Scene #6757: OFF - Zone 3

Owner	Pose
Priscilla	The only pragmatic way to extricate yourself from the dark, grisly, underground furnace and its stack of pungently sweet bloody corpses, is to head through the sewers that the raw, unprocessed sugar ashes are shoveled into. Given the minimalism of this world, it turns out to be little more than an extremely convoluted series of pipes through which liquid plastic trickles, and which converge on a central sort of treatment plant that boggles comprehension, but which is easily circumvented around, eventually allowing an unmolested exit through a swift kick to an unsecured wall hatch, out into a convenient section of the monorail, alone on the empty platform. The atmosphere taking the same, or perhaps another photocopied twin, inexplicably train-chugging cab is significantly darker this time, bordering on sullenly silent. Even the Batter seems only 'patient' rather than 'actually zen'. Area 4 doesn't seem to be any more secured than the rest, but given that you'd made the sugar in the pipes into little more than dust, that might be for . . . reasons, as far as anyone knows. The Area 4 monorail platform kiosk is vacant. The empty stairs lead up into a series of nondescript empty halls. The immediate purpose or function of the Area is uncertain. West and east wings lead to corridors that split north and south each, lined with rows of identical, scratched and weathered metal doors with no windows. The lights buzz with a laboured hum here, giving off the ambiance of old bulbs that are a few hundred hours away from failing, occasionally flickering on and off. Distantly, around blind corners at the ends of long and empty lines of closed doors, you can hear the echoes of dragging footsteps, clapping loudly on the hard plastic floor. The Area has a distinctly sterile, hostile, nerve wracking vibe to it.
Thomas Alva Edison	A trip through such a hellscape, eventually leading to a monorail. Stepping into it, Edison was quiet. They all couldn't unsee what they have seen, but Edison was disturbed by it. A reminder of what could happen if things were taken to far with the world he had set up, even if it was a horrible parody. The door opens, and Edison looks up from his thoughts. "Last stop, I suppose.." Walking towards the door, the air seemed to hang on everything. However, the sterile nature, the hostile feeling, and the sounds of dragging feet. Another release of air from his nose causes the lion man to step forward. "West then?"
Doctor Strange	Strange is quiet during the monorail's transit. His wrapped cloth boots are caked with dried plastic, coagulating in odd, jagged little clumps. The entirety of his person is covered in a thin layer of ash. His emerald eyes peer out from this grisly, powdery caul, boring a hole into the wall. His hands appear folded in his lap, but his fists are clenched with determination. The sewer didn't bother him. How could it, after the discovery of the furnace's purpose? When the monorail comes to a step, he steps out and takes a solemn look around. As he has several times before, the sorcerer makes an arbitrary decision. "West," says Strange in response to Edison. He nods. It's as good a direction as any. He floats down the west hallway, taking the north branch. When they find and deal with the director, he'll have to speak to Yuuki. Possibly others. But not until they get the artifact. The sound of dragging feet gives him pause. He touches down gently. His fists once again clench, but now each one has an orange mandala burning brightly before it. Strange attempts to cast his vision around the corner, opening a portal to peek. Hopefully, if it's a Spectre, he can get a spell through the portal before it comes bounding through.
Zero Kiryu	As ever, Zero Kiryu lingers at Director Yuuki Kuran's-- side, today, not shoulder. He isn't quite as withdrawn, electing to put himself forward a little bit more than he usually has in this place. Probably in response to the revelations of the prior area of exploration, and Yuuki's response to them as well. This also means that he relents substantially on his gradual probing of the Batter, his mind's eye remaining fixed on Yuuki instead. He's not snooping, though. Just focusing on her blip. It's not until they arrive at the next station that he draws his attention away from her a little. The mutually exclusive, diverging directions catch his eye. West, says Strange and Edison. Zero looks between them, then towards Yuuki. "Would you prefer to remain together, or check the East?" He asks her.
Janine Liberi	Janine has a lot on her mind right now. As such, she just kind of trudges along with the group. If the Batter is 'patient' then Janine is 'distracted.' Right now, easy bait for a Burnt. She blinks in response to Edison and looks around at the empty tram station. "Oh... wait, how did we get here?" Yeah, she's out of it. Up the stairs and into the halls. The distant scraping and hostile presence has her paying attention now. She tries one of the scratched up doors. Likely no-go, considering the scratches indicative of something trying to get in. "West? Why?" She asks, but doesn't argue, preferring to keep checking the doors, just in case.
Yuuki Kuran	Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, and Thomas Alva Edison, the Wizard of Menlo Park, had accomplished Yuuki's quiet request - to change all the Sugar in the pipes into harmless sand. Well, 'harmless'. It's still sand. You shouldn't eat sand. Everything is empty, after that. Anxious. Yuuki holds her arms crossed, her hands clinging gently to her opposite biceps as she meanders back to the monorail. "It doesn't matter. Or... It does, but..." She shrugs. "I'll leave that up to George. Which way are you going? We'll join you, either way. Staying together, splitting off." Yuuki's blip - and her expression - wavers. "The end of this Zone is near, I think. Janine, all you missed was... Something uncomfortable. A truth nobody really had to learn. Sometimes, an awful thing is awful whether it is observed or not, and you are no better for knowing."
