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Ezra Mochizuki HUGINN INTERNATIONAL BIOGENETICS SITE
LATE EVENING

Huginn International is a European biogenetics company, and a noted rival of the Raiden Corporation. Known for being an 'enemy of Abnormals' with their policies, actions, and discrimination, they have become a target of the Watch in regards to companies to bankrupt and destroy.

Their primary American lab is based out of an old zoo on the pacific coast. Bought out by an eccentric board whose 'highest leader' is unclear, with all investigations pointing that the CEO is a scapegoat, not the true power of the company.

The zoo has access to important servers, deep inside. Destroying, robbing, or otherwise obtaining these servers would be useful for the group, depending on how they want to approach it.

At this time of night, the compound is locked down. Unusually thick and tall walls surround the perimeter, and the entrance of the site has had a 'lobby' building erected for scientist, corporate, and security check-in.

The lobby doors are locked, but peering through small windows shows a single high-level security guard, with a rifle, taser, and rod, looking away from the doors. His stance is odd, as if he's up to something he shouldn't be - suspicious, paranoid, and impatient.

Surrounding him is a pair of tall aquariums, that connect over the doorway out into the zoo proper. It's too dark to really see clearly in the tanks - he's using a flashlight instead of the proper lights - but they're probably irrelevant.

How do you want to approach?
Hamada Haru "Your job," Hamada Haru says to the young woman he brought along with him (them?), "is to set off some alarms when I tell you to. Since we can't be sure that they won't be able to detect you and your powers, I don't want to risk you on infiltration duty."

Instead, he pulls what /looks/ like a phone (it is) out of his back pocket, and thrusts it into Sweep's hands, "Put that in your back pocket and leave it on. Don't use it otherwise."

Immediately afterwards, Haru transforms into Kamen Rider Tetra. He waves at Sweep in a two-fingered gesture, and then... vanishes through the ground, /vaguely/ in the direction of the former zoo. Having once been a public zoo, it wasn't too hard to locate a decent layout of the site's former location. An old brochure scanned onto somebody's social media page, and he had a rough map of the way things /used/ to be.

And zoos always have cubbies and just-out-of-sight corridors for the keepers to move through without being disturbed by or disturbing the visitors. So, walking through solid earth, Kamen Rider Tetra simply beelines for where he 'guesses' there will be relatively unused passages within the facility.
Karlan Nobles      Upon arrival at their mission location, Pramanix is quick to move into cover and stick to more shadowy spots where she can. Even though she hasn't seen anyone yet, she's making srue not to blow the group's cover too quickly as she slinks across the walls of the compound, looking for some way in.

     She sees the windows, and she gets a good look at the guard before returning to cover once more. Lacking a means to actually dispatch of the guard right away, she opts to try and take advantage of the guard's apparent paranoia: Making noises in multiple places over the span of a minute. She throws a rock at the outside wall nearest the guard, calls down a brief burst of hail to batter the roof of the 'lobby', and even rings her bell once before scampering away to hide on the opposite side of the doors.

    With any luck, she might be able to bash his head in with the same bell if he comes out and looks the wrong way.
Ben d'Tarkanan      Ben emerges from the nearest warpgate. Some of the people of this world know his name already. The Raiden Corporation almost certainly does, having hired him to guard one of their facilities, only for him to refund their payment and sabotage the facility upon learning its true nature. Having seen to the rescue of an Abnormal woman, and having audaciously sent an invoice to the city for 'services rendered in combatting human trafficking,' it's likely that his name, at least, is getting spread around.

     Whether people have put the face to the name he doesn't know. He also appears not to care, because he's taken absolutely no precautions to hide his identity. It's not the same city as last time, anyway, so why bother?

     On his previous outing to this world, Ben was a little too preoccupied with striking at injustice, battling Ezra, etc., to speak with anyone else. This time, he's here explicitly as an ally of the Abnormals, and ostensibly the Watch as well, though this would be his first time meeting them directly.

     His rescue of an Abnormal woman from the Raiden facility probably helped his reputation, though it's unclear why he would help someone escape a facility he previously agreed to defend.

