, candles nearly burnt down to the base lining the frame of the entrance, a few burnt out.
[22:37] <Ricochet> The bark startles him a little, and he jerks back from the fire a little, having been staring intently at the bloodstains. He catches himself quickly before he knocks himself into anything, and looks at the others.
[22:38] <Sisip> groans. Jack had been playing Space Marines non stop since it came out. This had that feeling to it. "Dear god, Eden, Marcus, if demons come pouring out at us I'm so not recommending you to Gains.. or inviting you to my birthday party." She grumbles, looking over at the dead body, hoping Rick wouldn't hurl. Stepping past it she speaks quietly into the coms again, "Remember Rick, don't touch anything liquidy, got it?" The summons on her com went unanswered, her focus on the here and now.
[22:40] <Marcus> "I don't know how they'd know..." Unless they were listening to their calls. Even then however, Marcus doubted it. By his cowboy-logic, the fire had been dead for a few hours. They hadn't taken that long to get here. As he was straightening from the embers the bark echoed through and caused his back to tense up and his fists to clench. Yet still he restrains himself, not quite ready to call upon his gift. He didn't entirely trust it at this point. That, plus the nausea he had been feeling for the past few days, made him unwilling to attempt it. He eyed the path before them and, after giving the 'team' a look over, he started forward. The signs of carnage drew his gaze and set his jaw, lips thinning into a line: Son I am disappoint. Then they came upon the body and that caused his step to hitch. He carefully stepped around the body, eyes looking down upon it from on high, then lifted his gaze to the doors. He moved towards them but wouldn't go inside till the others were ready.
[22:41] <Ricochet> "Yeah.." He looks at the body as they pass it, swallowing briefly. "..got it." He'd never seen a dead body before, and this one looked disturbingly... fresh. "I'm gonna go ahead and say I'm kind of freaking out right now." He says, hoping he might feel better if he just says it out loud.
[22:41] <AnE> An animal? Eden bristled -- maybe they were... eating them. And now they're eating her! Wait...er. Pardon. She was immediately wanting to run and follow the trail of gore -- it was hard to resist the urge to just rush in. Especially since she felt that constant nausea beginning to dwindle the closer they got to the door. When they were closer, she paused, her eyes going as wide as saucers, "...there's something here." Her teeth grinding, she tore her gaze away from the corpse on the floor, instead walking toward the door, staring at it. It was now or never. She gave a little push, gradually opening the doors -- if she needed help, she'd wave for it.
[22:42] <Jeem> Another howl echoes up from the doorway as Eden pushes it open. It reveals a long, wide staircase that descends beneath the factory. Candles line the winding passage.
[22:43] <Ricochet> "Okay, if there's a Cthulhu down there, I'm gonna be mad at you guys." He says, eying the staircase going down.
[22:44] * Suzthulhu stirs. "Wut?" Goes back to sleep.
[22:44] <Isaiah> ((and the staircase eyes him back))
[22:45] <Sisip> Sisip looks over to Rick and drops back beside him for a moment, reaching for his hand and giving it a squeeze. "You'll do ok, kid, we'll keep you safe." LIAR! She looks to Eden, then Marcus and gives them both a nod before starting the descent. "Chances are they know we're here."
[22:46] <Ricochet> He manages a pretty decently cheerful smile, given the situation. "If you don't, I'll just come back and haunt you." He starts following down the staircase, fighting the urge to drop upwards to the ceiling. They told him to stay close, so for now, that's what he's going to do.
[22:47] <Tagert> <Marcus> "Chances are..." He too had begun to feel better the closer they got to the back of the warehouse. He drew in a steady breath, hand coming to rest briefly on his stomach before he forcibly removed it. The young man walked up behind Eden and put a hand on her shoulder, "There is..." Something. He didn't complete the sentence. Instead he started walking down, regaining more and more of his composure as they went.
[22:48] <Jeem> Eventually, they stumble over a body. They'll SEE it (sadly) in the flickering, dim candlelight. Copious amounts of blood and gore line the stairs and walls of that bit of the staircase.
[22:50] <Ricochet> "Oh christ," He goes a little pale as they pass by what looks like an abattoir, he covers his mouth with his hand to try and block out the smell, and keeps moving forward with the rest, trying to avoid looking directly at the body.
[22:51] <Sisip> Stepping infront of people Sisip lowers her hand towards the floor, a gust of wind expelling forth from her palm, clearing a path through the blood and gore, cleaning it up so the janitors don't have to later on. Isn't she nice. "Ok.. And there' NOTHING else you can give us to work with, Marcus? Eden? Even the smallest thing?"
[22:51] <AnE> With a nod, Eden began to stalk down the stairs with Marcus, sucking in deep breaths. The lower they went, the more her nausea dissipated. It felt...good. Not quite good enough to detract from the fact that there was a goddamn body down there. Oh, god, what were they getting into? "I... I wasn't expect this. I don't know -- all I got was rambling about some father."