Starbound Flotilla	How did George get in here if it wasn't through the sewers? That, my friends, is a puzzle we won't examine. He navigates the tunnels expertly, kicks the door out, and clambers out into the platform. He doesn't smoke on the ride. Instead, he just sort of sits with his shotgun in his lap, and flips a lighter between his knuckles. Emerging is done with an exhausted mannerism, like it takes copious effort to get back onto his feet. "Sun's getting real low, west sounds fine. It's probably a good idea for us to stick together." He mutters as he walks, a softer reply to Yuuki than usual. The sound of distant footsteps gets him instantly cramming a cigarette in his mouth again, as always. For Janine's benefit, he gives a quick recap. "Found where they make the Sugar. Fifth, secret element. It's made by burning Elsen's corpses. It's off-rails; Guardians aren't supposed to be producing Fifth Element, and the Captain assigned here should have reported it or kept 'em on-track. So something's really wrong! And that's the whole deal." Fewer jokes than normal. Hostile atmosphere is sure getting to him! He keeps the shotgun slung over one shoulder in an easygoing pose, checking doors as he goes, and waiting patiently at each corner for Strange's portal-checking. .
August Kohler	Learning about the Fifth Element was frustrating. August couldn't wait to find out which of the Captains was involved in this, as well as find the Guardian, and kick their asses. As they left the cab and headed into the empty halls. When the others say west, August nods. "West, then. Let's get to work." To avoid ambush with the noise, August summons his Persona, climbing onto the giant powered armored knight's back, and riding Dietrich through the halls. Normally, August would have split off, done his own thing, but this all bothers him. Even if Elsen is singular, they're still turning parts of it into 'sugar'. Drugging them. That's not how you help them.
Priscilla	Going west seems much the same as going anywhere else. The corridors are empty and the doors are the same. Janine and George checking doors is actually followed by the Batter doing the same, making the process much quicker. The metal doors, of course, click and rattle uselessly when yanked on. It's just the Batter who says out loud "It's locked." again, like when he reads posters aloud or examines objects, the obvious doesn't seem to be stated for your benefit. By now, it seems more definite that he says it for the benefit of a third party observer, that wouldn't otherwise know a door is locked or what a poster says. Eventually trying enough doors finds a couple that are open. Janine opens one that leads to a room with two chairs spaced across an empty gap, with a desk partially wedged in a hole in the right wall. George finds one that is the same, adjacent, with a desk partially wedged in a hole in the left wall. Either of them pushing on it results in it sliding into the other room, with a note on its center. It has four, big sloppy Xs drawn on it, in the four cardinal directions, penciled, north clockwise, 'Zacharie, the Batter, the Director, the Judge'. The note is very old, and certainly precluded the Batter ever coming here regardless. The door said Batter opens only reveals a brick wall behind it. The joke would make more sense if there were ever a brick wall anywhere else in any Zone. Peeking around the corner, Strange spies an Elsen wandering the halls. This one, in the very rare style of any Elsen having any differentiating dress, looks to be wearing some sort of painfully generic white labcoat over his tie and dress pants getup. He wanders the hall with an aimless, zombie-like gait, tottering back and forth as his shoes clop unevenly down the empty corridor. His face is ashen and streaked with grey spots, eyes unnaturally dilated, jaw hung slack, drops of black goo trickling down his cheeks from his eye sockets.
Thomas Alva Edison	Edison moves west, others check doors as they go, but Edison wants to explore the hallway to see exactly where it leads...which seems to be to another one that heads north and south. If it doesn't somehow loop upon itself. Edison heads back towards Strange, "See anything?" He asks, assuming he is trying to see around the facility for them. He turns towards Yuuki, concerned at her...quietness, but understanding. "You feeling any better?" He asks, trying to lighten the mood. It might sound insincere given how he himself feels.
Janine Liberi	Janine finds a room, with a desk in the wall. She potters around a bit, checking under the chairs and trying to look under the desk when her shoulder presses against it, making it slide into the next room. Moving furniture is awkward with one arm, but she makes it work by getting low and shoving harder with her arm. Peeking back out the door, she sees the door for the opposite room adjacent. "Anyone over there?! Did the desk come through?" she calls out. Making noise is probably not advisable with that Elsen approaching, but she remains unaware.
Doctor Strange	'The Guardians aren't supposed to be producing the Fifth Element.' "Who is?" asks Strange of George. He gives the old captain a pointed look. The question is asked loud enough so that others can hear it--even if George doesn't answer, the intention is still to put him on the spot, and to get others thinking about the question. Strange doesn't have a verbal answer for Edison. Instead, the King of Inventors gets a solemn, silent nod. He draws back with one hand, taking a step back with the foot on the same side. He performs a whirling palm strike. The mandala before the hand which strikes takes off, whirling through the portal. The orange disc moves so quickly as to be a blur. Strange is hoping it'll quickly, cleanly kill the Elsen before it can freak out and go Burnt on them. Normally, he wouldn't make such an aggressive move, but this one looks on the verge of turning, with that black ichor dripping from his mouth.