     He has at least made some plans for covert action--his clothes, while no less finely spun or expensive, are in shades of dark, natural blues, including the leather jerkin snugly fit over his clothes. Rather than a cape, he's opted for a cloak, but there is still his sword, and his ring, both bearing those beholder motifs that clock him, if not personally, then as a member of House Tarkanan.

     While Pramanix handles the guard, Ben exploits the opening created by her distraction. Casting a spell of invisibility over himself, he waits for the guard to exit, then slips past through the door as it opens, if possible. If not, he can... pass through the solid matter of the door, if needed. Either way, all he knows is that the servers they need are somewhere deep inside.

     He needs more information. A theft of this particular kind is just a hair outside his wheelhouse.

     Invisibly, Ben scours the halls, looking for anyone else who might be working at this late hour. Preferably, someone weak-willed and unaccustomed to combat. Those make for easier interrogations. Maybe an academic type? He can hope.
Sarracenia      Hopefully others in the group are a little better at stealth, because the princess of the Sundew Kingdom really only knows one way to proceed with things. And that is loudly. But, she has at least had sense enough not to just charge in...yet. She even has a 'stealth' suit!

     Okay, it is a Hammer Brother suit, i.e. a black spandex suit with a smooth, black helmet and back plate. And of course black heels. She still has her red satchel purse, but rather than her DK Hammer she has a small throwing hammer. She stays in cover as well, tossing the hammer up and down as she waits.

     Pramanix seems to have a good plan, so Sarra joins her in causing small sounds by tapping her hammer against walls, windowsills, and metal poles.
Xion EARLIER

Larxene sighed as she stared at the youngest member of the Organization, sitting across from her desk in one of the work areas of Castle Oblivion.

"Xion, I don't think you get it. If you wear that *everywhere*, then people are going to think we're a terrorist organization or a cult or something."

Xion rolls her eyes like a moody child, crossing her arms. "To them, we are terrorist cul-"

Larxene bangs the surface of her desk hard enough for her cheap plastic keyboard to bounce into the air a few centimetres. "It's an order from Xemnas. Wear something else unless you'd rather I make you, Xion."

LATER, AKA, NOW:

Xion, in a dark blue cloth hoodie that ends at her waist, a grey skirt, and black leggings, grumpily meanders towards the gate to meet up with the rest of the Watch. Her hood hides all but the bottom of her bright blue eyes, and the unsettled scowl on her face.

"Open." She grumbles at the door, tossing a fistful of silver dust at the locking mechanism (or key-access, or buzzer) of the front gate and lifting a foot to just toe open the door. The guard's back is turned! Clearly, as long as he doesn't turn around going 'w-what's that noise?!' Xion can just grumpily push through.
Ezra Mochizuki Sweep is here! The hooded teenaged girl is standing next to Haru, and nods slowly. "I think I can do that...?" She says, as she takes the phone, looks over it briefly, and then places it in her back pocket, a little overwhelmed. As Haru heads in, she stays back, ready to slip in and sound alarms the second she's signalled.

Kamen Rider Tetra goes down. He moves to find the tunnels, and after a bit of swimming through the ground, he manages to guesstimate one of them, ending up in a slim corridor not far from the lobby. It leads forward and branches out all around the park, with passages leading up to secret exits that the guests wouldn't see.

There's also a security door on one side of the corridor. Based on angle and location, it couldn't go up...so it must go down. He could definitely go through it, or even delete it, though the latter could possibly set off any security, if it has checks on it.

The tunnels don't directly lead to the server, in any branch. That'd be way too easy.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group goes through the front door. Xion is correct - she can just unlock the door, slip in, and be completely unseen, and Ben can intangibly follow after her.

The problem is that Sarracenia and Pramanix were, simultaneously, trying to lure the guy out, by making as much noise as possible and preparing to bash him in the face with a bell, so as he turns, he staggers back. He does not immediately draw his gun, however - that paranoia ramps up at least a hundred times, as he starts speaking quietly.

"You shouldn't be here. Leave immediately." It's gruff, but there's a sense of caution. However, they have the chance to immediately get a hit in on him as he says this, should they like, because he's not trying to fight them, for some reason.

If Ben slips past him, invisible, he'll notice there's no sounds or sights of anyone in the wider zoo that would be security or researchers, once they leave the lobby and go outdoors. There's lots of weird shadows or animalistic noises in the distance, though. Does he want to push forward, or wait for the others?
Hamada Haru Kamen Rider Tetra presses a button at his wrist and self-duplicates, to absolutely no one's surprise.