[22:53] <Marcus> Blood and gore. His face went pale when Sisip asked the question, "I'm starting to feel...better." Which was an odd thing to say in front of a torn up body. He looked away towards the wall, but of course that only drew his attention to the blood splattered on it. "This could be the work of those dog...things we fought away from the kid originally. Do you remember that?" Continuing on, forcing himself to look at the body. That was important. See what they did. Give him the courage to face down whatever monster this was, and give him the fortitude to do what was needed.
[22:53] <Ricochet> "Who does something like this?" It's a shock to Rick, to be sure. He didn't know being a superhero could be so... messy. To his credit though, he continues moving forward with the others. He just keeps repeating to himself that he can do this, that has to be enough for right now.
[22:53] <Jeem> Further down the stairs, the group can hear another bark, groaning, and the thudding of something... large, hammering something like a door. Also noticeable might be a faint ringing in their ears, pulsing in an even rhythm.
[22:58] <Sisip> frowns, "Keep track of yoru vitals, if anything changes, even feeling better, you tell me." Their suddenly feeling better had Sisip even more concerned. "Rick, keep your eyes and ears peeled. Who does something like this? Crazy bastard mutantf**ks... " She wished she hadn't invited him. She thought this would be a simple "Hey, lets go meet up with this guy in Crowley's Row.. wut he's a muppet? Too bad" thing. This was far from muppets. The thudding of door banging makes her pull her arms up infront of her as she draws closer, preparing for an onslaught.
[23:00] <Ricochet> Well, she brought him along, and it was probably beyond the point of no return by now. Though granted, this is not what he thought Sisip had in mind when she said "tryout". He figured it'd be a test in the sims, or something. Not... this. "I hate this place..." He says to no one in particular. I can do this, he thinks to himself again, trying to get himself to believe it.
[23:01] <Marcus> "Alright." He walked forward, side-by-side to Sisip. The man brought his left arm up flat in front of him and, with a furrowing of his brow, energy cascaded out of it. The energy matched the colour of the gem on the necklace: Yellow, but now beginning to be shot through with more and more green. The energy flowed and began to coalesce into...a round shield attached to his arm. He kept that up in front of his body as they would walk forward.
[23:01] <AnE> "Sick people -- Marcus is right. I only caught a glimpse of them. Do you think someone's like...feeding them or something?" That would be... a rather horrific thought, actually. She shook her head, fingers combing through her head. As they headed down the stairs, Eden stuck close to the wall, almost clinging. Her stomach was feeling way better. There was something awful about this whole thing. "..." Yes, her silence was almost audible. Something was going on here -- and she was feeling odd. Her ears, anyway. Blinking, she tried to shake it off, peering ahead as they approached the bottom. Her fingers flexed again, a tiny, pea-sized sphere forming, gradually getting larger as she held it behind her back. "You and me both, Rick."
[23:03] <Ricochet> He couldn't help being scared, he'd be crazy otherwise. He was 16, for chrissakes. Two weeks ago, he was hanging out with Jake one last time before heading up to Salem. They played basketball. Suddenly, he wishes he'd called his mom and dad tonight. Dear Mr. and Mrs. Calabro, we regret to inform you that your son was eaten by a Cthulhu.
[23:08] <Jeem> 'You may be consoled by the fact that, as his form was raped by Shoggoths, he was rendered a vegetable out of pure insanity.' The further down they go, the louder the noises become, less and less muffled. Something is definitely pounding against metal, and a careful ear can hear... slurping, tearing. The stairs bottom out in a long hallway leading to another set of doors at the end, one of them cracked, faint, flickering light filtering into the hall. Shadows can be seen flickering beyond. More bodies lie before the doors to the next chamber, a mess of guts and limbs torn apart.
[23:13] <Sisip> Drawing closer Sisip frowns, whispering softly through the coms, "Marcus, Eden, how are you feeling?" If even better she'd be worried, obviously the creature inside them knowing what was to come. She reaches down to the hunting knife on her her thigh and unsnaps it. Moving over to Rick she straps the sheath around his thigh, then reaches to take his hand and place it on the blade. "Use it if you need to. Give it back to me when we get home." She turns and heads further down, staying close to the walls and trying to peek around to see what she could see.
[23:14] <Ricochet> "F**k..." He whispers, seeing the grisly mess. He shakes his head, suppressing a gag. He stares dumbly at Sisip as she straps the knife around his thigh. "O.. okay." It was obvious he was scared, he couldn't hide it.
[23:16] <Marcus> The energy on his arm began to sneak up beneath the clothing, seeming to fill out the clothes in places where it was otherwise loose on Marcus. Left arm, shoulder. Every body they passed Marcus forced himself to look at even if it did bring bile to his mouth. He was obviously afraid and was sweating quite heavily. Yet he hid it as best he could behind a grim face. He moved to the door and, with his right hand, shoved it open, intending to move inside quickly.