Zero Kiryu	Zero Kiryu isn't usually the most proactive here, but the Batter opens a door that gets his attention. He pauses next to it, possibly allowing Yuuki to slip ahead of him. Possibly not. He stares at the brick wall, which has no point of reference with anything else here. Why would this be here? Is it a joke? Where did the bricks and mortar come from? He decides that's suspiciously interesting enough to take a more active interest in, squares himself up, and attempts to punch down the brick wall with a well-practiced swing that he didn't need to leverage himself /that/ well to do decent damage with. As-is, he's become monstrously more strong, so the effect will be disproportionate to what he's trying. Assuming it isn't just too solid to break down. Although he doesn't, strictly, speak for Yuuki's immediate wellness, he asides to Edison, "What's going on here is uncomfortably personal."
August Kohler	Strange finds an Elsen about to go Burnt, and takes it out before August can find out and rush into things. The redhead whistles. "Nice proactivity. Let's see if it came from anywhere." August moves around towards where it was, finishing it with Dietrich's sword if necessary, and then tries to find traces of black goo leading somewhere on the floor, or open doors, or more sounds. "If there's a scientist, there's gotta be a lab, right?"
Starbound Flotilla	"Hmmm? Oh, I dunno. Who makes sugar? Probably a farmer somewhere." George says, in that tone of voice that typically means he's avoiding saying anything that he knows. He calls out through the other side, poking his head out the door. "Yeah, looks like a note?" He takes it up and brings it along, showing it to Janine. "Maybe this means we head to the south bit to get to the director? But the Batter is on there, and he's not east, so I guess what the fuck, right?" He shakes his head. "Hell. I dunno. Let's figure it as we go, I guess." He only gets back to the main group in time to take a peek around the corner at Strange slinging that disk. Ooh! Shotgun up, just in case, ready to start blasting future-buckshot down the hall if the clean kill doesn't work.
Yuuki Kuran	It is a down day for many! (The) Elsen, George, and Yuuki. It's been quite a bit of strangeness, recently, though some of Yuuki's (most of it, in fact) is due to something going on outside of the dreamlike world of the Batter and the torture of Elsen. Thomas prompts a response, and George's tension lingers with her. "Oh, Thomas. I'm fine. I'm always fine. I have friends, and my health, and all sorts of interesting challenges to face. I'm just a little thirsty." She explains, affecting an air of timeless patience and a smile that's just a tiny bit strained. Zero goes for EXACTLY WHAT SHE WAS GOING TO DO, and so she merely shadows George as he continues through, looking at the nearly-burnt Lab Tech. "I never really noticed the sun here, George, but is it really that bad at night, with me around?" She wonders with a hopeful pat on the older captain's shoulder. "Plus, we have the wizards and August's crew to back up the Batter."
Priscilla	The hapless Elsen around the corner is ambushed through wallhacks. Without turning Burnt, his head is easily sliced clean off and his torso shredded through, collapsing in a fleshy husk that oozes black from every severed artery. His head bounces and then rolls into a corner, staring agape at you as you come around the corner. "The sun . . ." he wheezes out, despite a lack of lungs. "I need to see . . . the sun . . ." And then he promptly expires. Zero smashes down the brick wall. Anticlimactically, it turns out to be hard plastic bricks glued together into a brick facade, and shatters easily, into a hundred little bouncing pieces. The gag still makes zero sense. It's doubtful anyone here has ever seen a brick. Behind it, there is only a single chest. Opening it provides a FRIDAY. The Batter, or rather, his guide, seems to be sick of the northwest doors, and wanders off east instead, leaving you to your own devices. Poking more doors continues to provide little of worth, but August expecting a laboratory behind the wandering sugar-deprived employee finds one more unlocked. His expectation of a lab falls heavily short, as the only unique feature about the room is the lines of caution stripes painted on the floor around just one more chest, in the midst of a nexus of pipes. Opening the door, however, he's wandered straight into another Elsen. The lab coat-wearing addict turns to him, lets his mouth fall open, baring his lower teeth, and whispers: "My legs . . . Sting me . . ." "The . . . the city belongs to us." Black corruption explodes from his clothes. The conversion into a Burnt is so much faster and more violent than any before. His head doesn't fly off so much as blackness gushes from his sleeves his trouser legs, and his collar, engulfing him in a surging mass of foul-smelling charred liquid, multiplying his size several times. The coalescing corruption becomes a set of gigantic hands with two foot long claws squeezing out of his sleeves, with similar taloned feet replacing his shoes, and his head, a colossal, carnivorous maw of blackness larger than his own torso, with teeth like railroad stakes and jutting, hooked spines of constantly shifting oil. The new strain of even more terrifying Burnt bursts out the door, charging you head on, causing the lights to flicker dangerously with every crashing footstep and wild flailing hand strike against the narrow walls, lending its feral movements a terrible, jerking, stop motion quality to them. It crashes down the entire length, nowhere to go, slashing and shredding and biting wildly as it goes, attempting to shovel anyone it can catch into its maw and chew them to bloody ribbons.