Kamen Rider Tetra Prime heads through the security door and proceeds further in. He's cautious, but not exceptionally so. His primary method of getting around obstacles is to just walk inside walls along the way, but he's not particularly stealthy. He's used to getting to go where he wants.

Kamen Rider Tetra #2... takes a detour towards the area of the zoo that used to house the arctic animals. There's a really simple reason for this: That area of the compound would already be equipped to reduce temperatures, and he's looking for a server room. If there's one thing that he knows about private entities with lots of money, it's that they /really/ love to save money when they can.

So he figures, the servers of this place probably exist proximal to the old arctic habitats. Or some of them do, at least.
Karlan Nobles      Pramanix had been ready and raring to bash the guard's head in, but it doesn't go quite as planned. She's just about to settle for bashing his face in when he reacts to her and Sarracenia's presence with far less aggression and noise than she'd expect of a guard, causing her to hold back at first..

    Instead, she opts to try getting some information first. "Oh, my apologies, good sir. My companion and I were just on our way home from..." She glances towards Sarracenia, taking note of her choice of outfit before turning back to the guard. "... A costume party, and she forgot to use the restroom before leaving."

     That'll have to do. She peeks around briefly, trying to see if there's anything particularly suspicious behind the guard before turning to face him. "Ehm.. Is this a bad time? If it isn't too much trouble, could we impose on you to let us stop inside for just a moment to... Clean up?"

     The answer doesn't really matter, though. If he gives them information, great! After getting an answer and/or information, though, Pramanix then resorts to the bell-to-head method. She can't waste even more time just getting stuck at the entrance, after all.
Xion Praminix goes and drops her own story on the guard, a costume party and needing to use the bathroom. Xion looks dead on at the guard, her presence almost 'too' mundane compared to the two cartoon characters also meanacing slash 'whistling loudly while hilding things beind their back' at the guard, so feeling the intense shadiness coming off of his heart, goes for the completely free story.

"I'm here to look at the animals." She raises a hand from her hoodie pocket and rattles a can of spraypaint with a custom cap on the top. "And maybe tag some walls. You're busy, I'll let you get back to it." Xion decides, waving at the guard like she's a regular before just straight spinning on her heel and walking towards the cages while spinning her paint can.
Sarracenia      Sarracenia doesn't really wait though. Xion opens the door and Sarra blinks. "Wha-..hey! We were -trying- to lure him out!" she exclaims to Xion. With the guy still inside she takes aim and just barely pulls back her throw into a flourish of that throwing hammer. "Er...y-yes! A costume party! Could you please direct me to the closest little hammer thrower's room?" she asks.

     Once they have received an answer, Sarra intends to finish throwing that hammer. But, Pramanix beats her to it. With a huff at both the cat and the kid Sarra proceeds deeper into the zoo grumbling about people stealing her fun.
Xion "Oh. Uh..."

Xion spins, clapping both hands 'together' as if praying for the security guard. There's a spray can between her palms, of course, but it gets the point across.

"Good luck, security man!"

She turns back around to just keep walking away 'deeper inside'.
Ben d'Tarkanan      Ben does indeed slip past the guard, moving at a brisk pace and searching for any other people who might be here. There's no one... but they're still not alone here. Some strange noises... odd shadows moving in the background.

     They remind him of...

     Dark shapes dancing impossibly behind a thick curtain of fog, agressively swallowing up the land all the way to the river. The invisibility spell holds, but Ben's fists are clenched painfully tight. He remembers it clearly, his most base, primal instincts screaming for him to run, yet finding himself unable to move, locked in place with morbid curiosity. Were those shapes the anguished forms of people, trying to escape?

     Or were they something new, something monstrous, created by...

     A gruff voice shakes him out of the frightening memory. A ways behind, the guard is... ordering the others to leave, but not fighting. Ordinarily, he'd turn and help with his unique persuasive talents... but right now he wants to do anything he can to strike back at those shadows, drive them from his mind... at least strike back at the fear. Fear isn't heroic.