[23:17] <AnE> All right, now she was feeling nauseous again! This time, however, it was due to sight of bodies torn asunder with guts and nastiness spread all over the damn place. To Sisip's question, she snorted lightly, "...little sick, but I don't think that's due to the 'baby'." She mumbled, bitterness in her tone. That sphere was steadily getting bigger, her hand curling around it to conceal some of its blinding light. A glance toward Marcus, who had a shield now! And she'd nod her head. How many damn doors were they going to have to go through? She picked up the pace, approaching the door behind Marcus and then rushing in after him.
[23:23] <Ricochet> He follows the other two quickly, moving as quietly as he can and trying not to panic.
[23:24] <Jeem> The scene inside is not particularly pretty. More bodies lie in the next chamber. A few of them look like mutants as well - one has giant armadillo plates over his arms, the other has tentacles like Kevin! Both are clothed - or were - in ragged, dirty clothing. A dog sits gorging itself on the innards of the armadillo man, while another is yanking off one of the pale blue mutant's tentacles, slurping it up messily. They are not... normal, animals, however. Large tendrils capped with boney spikes hover up and out of one of the dog's shoulderblades, its body bulky and overmuscular, like a pitbull on steroids. The other canine has thick, chitinous plates along its form, and six pairs of legs instead of two. At the far end of the room, which must have been a basement level to the factory with filing cabinets and old metal desks turned over, is a giant of a man with one huge, overgrown arm, battering at a big set of steel doors. Near him on the ground is some sort of high tech device, looking like an hourglass, sleek black metal with a whirling blue light in the middle that pulses in time with the ringing in their ears. The dog eating the tentacles looks up, one of them hanging limply from its maw... before it drops it and begins charging at the group of mutants, followed by the other dog. The big man continues hammering at the door.
[23:26] <Jeem> Tentacle dog whips Sisip in the head and knocks her out!
[23:26] <Jeem> Nevermiiiiind.
[23:27] <Sisip> He grazes her. It hurts, bleeds like a headwound does. Now Jack can pamper her.
[23:27] <Sisip> She can still fly them home, cause she's good.
[23:28] <Jeem> Oh and they totes look like the dogs Eden and Marcus fought outside the school that day.
[23:29] <Ricochet> "Oh god, oh god," He breathes as Zergling and Centipup start charging. You can do this, you can do this, you can do this. He reacts more reflexively than anything else, leaping up and backwards, shifting his gravity to plummet towards the wall above the door behind them. He springs off with both feet, trying to convince himself that it's just like in the sim. In midair, he somersaults and shifts gravity again, trying to bring both feet down on the head of the tentacle dog that had just attacked Sisip.
[23:30] <Marcus> "Look out!" He called - Though it was really quite obvious. Marcus jogged forward and then lifted his shield arm. He stood his ground as the dog charged and then, just before it would impact, he slammed his arm down: The shield extended all the way down quickly to his feet, slamming into the ground. More 'tentacle' like lengths of energy shot out from Marcus' back and impaled on the ground behind him. Essentially he was creating a wall for the dog to slam into, and using the other tendrils as supports to make sure the dog didn't just overrun him.
[23:32] <AnE> The first words out of Eden's mouth? "...holy shit." Those damn dogs again. Eating people. And a guy, hammering away at a door. Oh, god, what were they going to do now? Oh, get f**king attacked! Should they call for backup? Nah, that'd be too much like sense. Instead, the sphere, now the size of a large orange, was hurled toward the bulky but non-armored dog -- the one with the tentacles. Tentacles ... they'd been -- oh shit they were absorbing traits of the people they ate, what the fk? Pulsepulsepulse -- goddamn, her ears were still ringing. Just when she was about to detonate -- Rick went and jumped on it. No exploding! A heavy sigh and she'd confure up a second sphere, this one a little larger, which was fired up into the air before it landed on the ground near the armored dog. She scooted near Marcus, closing one eye and setting sights on the rushing mutate canine.
[23:41] <Jeem> Big man grunts and turns around to look over his shoulder... WITH ONE CYCLOPEAN EYE!!!!!!!111one. The dogs hurry forward, their jaws bloodied with the remnants of their kills. Tentaclehound leaps into the air just as Rick is going to slam it in the face with his feet, and boots connect with bone and thick, sinuous muscle, slamming the hound to the floor... a tentacle whipping through the air wildly towards Rick's arm, boney tip seeking to impale whatever it can find. The armored Slepnir hound slams into the shield that Marcus created, hammering into it with incredible force behind it, the armored plate on its head shielding its flesh from any damage as it continues headbutting the shield as hard as possible. Uno-eye slams the metal door once more before lumbering around to face the group.
[23:46] <Ricochet> "Gah!" As he makes impact, and the beast starts lashing out at him, he begins falling backwards once more, pushing his repulsion field out in front of him to deflect the incoming blow. He's not sure if one of these... things... can infect him, but he's not going to take the chance. He attempts to deflect the slashing tentacle as he falls towards the wall. If Eden can still detonate her projectile, now would probably be a good time, as Rick is moving away from the beast, and it's being thrust down by the force of his blow.