August Kohler	August doesn't find a lab. He finds an Elsen. That Elsen explodes into a Burnt. A horrifying clawed burnt with a massive maw, similarly massive teeth, and sharp spines. As it charges Dietrich head on. Dietrich leaps backwards, trying to block the claw swipes with the huge sword rapidly, armor getting grated up quickly. It moves to try and devour Dietrich, but Dietrich is huge, sturdy, and is regenerating constantly, even if August has already started bleeding from the mouth from the sheer offensive pressure of this thing. On the back-foot, he needs to gear up for an assault. The sword slams into the Burnt with the strength of it getting hit by a truck, trying to knock it back, before the blade is set aflame. Oil, huh... "Burn in hell, you beast!" The flaming sword slices into the monstrous Burnt, hopefully igniting it and weakening it long enough for the others to arrive and help kill it.
Thomas Alva Edison	Edison's can only give her a soft smile, a sad one, but a smile none-the-less. "Of course, though I fear after all of this we will need to all see a psychiatrist," he says, perhaps in an attempt to lighten the mood. He nods only once to Zero, but he does not push the issue anymore, it wasn't the time, nor the place. If she wanted to say anything, then it would be up to her. Edison can only watch as the Elsen they find is mercilessly taken down. Not that they had much of a choice in that matter. It was horribly...well if it wasn't burnt it was about to be. Then another door burst open, and August gives a warning out. Edison's head jerks up to watch the true form of the burnt and he rushes to try and support August. His fists smash against the ground, attempting to electrify the ground in front of him. What follows is an attempt to either simply electrify the crap out of this burnt, or attempt to cause a magnetic charge through the tiles, attempting to slow his assault down and buy others time to try and take it down before it could hurt anyone.
Zero Kiryu	Was it supposed to be a joke? If so, who had made it? Zero opens the CHEST inside and takes the FRIDAY within, before re-rejoining Yuuki and George. He glances sidelong towards her and mutters, "Box." by way of explanation for what was behind the PLASTIC BRICK WALL. There's not much else to say about that. "No," he answers Edison, "this isn't out of the ordinary with us. That's the problem. We're too familiar with situations like this." He reaches over to tug lightly at Yuuki's sleeve, but he doesn't actually /say/ anything. A wordless question is being asked. In answer to the blip of the Burnt appearing on his mental radar, he-- does nothing. Everyone else is handling the matter just fine, and he'd just crowd them. But he does follow the eastwards-moving blip of the Batter in his mind. What's so interesting about /that/ place, he wonders? Perhaps it's just that it isn't this place. Almost subconsciously, Zero attempts another peek at the Batter and the motivation behind this change of direction.
Doctor Strange	"'Supposed to,'" further prods Strange. It's his way of saying 'that was an interesting choice of words.' The mandala zips back to his outstretched hand. He begins trying doors, looking for any kind of clue. He doesn't find anything the others haven't already. It therefore seems like time to go to the south end of the hallway--until he hears August swearing over the radio. Strange whirls around just in time to see the Burnt barreling down the hallway towards them. That familiar sound of shattering glass sounds again. The walls and floor between the approaching Burnt and the party begin to shift. It's as if someone cut little rectangular 'slices' of them. Those 'slices' begin to rotate independently of one another, creating treacherous footing for their opponent. Dietrich, August, and anyone else standing closer to the Burnt experience a shift in gravity, allowing them to stand without being bowled over by the unsteady ground. With one hand, Strange makes a series of rapid finger gentures. A spray of freezing cold shoots from the mandala before the corresponding hand, coating the floor beneath the Burnt in ice, which melts under August's fire just in time for Edison's current to reach it.
Janine Liberi	Janine is mulling over the note. Directions and four names, three of which she knows. The puzzles of this world are always kind of lame and straightforward. The names being familiar feels more like a distraction than anything. Maybe it's more to do with the words? She turns them over in her head, counting the number of them, looking for wordplay. And then August yells out a word of caution over the radio. The Italian girl grunts, pushing herself off the wall and rushing towards where he went, coming face-to-face with the massive figure carving its way through the hallways. "Biancabella!" Janine shouts, drawing her sword and taking in her reflection to bring out the maimed spectre. Immediately, the halls are filled with gale force winds, pushing against the Burnt to try and push it back!
Yuuki Kuran	There's a little sound of annoyed frustration. "I finally got used to people calling me 'Director' after Moonfin, and immediately after we encounter someone whose title is that." Yuuki complains. "And I don't like psychiatrists. They remind me of politicians." She answers Thomas. Zero draws close, bearing a FRIDAY ('oh neat! did... did we miss thursday?') and tugging lightly on her sleeve. "Even a lake wouldn't slake that thirst. And even if I'd be willing to drink it, it'd..." She snorts. "It'd take so long! Just imagine sitting there, gulping, for hours! You can only put so much in your mouth! That's just foolish. No, the way to go is measured sips when one is more than a little thirsty. It becomes drinking for its own sake, like..." She spreads her arms wide. "Like any other addiction. You don't want to get lost in the act." The last line is delivered looking directly at George, though Yuuki catches herself doing this right about the time the awful corrupted Burnt bursts in, things becoming more direct. "That's--it's more corruption than bit of person!" Yuuki sweeps her arms out, gathering up the SHITTY BRICKS from the wall and hurling them at the Burnt - and into Biancabella's wind, getting that Double Propulsion Boost as she directs them telekinetically. To suffer her own curiousity, Yuuki directs her mind towards the Super-Lab-Burnt, to try and read what the heck is going on.