     Ben heads towards the shadows without a word to anyone, still hidden under an invisibility spell, but taking no effort to muffle his steps.
Karlan Nobles      Xion, of course, has her own methods that give Pramanix another opportunity to come up with something else on the fly. "And that's... Um. She's from the program. She's not a bad girl, just... Taking some time to adjust."

    She probably doesn't even need to do that considering the imminent facebashing, but she's already in this deep.
Ezra Mochizuki Kamen Rider Tetra splits into two. Prime moves through the security door, phasing straight through it, as he heads down into an underground area. Super short corridors, mazing through, cutting off into large individual rooms, very much unlike the wide and glass-y Raiden lab. It's basically a maze to find where you're supposed to go, but it also means Haru has an easier time detecting opposing footsteps.

The 'rooms' have no windows, and keycarded doors. There's a lot of them. They're simply marked 'Experiment #' by each door, or otherwise are supply closests and possibly a break room. This is definitely where all the security is. The question is what the experiments are. The server doesn't appear to be down here, though, because it's most likely somewhere colder.

And, luckily, Tetra #2 was headed there. The arctic enclosure - specifically polar bears - seems...more in use than it should be, at a glance. It's open to the air, far in the back, with rock outcroppings, a large pond, and another security door. It's very cold out here, enough for one of those animals.

And it seems like there's a reason it's been disturbed. The security door leads to the server room, but as Tetra #2 approaches, he'll notice something's probably in the way by its shadow in the dim lights. A large bipedal figure, like a polar bear standing up.

Unless he has a plan, he'll have to find a way past it, if it's really there.

In the lobby, meanwhile, Pramanix and Sarracenia (and sorta Xion, but hers is better) have bad cover stories. Pramanix and Sarracenia come at the man asking for bathroom usage, and he just backs off. "You /really/ need to leave." As Xion moves past him, his eyes widen, and he reaches out. "No, wait-"

And gets clobbered in the head with the bell. As the blood spills from his nose and mouth, he gibbers, speaking before he goes unconscious. "I...shouldn't have brought him out here."

In the darkness, it's hard to notice much, but the water starts rippling near Pramanix, Sarracenia, and the guard, inside the aquarium.

Meanwhile, Ben and Xion manage to slip outside, towards the central walkway of the park, near where the big 'You are here' map sign should be but has noticeably been torn down. Ben's invisible, but his footsteps aren't, and one of the shadows spreads out in the dim light. Wings. Way too large to be a normal bird's - Ben could compare it to a large kenku, probably. It stops when it can't spot Ben, until Xion comes out, and then the shadow emerges into something real, from the treeline.

A 'human' man in aviator goggles, with a torn-up jumpsuit, large grey wings, talons, and a beak, as well as iridescent skin, moves to try and immediately pick up Xion, appearing like a completely average teenaged bystander, and fly away. It's obvious enough that she can likely avoid it unless she's completely zoned out, but it's certainly a hostile attack.

Footsteps, like running, start closing in. Ben can hear them first. He can also see, out here, that there's no security, and little in the way of cameras.
Karlan Nobles      Reattaching tthe bell to her hip, Pramanix utters a quiet prayer before raising an eyebrow at the man. "'Him'? Who would..." She stops herself momentarily, taking note of the rippling water. A hand goes up to her head, and she switches on the earpiece beneath her cap. <<"This 'guard' may have an accomplice. Be careful, everyone.">>

    After issuing that warning, she snags the man's flashlight, then turns it on the glass to get a better look at what's inside the water in each of the containers. She's not expecting to find much there, though, and if she doesn't, then she'll proceed to follow after Xion and Ben.
Hamada Haru Although he's generally tougher, and his intangibility gives him some defense, Kamen Rider Tetra isn't absolutely impervious to the cold. Stepping into a genuinely arctic environment elicits a shiver from Tetra #2, who moves through the environment like a ghost because functionally he is one. He leaves no footsteps, though there isn't anything stopping somebody from witnessing him in general.

There's a polar bear, which causes Haru's breath to catch momentarily, but the shock wears off quickly. There shouldn't still be a zoo here, but a bear... well, what's it going to do? Sound the alarm? It might get agitated at him, but it's just a bear.

Tetra #2 continues to walk through the enclosure towards the security door, phasing /through/ the bear if need be along the way.