[23:46] <Marcus> He grit his teeth as the dog slammed into his shield. The force with which it impacted caused his feet to slide a bit on the ground, but the supports he'd put in stayed strong - Even if they did cause the ground to crack. His eyes flicked everywhere, trying to take it all in: Sisip was down, Rick was in trouble. Shit. His arm shivered with the effort of maintaing the shield. The dog headbutted the shield again and Marcus was shoved back...but then as the dog backed off to headbutt again, he sprang forward, the supports whipping up into his shoulders, the shield growing into a smaller round form. He brought his right arm forward in a punch, except a shaft of green energy was extending from that hand. Hoping to impale it. Though the armour might cause some issues.
[23:47] <AnE> "Get out of the way, Rick!" Oh my god, if they wound up with another infectee because of this, Eden was going to be so f**king pissed. She flailed her arms and grunted like a damn chimp, hoping the gravityboy would do some crazy Spidey flips and get away from that which she was trying to blow up. Speaking of blowing things up? She'd scoop up the glowing sphere that she'd put down in a hopes of using as a landmine of sorts (except landmines don't work so well when you have to consciously detonate them), spinning it on her fingertips before it was hurled toward the exceptionally large man's head. "You! Don't move!" She spoke through gritted teeth, one arm held out before her, the other behind, ready to detonate both spheres at the drop of a hat -- speaking of! The moment Rick moved away? A snap of her fingers would send the sphere into supernova mode, exploding in a bright display of light and searing heat.
[23:57] <Jeem> The other tentacle of the Squidhound whipped forward as Rick sent the repulsion field exploding out from him, trying to get around it... when suddenly, pain. Fire. Death. The explosion incinerated a massive chunk of the canine's midsection, the wound cauterized shut as the body slammed to the ground, limp. Slepnirhound continued hammering at Marcus' shield until he sprang forward to try and impale it. Twisting, the hound deflecting the attack on one of its thick armored plates, springing forward and opening a fearsome maw to try and snap down onto Marcus' leg amg. Uno glared at Eden as the sphere whirled at his head... and he swung a fierce punch down towards the floor. There was more to the punch than just muscle mass. The ground beneath their feet -rippled-, shaking violently, the entire structure above trembling, dust and dirt trickling from the ceiling. He started surging forward, thinking that he could beat the explosive orbs.
[00:04] <Marcus> His attack deflected, Marcus started to try to retreat when the beast made to bite down on his leg. The shield sucked away and suddenly his leg bulged, the dog finding that it was biting into a warm energy field instead of the mans leg. Even though it wasn't penetrating his skin, it was still obvious it hurt. His face set in a line and Marcus did what any good cowboy would do: He fashioned a rope and quickly wrapped it around the creatures snout...the hold the beasts jaw around his leg. When that was complete, he focused and...the energy protecting his leg? Shot out spikes into the creatures mouth, intending to impale its palette, its tongue, its throat. Like having a frag grenade go off inside your mouth.
[00:08] <AnE> A sharp yelp escaped Eden -- she did not do well when the ground started moving, which one might have thought weird given her mass. She stumbled and fell, landing on the ground with a loud WHUD, grunting. This also meant her concentration was broken and therew ould be no detonation of the second starbomb. Sadface. Instead, once the man came rushing, she dismissed it, her heart already pounding. She looked around, sucking in a deep breath. This guy was big -- hopefully that meant he would fall as hard as she did. She began to scramble to her feet, rising up into the air.
[00:09] <Marcus> Oh yeah. And the shifting ground? Caused Marcus to fall over onto his arse, with a big ass dog chewing on his leg. Though hopefully a big ass dead dog soon.
[00:10] <Ricochet> As the building starts shaking, he starts losing his traction on the wall he was currently using as the ground. "Crap!" He exclaims as he leaps outward, landing back on the ground. Once the shaking starts to subside, he steadies himself as best he can, seeing Marcus tangling with the remaining dog, and seeing the cyclops lumbering right for them. He springs into the air and turns again, angling his gravity so that he's falling fast, feet first, right into that big, sensitive looking eye.
[00:14] <Jeem> Marcus feels that grip starting to tighten further and further, the six-legged warhound trying to bite clean through his leg... and suddenly the pressure stops building. Its jaws stay clenched, as the rest of its body slackens, black blood oozing out from its mouth. Uno was a bit luckier than his poochy companion, and that massively overgrown arm swings up quickly, trying to smack Rick clean out of the air and send him against the wall with all his strength. Which was sizable. :O
[00:19] <Ricochet> He can't get the hit in, but his reaction time is quick enough that he manages to put his field back out to cushion himself from the blow. Still, the monstrous cyclops knocks him clean out of the air, the wind rushing out of his lungs as his gravity reflexively changes. He hits the wall pretty hard, slamming into it with his shoulder, but he doesn't fall back to the floor. The field cushions him again so that he doesn't break anything, but damn, that hurt a LOT. He starts trying to clamber up the wall towards the ceiling, he needed a different angle of attack, and to try and put some distance between himself and that monster before it tears him apart.