Starbound Flotilla	"I know, right?" George says in a good-humored tone to Zero. He understands the box situation. Perhaps better than many people here! He asides, as they push onward, "Yeah. It's pretty tough to dive right into the bad outcomes right after... well, you know. Think of it like visiting rehab to help talk things up to the folks going through it! Except, you know. They're monsters, and you're killing them. Oh! Or maybe--" George's bad metaphor is punctuated by the thing rushing out and trying to gobble him. He takes several brutal slashes and then gets wedged between the teeth of the thing, which crunches dents into his hardsuit. "Aaaaaah! Hell!" He shouts, trying to wrench the mouth open and jam the shotgun in. He lets off several blasts, meant to disengage his body and launch himself back. "Hey! Bats! Could /really/ use a Wide Angle on these things -- plus a bunch more!" Hopefully that'll get him out of the way before the attacks on the creature itself start pouring on.
Priscilla	The new and awful Burnt charging down the corridor, filling with with claws and fangs of unknown origin, stumbles as the floor shifts under it into a twisted accordian of squared metal angles, and then slips on the ice beneath it when a full volley of attacks blasts into it from in front. Electricity surges through the water an up through its body, temporarily paralyzing it and causing it to convulse. Deitrich's sword bites into its body and churns away, spewing flaming black goops against the walls in long, crazy arcs, but no matter how deeply August cuts, he doesn't seem to find anything solid. Janine's wind blasts slash away the Burnt's substance in long ribbons of goo, sliding it back along the ice, but even then there appears to be no diminishment of its mass, infinitely replenishing as fast as it's depleted, even as the hallway turns pitch black. The shitty plastic bricks shatter on its surface, crushed and broken apart by the corruption as if it were a single, sentient mass. What's left of its mind is hunger and desperation, but more than that, it is hysterical madness. Panic. Fear. The blind instinct of a night terror. Shock and revulsion and horrifying revelation, driven to the point of blind insanity by sheer hopeless despair. The thing scrabbles and claws and gouges into the warped metal, pulling itself along on all fours while cutting through the twisted terrain like blocks of cheese. It redoubles its speed and runs thrashing and wailing into the front line. Just as it approaches, a second head pops out of its head. That is, a tiny, pale, gormless little face surfaces in the throat of its black maw, bubbling into view like driftwood bobbing to the top of a pool. It could maybe be the Elsen's original head, though it is much reduced in mass, and rounded enough to be closer into the uncanny valley. The exposed second head blurts out something, and you're hit with a wave of INHUMAN DECADENCE. Spikes of sugar, grains buzzing like flies, erupt all down the length of the hall, like the cilia inside an intestine, rhythmically stabbing in and out. It's not real sugar. Their touch is poison. It sloughs black and runs through the veins as a liquid necrosis, withering flesh to nothing. George jumps up to the maw Steve Irwin style, blasting away with his shotgun several times at point blank, blowing away fountains of corrupt substance. Nothing comes of it until the head surfaces, where one additional shot draws a shower of dark red and a despondent wail, causing it to retreat back under the black tide. Yuuki dimly senses pain, blunted as if by a lethal overdose of PCP. Meanwhile, over on the east side, the Batter doesn't seem at all bothered by Zero following along after him. As far as Zero can tell, the Batter's feelings at the moment are limited to a moderate undercurrent of disgust --they're possibly the most focused he's felt since he's recently tried measuring the being's character, and stand out more easily against the background of trascendental faith. The second, stranger, symbiotic Other presence still radiates a sort of intense, confused impatience, along with a sort of distant uncomfortable tension. It feels like they've effectively run out of patience to follow along with the party specifically, in that way that someone watching a streamer who's stuck somewhere in a videogame skips the video ahead.
Thomas Alva Edison	The second head bursts out of it. "I was not ready for today," Edison says, slightly shocked by the new level of fucked-up. This was until it started giving them POISON STACKS. Burning away from the inside of his mystic code, Edison growls with annoyance and pain. Edison pushes forward again, lightning gathering on his arm as he pushes it in a bolt from above the creature, trying to blast it with pure DC POWER. It splits, in a cage around the creature, trying to contain it long enough for someone to do something. "Where is the Batter? We need to finish this thing off.."
Janine Liberi	Janine looks on at the Burnt, tanking shots even to its core body and still going. When Edison says they 'need the Batter,' she tears her eyes away to look around, only realising for the first time that he's ditched them. "Shit, where is he?!" She starts biting her lower lip, considering her options before bringing out Biancabella again. "Lift him!" she shouts, readjusting the torrent of wind. No longer pushing the creature back, she instead attempts to life him up, slamming him against the ceiling and keeping him there. "Unless any of you have figured out how purification works, go and get him, quick!"
Zero Kiryu	"We've missed a few Thursdays." Zero answers Yuuki, completely seriously. He doesn't offer a properly articulated answer to her elaboration on the levels of her thirst, simply vocalizing a vague affirmative that he understands what she actually meant now. He usually presumes that if Yuuki raises the subject of thirst at all, it's because the need is a little more urgent. "But," he says, "you still need to drink." To George he replies, "It was just... beyond a fake wall. I don't really understand the idea behind it. I suppose maybe it was intended to discourage exploration while allowing access if you knew what was really going on." He's distracted enough observing the Batter from a distance that he doesn't even really catch the INCOMING HALL-COVERING MURDER COLUMN, and only barely raises a partial defense of vines before it washes over him. The vines fall off in sickly, withering piles, leaving Zero's flesh peppered with sickly-but-recovering withered segments. Zero extends his claws lightly and /very literally/ carves off the necrotic bits of his body systemically, with all the casual effort of slicing a carrot on a cutting board. "The Batter is east, roughly the same elevation, at an approximate distance of..." Zero offers a reasonably precise distance. "The thing riding along with him is getting tired of our meandering." He adds.