Tetra Prime adjusts his course. No need to pass through the main hallway if he can just pass through the cells. It'll let him know what's going on in short order. So, he does-- though, before he commits fully to it he pokes his head into a cell through the wall to see what's in there. If it doesn't look /too/ troublesome or draw his attention, he'll continue his trek inwards through the side passages.

<< They still have an exhibit active. That's all I have so far. >> He warns.
Xion Xion has an awareness, of the hearts around her. Those desires, those intentions, those dreams of the souls that flutter about the world like leaves on the surface of a stream.

She looks up at them, from the rocky bottom, and wonders what its like.

When a leaf threatens to flutter into her way, she steps aside first on instinct -- then she fills in the gap by putting her hands up, cocked at the elbow.

"H-hey guy, I'm just here to see the animals. This is a zoo, right? Plus, there's two weird ladies hitting the security guard with a bell, you should go swoop at that!"

Xion drops her voice to a muttering drawl. "... and miss me with it."

Rattling her paint can, she walks up to the destroyed map and starts spraying the number '14' in dripping paint onto the absence. "Yeah. I am here. That's all you need to know."

Beyond aimless vandalism, she seems fairly oblivious.
Ben d'Tarkanan      The winged man might not see Ben directly, but he can see the footprints. There's another give away, too. Heavy breathing as the footsteps approach. As another memory begins to take hold. A familiar one. One he won't allow to rob him of his courage. Not this day.

     "Goodlady Xion, I hear footsteps approaching. Not to worry--I have your back." says Ben to Xion with a fake, charming smile. He doesn't want to get whacked in the head with a keyblade again. And he needs to do something, anything, to keep ahead of the memories. It might've been wiser to stay silent and invisible, but then he would be alone with his thoughts.

     What can he do to stay grounded, salvage this operation, and keep out of an unnecessary engagement? That forms a tightly knit and rather unforgiving Venn diagram, those three requirements. But he can think of something.

     Drawing his sword, Ben points it forward with his left arm. It's longer than the other, just enough to be noticeable. Turning slightly as he does so, the necromancer applies a liberal perimeter of thick, sticky cobwebs, attempting to ensnare anyone approaching.

     It isn't dishonorable. They clearly know that he and the Watch are here, which means they're aware of his presence and thus fair game. Which means that casting a curtain of darkness over the affected areas is also perfectly fair.
Xion Xion pauses in adding a black 'angel halo' and wings around the fourteen as embellishments when a SPOOKY GHOST starts whispering to her.

"Uh... No."

She reaches behind her shoulder with her hand to pat the back of her hoodie. "I still have my back? You steal backs, too? I'll get you, Ghost Warlord."

"... Llllllater. I'm doing something."

A squint. "Are you... okay? Do you want a chocolate bar?"
Sarracenia      Sarracenia pauses at the lobby exit as the water ripples and Pramanix speaks up. "Accomplice?" she asks, peering into the aquarium as the flashlight illuminates it. "It really doesn't seem like it would be much help to bring a fishy assistant. That's why I went with my hammer suit instead of my frog suit!"
Ezra Mochizuki Pramanix takes down the guy, and flashes her light at the ripples in the water. Suddenly, /something/ moves very fast, straight at the glass, with a loud THUMP, enough to echo a bit. The glass doesn't crack or break, sturdier than that, but Pramanix and Sarracenia, with the light up, can see it clearly. Another man with pale skin, quite a few extremely sharp teeth, fins, and a flattened nose, swimming in the tall aquarium, trying to break through and get to the bloody guy. They can ignore him...or perhaps he can communicate?

Tetra Prime peeks into one of the rooms, and then starts passing through them. The first one he sees is empty. It has an aquatic tank, a feeding area, and a research area all built in. The next one is also empty, and is more for some sort of land animal. The next...is occupied.

There's a researcher turned away, her hands taking notes as she studies a sleeping woman. The woman has reptilian scales and long bat-like ears together, and is hooked up to a machine. She doesn't appear to be in pain, but it's impossible to tell what's going on here.

Tetra #2, meanwhile, moves to phase through a bear. Shockingly, it's not just a bear, but a man-bear. A massive man with white fur like an abominable snowman, bear-chested with a pair of jumpsuit jeans over his legs. He doesn't /appear/ to be unintelligent, because as soon as Tetra passes through him, he starts cursing in Icelandic.