[00:23] <AnE> "Sh-- Rick!" Eden yelped in surprised as she watched her new 'teammate' slapped into a wall like a damn tennis ball. Fire buuuurned behind her eyes, and as she went higher, hovering aimlessly, she glared at Uno. She didn't want to kill who may have been their only way to get some answers, but she wasn't going to tickle him either. With a loud grunt, she let gravity return to normal around her -- and then increase several times over. That's right. Four hundred pounds came crashing down with increased gravity! Oh god her spine was going to shatter from this shit, she freaking knew it.
[00:25] <Marcus> The pressure was starting to get too much. With each pound of force exerted his face got paler and paler. One eye twitched. When the dog stopped moving, Marcus quickly moved back, the energy slowly fading so that he could pull his leg from the dogs mouth easily. He was quickly to his feet, though it was obvious he was favouring the other leg - His left one. "Rick!" Marcus yelled when he saw the impact coming and ran forward...but too late. The boy slammed into a wall. Marcus didn't stop to observe the damage, sure that the boy was splattered like paste. Instead he yells incoherently at the man and charges him. Probably around the same time as Eden. Angry! He fisted his hands and slammed them into the ground, the energy snaking out through the ground towards the man, looking to grab up like tendrils at his feet to hold him in place for Eden's fat arse to squish him. Oh yeah. The Energy? Previously green? Now red.
[00:35] <Jeem> Oh f**k it's RED energy. Uno was turning to continue after Rick when tendrils begin whipping up - red tendrils! - to snap around him and hold him in place. They, uhm, work. Sort of. He starts yanking free of them JUST as Eden is REALLY laying AROUND the house... err... slamming down onto him. That much force eventually causes him to buckle to one knee, bellowing in pain and then slamming down to the floor like a downed animal, out cold.
[00:39] <Ricochet> "Jeez.." He says from the ceiling, his voice kind of shaky as he still clings for dear life. "What the hell are these things?" He looks down from his vantage point at the burnt and bleeding remains of the two monstrous dogs, as well as the unconscious form of the cyclops. These weren't just mutants, they were nightmares.
[00:40] <Marcus> Down and out. Marcus let the energy suck back up into him, then looked around frantically. Sisip was okay. Where was...Oh. He breathed a sigh of relief once he'd spotted Rick. His legs were shaking and he was flushed from exertion - If there was more he wasn't sure if he could keep going! The young man put a hand against the side of his head and steadied his frantically beating heart. Woo-sah. Woo-sah. Serenity now. "You okay, Rick?" Finally, looking up at the boy worriedly. He'd make a promise to himself to protect the kid, and...he'd almost failed. Before Rick answered Marcus' eyes dropped to the device that had been pulsing through all of this, and the door the man had been working on.
[00:40] <AnE> "F-f**k if I know." Eden grunted as she landed, thankfully not shattering her spine. Gravity was soon returning to normal as she rolled off of Uno, panting and holding a hand against her back with one hand, wincing. She looked around after a moment, struggling to catch her breath, "Goddamn that hurt -- h-hey. That thing he had, where is it? Someone grab it."
[00:42] <Ricochet> "I'm pretty banged up, but I'm okay..." He says, wincing a bit as he stands on the ceiling, rubbing the shoulder with which he'd impacted the wall. His field had taken most of the blow, but it was still painful. He was going to be covered in bruises, provided he survived this. He drops back down onto the floor, watching as Marcus goes to retrieve the strange device.
[00:43] <Marcus> He looked at the door, then back at Sisip and Rick. "Hey...you think you could help Sisip back to the chopper? We'll stay on radio..."
[00:44] <Ricochet> "Yeah," He says, nodding. "Yeah, I can do that." He walks over to the injured Sisip, still rubbing his sore shoulder. If he'd hit the wall any harder and he might have dislocated it, or worse. He helps the woman back up, and turns his head to Eden and Marcus. "Good luck."
[00:45] <Tagert> GET TO DA CHOPPAH
[00:46] <Jeem> The device pulses on the floor near to the large metal doubledoors, continuing to cause that ringing in their ears. From the other side of the door, they can hear muted voices arguing amongst themselves.
[00:47] <Ricochet> Rick takes Sisip back to the CHOPPAH, maintaining radio contact if he's needed. Mun goes to beds.
[00:50] <Marcus> "What do you think it is?" He asked, looking down at the odd device. Eventually he crouched down to pick the device up, to hold it gingerly in his hand. He turned it around, then looked up when he heard voices behind the door. This caused him to snap a look to Eden, "There's someone in there." He whispered, hoping that she would hear and the people in there wouldn't. Of course, considering the racket they'd made it would be amazing if they hadn't been heard.