Doctor Strange	Strange sees the poison coming, but isn't quite fast enough to stop it. As he extends his hand for a counterspell, the attack connects with it. He grimaces, focusing his will as best he can to ignore the poison creeping through the veins of his scarred hand. As the color drains from it, the sorcerer flies backwards, heading south. The Burnt continues to advance. George's remark draws a frown. Where /is/ the Batter? He's nowhere to be seen. The sorcerer reaches out with his right hand, abandoning the counterspell. Flying through the air towards him is the portal he'd placed around the corner earlier. It saws through the Burnt on the way past--not that it'll stick without the Batter's help. The entrance stays put, only a few feet from the party. The 'exit' flies through the complex, zipping around corners and through doors to find the Batter. When it does... it just dips over him, dumping him out in front of the rampaging Burnt. In further accordance with Janine's request, Strange halts the kaleidoscopic movement of the hallway. A pillar of hallway then rises up in the center of Janine's gust of wind, attempting to further pin the Burnt down.
August Kohler	August can't really cleave through the Burnt. This is frustrating, and what is even more frustrating is the 'inhuman decadence'. Spikes stab into Dietrich, August himself narrowly missing, and the Persona's armor starts to rot off. August screams in pain, coughing up black bile and scarlet blood as his Perosna is weakened heavily, regenerating harder for it from the constant necrosis. Instead of desummoning the PErsona, though, August doesn't have much of a choice, and when Janine calls out to lift it, Dietrich bursts forward. Using his super strength, he moves to try and grab the Burnt and help pin him to the ceiling along with the lightning cage. "I never thought I'd be /disgusted/ by sugar..." August mutters darkly in between the bleeding and coughing up.
Starbound Flotilla	"Geuuugh!" George says, blasting more at the Weird Head. "What the fuck /is/ that?!" He rolls away as it fills him with poison. "Fuck, /fuck/." He can't cure this, but he can immediately jam a needle of stimulant and digestive stabilizers (courtesy of Biteblade) into his side. "Fuck, he's not even here?! Yeah, we need Bats for this...!" George grunts back to Edison, blasting and blasting with his shotgun. "It's too much, Gus! That's how it is for things like this. There's a reason you gotta eat it /after/ the greens. Spoil your appetite otherwise!" George answers to Agust as he tries to keep back a little now. He only moves in quick to slide under with a heavy nail-gun. The kind you use to jam plates of ships into other plates of ships. Hopefully with a few of those he can help pin it upwards the way they want.
Yuuki Kuran	The depths of the 'junkie' metaphor grows deeper, as Yuuki gains an insight into the depths of the burnt of this area. A lethal overdose. There's really only one thought in her mind, that she vocalizes quietly. "I guess I'm used to overdosing meaning someone else gets hurt... Then again, I guess we're 'someone else'..." The wave of corrosive, toxic sugar in the INHUMAN DECADENCE is one thing Yuuki doesn't believe would hurt her, and so merely brings a hand up to shield her eyes from the sickening grains. And, perhaps she is most suited to take the punishment of this attack - that's not really a good thing. Shivering in an instant, leg-buckling energy crash and shaking sugar crash that blackens her veins as it pours into her, Yuuki suffers for her lack of judgement, her feet slipping out from under her as she heaves in heavy breaths from her hands and knees. Flushing out something like this necessitates an insulin crash - only spiritually - and those are never, ever fun. Staggering to her feet by shoving towards the wall, Yuuki takes stock by feeling, rubbing her eyes with dark-veined hands. She's a mess, and feels awful, but she has to help. "We don't have to wait for him, though!" Yuuki announces with parched throat, her scythe Artemis manifesting in her hand with a fluttering of black, bat-like (butterfly-like?) motes, as she leaps in to join George, slicing away at tentacles and venom-bits that lurch towards him in such close quarters.