The server room is right past, and is unguarded, probably because there's a polar bear man there. There's a terminal to access the data in the servers, or Tetra can just fry them all if he'd like.

Xion just shouts at the birdman, sidesteps him, puts her hands up, and confuses the hell out of him. As the webs and darkness fall on the area, he screeches, some sort of echolocation, and then pulls up, barely slicing through the webs and not getting caught, allowing him to flee deeper into the facility. The person approaching, meanwhile...

Snags straight into the webs. She yipes, Ben able to see yellow cat-like eyes if he unveils the darkness or has darksight. "Hold on! Whoever you are, don't let him get away! Shit, shit, he almost got someone, /shit/!"

Her accent is strictly British, as the cat-woman tries to break out of the webs, using scent to locate Xion and possibly Ben's locations, depending if Ben's scent is hidden by invisibility.

Xion, meanwhile, tags the hell out of the removed sign. It's a very good angelic 'fourteen'. Sadly, if they keep using this site after tonight, they'll probably just paint over it. Wouldn't that suck?
Hamada Haru When the bear starts talking in Icelandic, Tetra #2 jumps in place, turning on his heel to look at the... man? Behind the lenses of his helmet Haru blinks. It's not a zoo? No, it's... the same as the other environment. It's just dressed up a little better, so that it doesn't look quite so suspicious. Nobody asks questions about a zoo that is operating a high-energy-draw freezer, after all.

"Do you need to be extracted from this place? There's a price if so, but..." Tetra cants his head to one side as he examines the bear-man, "I don't think it's one that's hard for you to pay."

Meanwhile, down below...

Kamen Rider Tetra Prime acts upon seeing the researcher at work. He steps in behind her and begins to partially materialize himself-- body and legs material, arms not. He plunges his left arm through her chest and brings his hand up to her face, materializing the hand up to the wrist so that he can cover her mouth.

His right arm fully materializes, seizing the woman's right arm at the wrist and twisting it behind her-- unless she has some ability to resist either of these things, anyway. Haru wouldn't be altogether surprised if she did, which is why he employed the odd approach of grabbing her face in an impossible way.

"Be quiet. Take a moment to calm down, and breathe. I'll relax my grip on your face in a few seconds. Then you can explain." Kamen Rider Tetra murmurs at the researcher's ear.

Barring unforseen circumstance, he does exactly as he said he would. His fingers slacken against her face, hand withdrawing partway so that he 'merely' obviously has his arm sticking right through her chest. It's probably an implicit threat.
Karlan Nobles      "I... Thought she came with youy." PRamanix answers Sarracenia, shrugging as she loses sight of Xion. Turning back to the tank, she nearly jumps out of her skin at the sudden impact on the glass right in front of her, and she fumbles with the flashlight a few times before finally settling it on... A man? One that looks like he could easily have come from certain regions of her own world, at that.

    Naturally, she's going to skip right to communicating. "Please, stay calm. We'll get you out of there, just..." She looks around rapidly, scouring the glass of the giant tank to try and find signs of a hatch or something openable. "Do you see any doors or windows in there? If you don't, do a... Something, and stay back."

    If she, or the man in the tank are able to locate a safe-ish opening, she'll use that to try freeing him. Otherwise, Pramanix will try extracting the shark man carefully by bombarding the glass with blasts of ice magic.
Ben d'Tarkanan      Ben does indeed have darksight. He could scarcely call himself a necromancer without it! He's relieved to see that it's just one set of footsteps. A woman, cat-like.

     Ben sheathes his sword, approaching at a calm pace which is likely frustrating to the woman--he isn't making any move to apprehend the flying creature, mainly because he can't fly himself. But that's not the only reason. As the birdman escapes, he nods towards Xion in a 'please, come with me' kind of way.

     "Lord Ben d'Tarkanan, at your service," he says. "I apologize for the restraints, but I couldn't be certain of your intentions on such short notice." He takes a moment to gauge her reaction. If she seems calm enough, he'll draw his blade and cut her free. Otherwise, she'll stay like that until she can wiggle loose.