[00:50] <AnE> Rick was given a false salute before he left, Eden looking down at the device, pointing toward it. Why was she pointing? Who knows! Onto her feet, she stumbled over toward it, still rubbing at her tender tailbone. "I don't-" Talking! The voices had her eyes widening, and now? Since Marcus had the device, Eden was pressing an ear to the door, trying to listen to what was being talked about, while feeling around. The cyclops had been beating it -- was it locked/
[00:55] <Jeem> Just as they're shoving their ears to the door, it begins buckling outwards! There's a violent battle cry as a dozen... well. Homeless people, charge out. A few of them are mutants - one guy looks like he's the embodiment of Satan, except insyead of a black goatee it's white, and he looks craaaazy old. Another mutant hobo has, no joke, a horse's head. He even whinnies. A few of them have pieces of pipe and and metal, one has a fire axe, etcetera. They bellow and lift up their weapons, when a voice rings out, "NO! IT'S THE CHILDREN!" Eden might recognize the voice.
[00:57] <Marcus> The door was starting to open and Marcus quickly grabbed Eden's shoulder and tugged her back, his arm comign forward and another shield, now yellow and blue, surged into life. His breathing quickened again and sweat dripped down his forehead as he stared, worried, at the people that came running out to fight them. Marcus was close to dropping due to exhaustion, but he pushed himself onwards. Then the voice yelled out and Marcus startled. He kept a close grip on the device.
[01:00] <AnE> Erk! Eden stumbled back as Marcus grabbed her, blinking and staring with wide-eyes as the door flew open. Suddenly: HOBOS. HOBOS EVERYWHERE. A sharp squeak passed her lips, and she was planting her heels, unwilling to move -- though she nearly swooned when they flipped out and got ready to hack, chop, and pipe the two to death. That was, until -- 'THE CHILDREN'. Awwww, shit. Her face paled, eyes darting toward Marcus, "It's...it's okay." NO IT WASN'T.
[01:04] <Jeem> The man that had disguised himself as a nurse moved forward through the crowd, standing at the front and smiling weakly at Eden and Marcus through holes in his teeth, a long, scraggly beard that would put him in the running for the next Headmaster of Hogwarts dangling from his chin. "Welcome, Children... was it you that saved us?" He looked up at Rick carrying Sisip away, and then at the bodies of the dogs and the unconscious form of El Cyclopseo Uno. Or something. "Of course it was..." Looking to the device, he grimaced. "Please, put that down before you come speak to the Father." The crowd began moving back into the room beyond the doors - it looked big.
[01:09] <Marcus> It took a moment for Marcus to relax, but he lowered his arm and the shield once again sucked back out of sight. He looked at the homeless man in distaste, and didn't bother to answer the mans questions. When the device was looked at, Marcus was unsure whether he should or not...eventually, however, he leant down and put it down carefully on the ground. "Here we go..." Whispered to Eden, and started to follow.
[01:10] <AnE> Oh, god. It was Creepy McTummyrub. Eden bristled, feeling her stomach turn again. He looked even worse in the, er... 'light'. She looked from him to the downed dogs and cyclopse. "What are they?" He wanted them to follow? A glance was shot towards Marcus. Well, they came this far. She walked alongside him, "Don't let your guard down for a second." Not that he really needed to be told, but ... just in case.
[01:17] <Jeem> "Abominations," the man hissed as he lead them into the chamber beyond. It was... for all intents and purposes a church. Chairs and benches were arranged in the unmistakeable aisles of pews. It must have been a manufacturing room of some sort, judging from the machinery lingering hanging from the ceiling. The floor, however, was swept clean. The room was large, and immaculately well kept. Scavenged pictures hung on the walls, candlelight illuminating the room.. all the way up to the ceiling, even. A lizard-like mutant scrabbled along the ceiling, lighting a few candles that had gone out. "This is our safest place... but we nearly lost it. And the Father."
[01:19] <Marcus> He nodded to Eden and stayed very close to her. Didn't want to leave her alone for an instant. He was very glad that Rick had gone back to the helicopter - Wasn't sure how this was going to go. The church setting was very familiar to Marcus and he looked around in a sense of...wonder? Not really. "And who is this father? Where is he?"
[01:20] <AnE> "...who are you people?" Now that they had the opportunity to...er, meet without pounding each others' faces in, Eden thought it might be a decent question to ask. Her eyes darted around the room -- rather, the chapel, blinking a bit in surprise. This was not the place she wanted to be. It made her feel 'off' just being there. Her head bobbed in a nod, concurring with Marcus' questions!
[01:27] <Jeem> "We are the Forgotten. The hated, the maligned," Creeperpants McGropesherbelly said somberly, motioning to the large crowd of what must be like 50 homeless inside the 'cathedral'. "Homeless, if you must use a less dramatic word... and the Father is all around us." With that, the doors to the room slammed shut, with a glimpse of one of the 'Forgotten' taking the device up the stairs. A loud humming, a droning sound filled the air... and both Eden and Marcus could feel an excitement building within them, something they wouldn't be able to explain. "The Father protects us, keeps the streets of this area of the city safe for us... but he was attacked by usurpers to his Kingdom. We will push them out, Father!" Creeper cried to the ceiling. At the far end of the room, by the ceiling, there was no light... the occasional flicker of torchlight from the ground illuminated some sort of mass. Something squirming.