Priscilla	Dr. Strange's portal whizzes and zigzags down several halls. It'd have to dodge more Elsen, except the fact that it traces a bloody path of carnage the whole way down, having to follow the Batter quite a ways from the intervening time. Not only Burnt, but Mute and Blind Spectres are plastered to the walls and floor, as he'd gone right through them rather than sneak and explore, headed into the northeast. The portal ends up zipping into a surprisingly large room full of desks, papers, cabinets, and crates stacked against the walls, including a table with, of all things, a boxy CRT monitor, with a generic 90s game pad plugged into it --the style with a d-pad, start and select, and four buttons arranged in a cross. The Batter is examining it, and one side is stained with old blood. There might be something he has to say about being dumped out into the fray like that, but the sight of multiple people working to pin the thrashing abomination down overrides whatever that concern is with an especially advanced form of Impure right there in front of him, held up by wind and industrial nails and muscly strength. The Batter unloads on it with several varieties of HOME RUNS and RUNS WITH, but even he seems to cause little to no damage, even when his Add-Ons join in the effort. He hesitates, thinking about how to approach, until Yuuki joins in, and Artemis severs big, fleshy chunks of the wretched jelly off the enemy as cohesive, viscous pieces, crashing to the floor with wet splats. Carving away like that exposes the weak little head inside, which burbles back out of the black bile, a chunk of its cranium missing from George's shotgun blast. The Batter uses Wide Angle! Pastel Burnt x1 Malicious employee of Area 4. Moderate weakness to metal. He swaps the metaphorical (maybe literal) target selector to the exposed, weakened Elsen head, and pulps it like a watermelon immediately, bright red drizzling out of the monster's maw, before it then collapses into a puddle of black ooze and a few empty garments floating on top. Behind the monster is a chest, and behind where the Elsen was standing, a set of characters stamped on the wall. The chest itself is locked tight --the first of its kind-- and made of heavy, durable metal, requiring a considerable amount of trauma to wrench open, as if actually meant to keep its contents extremely safe rather than just somewhere convenient. The stamp on the wall is just a string of arrows, pointing up, left, down, then right, and the letters Z J B D B.
Janine Liberi	Janine exhales with relief as the Batter arrives, summoned by Strange's portal and pulps the head exposed by Yuuki. Biancabella disappears, and all that poisonous sugar finally catches up with Janine as she coughs up a spurt of blood. "Ugh, oh my god..." she groans, slumping against the wall and coughing hard to clear her airways. "We did it..." she groans, before waling up and punching the Batter in the gut, lightly. "Where the hell were you?!" she exclaims, transparently spooked and outraged at once. But she leaves it at that, should he give an answer or not, and goes down the hallway to be confronted by the chest and the writing on the wall. "Wait a sec..." she says, looking at the letters. "George, note!" Could this be the solution? But... "Where would we input it?"
Doctor Strange	Strange heaves a sigh of relief--or begins to. There is still the poison creeping up his hand, which, by now, has made it limp all the way up to the elbow. He leans against a wall with a thud as the last of the Burnt's lifeblood drizzles out. Slowly, he slides down it until he's sitting, breath slightly shallow from the pain. He begins to channel dimensional energy to heal his wound, reprogramming his cells. The sugar--or its approximation--is difficult to manage. He ends up having to open the Eye with one hand, creating a shaky band of congealed time around his wrist. He turns it back, reversing the flow of the DECADENCE. Veins regain their color, going from deathly black to disconcerting blue, then finally losing their visibility altogether as his skin also regains its color and warmth. With that done, he stands, closing the eye. The emerald brilliance vanishes, and the unassuming brass amulet clicks closed. The portal still remains. "Thank you," says Strange to the Batter. He then steps through the portal to examine the old game console the taciturn entity discovered.
August Kohler	As they pin the thrashing abomination, claws carving into the necrotized armor, August holds onto it until Yuuki and Artemis carve through and the Batter finishes off the Pastel Burnt. Weakness to metal...they'll have to keep that in mind. As a chest is revealed, August moves over to it, and has Dietrich use the sword to bash it open with carefully leveraged strength. If it won't open even with trauma, corrosive darkness is used to try and erase through the outer layer without destroying whatever's inside. And then, August desummons Dietrich, to stop the horrible pain and give himself time to regenerate. It'll take a while to get rid of all that bile though. "Eugh..."
Thomas Alva Edison	The poison works on Edison, but his body is extremely durable. It will be some time before it could seriously harm him, though he wouldn't say no to some help in curing it. When things finally break up, he looks towards the Batter, frowning at him for a moment, before turning to the box. "So what does..." and then Steven mentions the controller. Well, that's convenient. He says, trying to rub the stuff off of his fur. This was going to be in his nose for a week. Finally, he looks towards Zero to respond to an earlier answer. "I am sorry that you have to get used to stuff like this, but I guess the world is rarely such a kind place unless you make it so."
Zero Kiryu	Zero withdraws his vines as the battle winds to a close more-or-less without meaningful assistance from him. He takes a moment to check on Yuuki, who he can see hasn't had her regeneration stymied by what just happened. Nearly nothing can accomplish that feat, so it's not a surprise. But it'll just be a matter of waiting it out, as near as he can tell. His attention turns back towards Edison. Zero regards him for a moment, and then looks towards the ground contemplatively. It takes him a little thinking to reply, "There's no need to be sorry. My life isn't bad. Our lives aren't bad. If they had gone better, then we probably wouldn't have met on favorable terms." He looks back up. "It was... a fair trade. Even if it was ugly." He decides.
Yuuki Kuran	After her successful carving attack that applied a specific weakness she didn't know about, Yuuki likewise slumps against the wall across from Janine, curling her knees ito her chest and going back to shivering for a few moments. Artemis clonks against the floor as she spreads her hand against the ground from a sitting position. "Unhh... Felt like I had syrup in my veins. My eyes keep unfocusing on things..." She complains, rattling her head (and sending her long hair scattering out around her face and shoulders) and blinking rapidly. The darkness in her veins has lightened, and she's regained her color, but some of the aftereffects linger. "I'm just glad Stephen has that whole... little remote-thing covered. I'm not feeling terribly up to puzzles right now." Yuuki pulls some small pieces of chocolate with little cherry-red centers from her jacket pocket and tosses them into her mouth, chewing intentively. "I'll be fine... Even if I understand it's ironic that I'm eating sugar after that."