     Either way, she's hunting the birdman or trying to stop him, presumably to keep him from dragging people away. If Raiden's conduct is anything to go by, it is at least within the realm of possibility for corporations to conduct unethical experiments. This... definitely doesn't sit right. But he needs to know more. Who's the bad guy? It's probably Huginn, isn't it?

     "Were you always as you are now?" It seems like a former zoo would be a great place to hide people forcefully changed into animal hybrids. "You were changed, weren't you?" It's an assumption, but not, he feels, an unreasonable one, given what he saw at the Raiden facility. "And the change affects some of you more adversely than others. Hence, the attempted abduction."
Sarracenia      "With me?" Sarracenia asks Pramanix before looking in the direction Xion departed. "Um...no. I am fairly certain she does not care for me, actually." she says, only to jump and yelp in unison with Pramanix as that creature runs into the glass of the aquarium. She rears back, ready to throw a hammer. "G-get him out?! He wants to hurt us!" she exclaims.

     She looks where the fish man is looking, then huffs. "Look, he will be fine!" she exclaims, then reaches into her satchel and pulls out a green mushroom. Not like they haven't already been discovered by now with everything else going on, so she presses the mushroom to the bloody guy's head to release the healing powers of the green mushroom. "See? He's fine!" she says, simply assuming the mushroom will work on him.
Xion "Look. I'm here to see the animals. You put animals in a zoo." Xion explains, impatiently, to Ben (or the weird cat lady).

"And, you know, IF anyone were locked in the cages, where they shouldn't be, because they're not animals, I was thinking of letting them out."

Xion swips her spraycan-holding hand's wrist against her nose. "You know, because I'm a hero adventurer. Letting people out of cages is basically just my civic duty. Also..." She thumbs at Ben. "He's a ghost warlord, and probably wants to find the elephant cage to summon a necro-elephant skeleton monster to terrorize the city."

After enough beats for someone to get the wrong impression, she finishes: "That's what I'd do, if I was a ghost warlord."
Ezra Mochizuki Kamen Rider Tetra talks to the bear-man. The bear-man is still confused, and as Tetra's still there, he growls at first, raises his arms up, and then backs away when he's not attacked. He finally speaks, slowly but clearly. He's as intelligent as anyone else.

"Extraction? Do you know something safer or better than this? They feed me several times a day. I get to sleep almost whenever I want. Nobody bothers me except when it's time for experimentation. And I haven't lost my mind yet, like some of the others."

"It's better than the streets." Despite that, Icelandic Bearman is, in fact, not opposed to leaving or making a deal. He'd just want guarantee it's /actually/ better than being a zoo man or a street hobo.

Studying him, though, Tetra would get the idea of two things. One, this man's kinda stockholm'd. Two, he's acting a /lot/ like a bear...as if his instincts had changed.

Down below, the researcher has a hand sticking through her chest, is caught so she can't scream, and is encouraged to calm down and speak. She probably knows basic self-defense martial arts, but they wouldn't be helpful against this. She breathes rapidly, takes a moment to swallow, and then speaks. "I'm just a researcher - this lab's used for experimentation on the board of directors' Odin Project. Inject physically healthy humans with animal DNA, affecting their mind, body, all of it, giving them superhuman abilities. Some are volunteers. Some...aren't. Street rats, homeless, trafficking victims."

A pause. "At night, we allow them out to roam. This one's been sick, so I'm studying her and seeing what might have gotten in past her immune system. I believe it might be a disease that doesn't normally affect humans - which would have fascinating results." Another pause, as she realizes who she's talking to.

"T-they're perfectly safe here. If everyone became like this, life might be better for them." That sounds like a script. Like something the woman's been told over and over.

Pramanix talks to the fishman. He can't speak while in the tank, and he seems /utterly/ confused at her conduct. When she opens up the large feeding hatch, though once he's out...

He pounces onto Pramanix, trying to tear her apart with sharp claws and teeth, shouting out. "Friend hurt? Friend hurt! Food!"

It's like most of the humanity in him is...not gone, but repressed. But as Sarracenia starts 'healing' his friend, reducing the fresh blood scent, he begins to calm down.

He's going to try and grab his 'friend' and bolt, if he gets a chance.
Ezra Mochizuki Ben talks to the cat-woman. She begins to calm down as he introduces himself and seems, well, not a threat. As she's cut loose, she turns towards him. "Neyla."