[01:31] <Marcus> Hated. Homeless. Marcus felt a little guilty about the disdainful way he'd thought about them. He turned around as the door was slammed shut and drew in a quick, scared breath. Jesus. Were they locked in? He stared at it and...then started to feel something. Like butterflies in his stomach. His heart raced and he looked back, the droning causing him to look around - Everywhere, because that's where it seemed to be coming from. To the end of the room his eyes were finally drawn.
[01:32] <AnE> Oh great, Salem's bums were organizing. A whimper stifled as the door was shut, now wondering if they were going to make it out of here alive. Even greater, her stomach ... it was trembling almost. Eden looked up as old man yells at cloud -- er, the creepy shouted toward the ceiling, eyes narrowing in thought. Something had to have been up there. These guys weren't just worshipping a statue made of ground beef. Not when those horrors had already attacked them. Eyes narrowed, sweat trickling down her face. The thing in her stomach seemed to be reacting to the droning, but...why? "...Jesus..." She muttered under her breath.
[01:37] <Jeem> "Father! Your children have returned! The device is gone for now! Rejoin us!" At Creeperman's cry, the buzzing, humming, droning amplified, and utter squicky horror commenced. An enormous cloud of... filth, burst into the air over them from the other end of the room. Insects of all kinds flitted past Eden and Marcus' faces, buzzing in their ears, below their noses, at their lips. A cloud of insect lift floated through the 'congregation', and not a single one of the homeless cried out in fear, huddled for protection, or tried to escape. The insects withdrew into a mass hanging over what must be the church's 'lectern'. It was twisted and formed out of metal bars, and actually looked a little gothic and creepy. The insectoid cloud slammed into the ground behind it, and a humanoid shape began to form. A 'hood' made of thousands of writhing insects hung over a ghastly face, eyes made of bright turquoise scarabs, lips formed of grub worm. It was a man... but it wasn't. "You were brave to come here, mutantssssss."
[01:40] <Marcus> Rejoin us! The droning grew louder and then...bugs. Marcus let out a cry and brought his arms up to cover his face, doing the little 'Get the f**k off me!' dance as the bugs swarmed around him. They withdrew and Marcus tried to calm himself, yet with all that he'd seen tonight it was hard. He lowered his arms and looked across to the great mass, which then...spoke. He stared, mouth agape. Finally he found his voice, "Y...you are the father?"
[01:41] <AnE> It didn't matter that the hobos were calm. Eden wasn't calm. She didn't have, until that moment, a particular fear of bugs, but now she just may have been traumatized. A shrill cry as she stumbled back and landed hard on her ass, absolutely stunned by the flurry of insects that just passed her. She managed to scramble to her feet about the time they were taking shape ... and damn near fell back over when they did. Brave? More like stupid. So, so stupid. This guy? It was him? It? WHAT WAS IT? She didn't mimic Marcus' question, but blurted out, "We're not here to disturb your little gathering, okay? We just want these things out of our stomachs!"
[01:45] <Jeem> "We are the Father of what you have inssside of you," The Swarm hissed out, walking -through- the lectern, his body flowing around it as though he weren't there. Like Davy Jones walking through shit in Pirates of the Caribbean. "They are formed from US! He TOOK THEM! We WILL have them back!" it snarled, the sound alien and otherworldly, like a thousand voices blending into one.
[01:47] <Marcus> He nodded emphatically to Eden's statement, just to add his own agreement to it. Like it was necessary. When the Swarm started towards them, Marcus moved half in front of Eden - To protect her if need be. Yes, that was the kind of guy Marcus was. Even though Eden didn't need his protection! "You can have them! Just let us go after. We don't care what you're doing here. Just...get them out of us." It started out angry, but went...almost pleading.
[01:50] <AnE> Eden preferred to be wined and dined before being spontaneously knocked up by crazy bug things THANK YOU. Except it wasn't even gestating in the right place! GODDAMMIT. Hey, did this make her like the Virgin Mary? Er... she didn't dwell on that for more than a half-second. "...what he said." She mumbled weakly. Of course, she'd prefer having it removed without being turned into a bloody gaping husk if that were at all possible! Then something else caught her attention, "Who is he?"
[01:53] <Jeem> "You are not whole... you lack the other. The cold one." Swarm glared at them, making a sweeping motion with his arm. "The Demon ssends his beasts to attack our sssubjects. Kill them, take them away for tesssting. He has more of our children at his home, his lair of liessss and deceit!" A fist slammed a bench from behind, and the entire metal affair went flying across the room, crumpling against a wall. Ssssnap. "He isss one of them." The rage in its voice was palpable.
[01:58] <Marcus> For a moment, Marcus thought the man was ordering their death. A moment, anyway, before he figured out what the man, the thing was talking about. He made sure to stay between Eden and Swarm, though he did jump as the bench flew away from the things strike. It was strong. And made of bugs. Great. "We couldn't find her." Kylie. Of course. Then, "META? META is attacking you?" Oh shit. Did they just interfere in a META operation? After a moment he shook his head. He didn't care about that. "Can you remove your...children from us?" Drag the maniac back onto the correct subject.