Starbound Flotilla	George wanders up to Janine. "Huh? Oh, yeah, sure stuff. Gimmie a second." First, George throws up again, or he would. It's mostly dry, because he hasn't eaten since the last go. Poison is great!! Then he immediately pulls out something labeled "ASTRONAUT COFFEE" which looks like a tube of toothpaste, and slams the entire tube all at once. It's possibly the grossest thing anyone has seen in a while. "Alright, there we go, sobered-ish." He says, cheerful. "Now I can read. Okay, ZJBDB..." He examines the chest. Are there buttons? Possibly in cardinal directions? None he can see. He approaches the box from each angle and tries to wrench it open -- first north, then west, then east, then south, then east. And if that doesn't work? Interpretive dance. By which I mean stepping in those direction. None of those are likely to work. "Well, guess that's it. Controller? Uh... Can you hit up, left, right, down, right?"
Priscilla	Maneuvering about the chest doesn't yield much. It is in fact welded straight onto the floor, and the wide seam that's usually there is non-present. Dietrich's best bashing and smashing mostly dents and crumples it, until August finally applys the corrosive darkness of his Persona to crumble it away. The incongruous and highly conspicuous, blood-soaked game controller responds as expected. Rather, it doesn't respond at all, but pressing the buttons in the sequence indirectly alluded to in the note, like someone had wrote themselves a reminder of a password nobody else was supposed to know, does something, after several seconds of waiting until thinking to press start as well. The CRT monitor flickers on, briefly showing a dim view from a camera, overlooking a stairwell blocked by obnoxious progress-blocking cubes, then breaks into scrolling lines and crackles out again, only showing the lines: PASSWORD ACCEPTED. ACCESS TO LOWER LEVEL UNLOCKED. There's no telling who used the thing last, why it works that way, where the blood came from, or why they'd coded it with the names of people they shouldn't know, and the lack of names of people they should. Inside the chest is a music box, or, at least, the working part of a music box. Bereft of any embellishment, it's just a tiny toothed metal comb, crank, and pinned cylinder, having to be pinched between the fingers to be played. It has a surprising volume and clarity, though nothing comes of playing it through until the cylinder has fully rotated. You've never heard the melody before, but it feels naggingly familiar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHLaC8IFov0
August Kohler	As August finally gets the music box piece out, he messes around with it, finally rotating the cylinder until it plays. The melody is...strange. Familiar, but he /knows/ he's never heard it before. The others nearby are headed over to, with the music box in hand. "Hey, listen to this. Does it seem familiar to you at all?" And then, afterwards, August puts it away, deciding to take it with them. 1x Familiar Music Box - GET
Doctor Strange	"On it," says Strange. The first thing he does is make sure the CRT and the console are powered on. When he doesn't find any obvious way to do so, he inputs the code anyway. The first part: up, left, down, right. Then ZJBDB. Up, left, right, down, right. "Password accepted," says Strange over the radio. "...access to lower level unlocked." He sets the controller down. With the code entered, Strange steps back through the portal into the hallway. It vanishes behind him. A flick of the wrist sends a whirlwind of golden motes flying through the area. Where they touch the party, they gently dissolve the layers of filth and ash which cling to everyone's clothes and skin, allowing a moment of reprieve from the grim reality of this Zone's apparent purpose. "Guess that's where we'll find the Director."
Thomas Alva Edison	Edison looks towards Zero for a moment and then nods. This was what he had wanted, in that he wasn't that different from the King of Heros. Methods, sure, but not in what they wanted from people. All he wanted was the unimportant issues out of the way...to lead a bright future. In the end, young people still needed to find their own way. "I'm glad to hear that. Don't die with any regrets," He says, more like an old man than anything. Before turning to listen to the music box. Familar...but yet not? Was he really going senile? Probably not, but still.. "Then I suppose it's time to confront him."
Janine Liberi	Janine looks slightly frustrated as the prize reveals itself to be a music box. It's one of those things that becomes hard to use with only one hand. Luckily, August has it covered. "Hhhhuh... it kind of does? But like... you know when you get deja vu? It's like that. It's not like I know the song but can't remember the name. More like I heard it in a dream once." It's clearly important, so best to bring it along. Strange reports that this code opened more than this chest, so it's time to head below. "Great. Hopefully this one is both reasonable and not a freaky bird-cat thing." And with the current threats and puzzles resolved, she kind of slips back to that distracted, introspective state.
Starbound Flotilla	George is feeling good now that he's un-banged-up. He heads on towards where they seem to be heading, and listens as he walks. "Huh." He says. "Didn't expect that. Keep ahold of that thing. Wonder where he got it." There's a long pause. "Guess it doesn't matter. So, we're heading down?" He works the soreness out of his shoulder. "Wouldn't count on the reasonableness, but sometimes that makes things easier. I wouldn't worry about it. It's gonna be what it's gonna be, and we purify stuff no matter what. If we didn't have to before, we gotta now, you know. With all the sugar that was in the air... oof. No other choice."