[01:59] <AnE> The cold-- Kylie. Eden's face fell, head giving a slow shake, "We couldn't find her." She admitted sheepishly before looking up. Demon, beasts, testing -- SHIT, FLYING METAL BENCH. Quickly did she drop into a crouch, covering her head with her arms and yelping in surprise before slowly rising to her feet. META...? "...a man from META...? Is-- is he why we're infec--" Swarm might not take so kindly to his children being thought of as an infection. "Is he the reason your children are... implanted in mutants?" Because seriously, who does that? "How do we, er...give them back to you... ....Father?" Maybe he had emotions that could be appealed to! He was certainly angry enough!
[02:09] <Jeem> "Mutantsss and our kind go hand in hand, Eden," Swarmed growl. He knows her name! "We were formed in part from a mutant... he gave us life. The Demon knows this. It was him who first placed us in the body of Isaiah" The homeless bow their heads down in reverence at the name, murmuring an unintelligible prayer. "He had more of us. He sought to do more testing after we had escaped. He... found us, once more, here. We have fought to claim this area of the city for the subjects, to keep them safe. They keep us fed. A fair trade. The Demon comesss in with his sonic devices... the only way to contain ussssss. They linger all over the city now. I cannot move as freely as I could before! It's maddening!!!!!" 'Us' turns into 'I' as the rage grows, the cacophony of voices becoming naught but one for a moment. A man, middle aged. Angry. Taking a moment, it shrugs its shoulders and lets out a hissing breath. "We must know we will not be hunted by him again. No, mutants, you will not be freed from our service." It turned away, looking at them over its shoulder. "Destroy the Demon, prove his evils. Project Genesis."
[02:12] <Marcus> Formed from a mutant. Isaiah. Demon. This information could all be useful. He tried his best to commit it to memory, though he was sure he'd forget some of the finer points. Then the creature said it wouldn't remove the 'children' and turned away from them. Destroy the demon. Marcus stepped forward, "We're not your slaves. Remove it from us!" Finding a well of courage, a blade of energy come out of his hand in a threatening gesture. He wasn't about to be bossed around!
[02:15] <AnE> Holy shit now she knew what a real pregnancy felt like. Miserable, upset stomach, and no way to get out of it. What was this, North Dakota? So, this thing, in addition to being some kind of psychic, was a test subject -- an escaped test subject. Bugs inhabiting some mutant man named Isaiah -- f**k, that name was just bad for her, she knew it. "F-fed..." Fear was keeping her from properly retaining the information now, a lump forming in her throat, "Plea-" BLARGHRARBLE REMOVE IT NOW ROW ROW ROW FIGHT THE POWER. Eden placed a hand against her face and groaned inwardly at Marcus. This guy could eat them alive and he was trying to make threats? "Stop, Marcus!" Though not having the 'things' removed was sort of heartbreaking. "I'd... I'm going mad here. They have no reason to trust us...even though I'd gladly do...Father's work if it meant having my stomach emptied."
[02:17] <Jeem> A laugh welled in the Swarm, a bizarre, almost disgusting sound, like meat and bone forced through a grinder. "You are not our slavesss, no. Would you like for us to kill you? Take our children out the hard way? So be it." Immediately, Marcus' body explodes into pain, as he feels... something, wriggling inside of him, shifting organs about, a bulge in his stomach.... and then it goes away, instantaneously. "Or, you slay the Demon, and we use his work to harmlesssssly save you.... and we get our children back. Hunt him down, mutantssss. He will not be easy. Look for Project Genesis. Look for him. You will find him."
[02:18] <Marcus> Stop, Marcus! He looked back to her, just as the thing started moving around inside him. He collapsed in pain, gift sucked back up. Hands set to his stomach, feeling the bulge...he looked scared as hell. Eventually he nodded and, without looking up, "Who is the Demon?"
[02:19] <AnE> There was a sharp shriek as Eden witnessed Marcus' stomach looking ready to explode oh god oh god. She sank to one knee, damn near fainting at the sight because that could have been HER. "Yes. Who...?"
[02:21] <Jeem> There was a pause, and one voice quietly spoke out from within the swarm, "His name... is Roger Layton. Research and Development lead for META." A snarl filled the air, the chorus returning. "KILL HIM!!!" And with that, the swarm exploded into the ceiling, disappearing into the darkness and filth.
[02:22] <AnE> ...Why was that name so familiar? Oh well. Eden would check on Marcus, making sure he was okay and whatnot, helping him up. "We have work to do, Marcus. Come on." And off they'd go. STILL F**KING INFECTED GODDAMMIT SHE WAS GONNA KILL THAT LAYTON F**KER.
[02:23] <Tagert> <Marcus> He was helped out and they went to kill someone.
[02:23] <Jeem> Tra la la!