Neyla sniffs, and then looks around, tracking the blood near the aquarium, before speaking again. "It's not safe here. It's hunting time." But, she answers his questions. "I served in the Middle East, and was left for dead. They picked me up a year back and added me to the experimentations list. I'm new, so I haven't lost my mind as much as some of the others. Most of us, as far as I can tell, were abducted, but some, like the Birdman..."

"I think he volunteered."

But, despite her previous words, her next ones reveal the beast. "I'm going to be the one to kill him. Anyways, you need to get out of here before dayshift. That's when security ramps up."

To Xion, Neyla just tilts her head. "I don't know who signed up or didn't, but you could do some serious damage here." A pause.

"Are you really a ghost warlord? There's not any elephant bones buried in there, I don't think." Neyla incredulously asks Ben. He /did/ have weird magic powers and invisibility.
Karlan Nobles      "Or he just wants to be freed. Anyone would, if they're trapped like this."

    And then Pramanix gets attacked by the fishman the moment he's freed. He catches her off guard enough to get her on the ground, but she stops him just short of tearing her to shreds between forcing her forearm into his mouth to stop the biting and Sarracenia healing the injured 'guard'.

     "Friends.. ?yes, friends! We're not here to hurt you, just..." She doesn't quite know how to react when the fishman grabs the 'guard', but she doesn't move to stop him from leaving. "That's... Good enough, I suppose. Nnh."

     A hand goes to the back of her head, nd she shakes it quickly. "Quite a strong one, though... I hope they're not all going to be this aggressive." Instead of moving out to subdue the fishman, she shifts goals once again to trying to find and free more from under the cover of darkness.

    Also, being a bit more careful about opening things up. If Pramanix encounters more people waiting to be freed, she'll gladly do so, but not after ensuring there's sufficient ice walls betwen herself and their entrance/exit point.
Hamada Haru "Come find me after I'm done with this place." Kamen Rider Tetra #2 says. Then he steps back through the door -- literally, of course -- into the server room. He twists the badge at his belt, prompting it to slide open with a pattern like a mechanical iris. Within, a reddish-orange core with a yellow ring around it pulses like a heartbeat.

The belt drones into the surroundings:

                            << CALAMITY PROFILE: >>                            

                                << INORGANIC >>                                

Kamen Rider Tetra #2 strides through the server room, gliding his fingertips along surfaces as he goes. Where he touches, things simply begin dissolving-- there's no need for a big, dramatic KICK in these circumstances. Oddly however, he doesn't /stop/ at the servers. He begins to speed up-- faster and faster, and when he finishes with the /room/ he actually accelerates to a full run that would put some planes to shame, tearing through the walls.

But he is quite selective in how he does it. Tetra #2 is following the power, hvac, and network infrastructure from the server room across the entire base, clipping through the walls and ceilings with impunity as he does it.

He's not deleting the structure of the facility because he doesn't have to. He's just killing the electrical system, network, and air conditioning in one go.

Kamen Rider Tetra Prime releases the researcher's twisted arm, but reaches around her to press a button on his wrist. There is a ROAR as his motorcycle comes barreling through the wall, settling on the floor of the room and cramping its space.

Twisting his belt partway open, a voice drones:

                            << CALAMITY PROFILE: >>                            

                                << MECHANICAL >>                                

Tetra Prime pokes the researcher woman several times, systemically dissolving electronics and personal tools from her person without meaningfully affecting anything about her. At last, he withdraws his arm from the researcher's chest and gestures at the motorcycle, "Put the subject in the sidecar. Get on in front of me."

For good measure, Haru twists his belt's iris to full exposure.

                            << CALAMITY PROFILE: >>                            

                                  << LIVING >>                                  

It's a bluff. Hamada Haru is not prepared to murder so callously. But with a mask between them and his actions so far, this woman doesn't need to know that.
Ben d'Tarkanan      Ben can't stop himself from wincing at Ghost Warlord. It's starting to catch on... Let it. Bear it nobly, Ben. "It's just Goodlady Xion's colorful way of referring to me," he says calmly, with his best charming smile on display. He offers Neyla his right hand to shake as proof. Perfectly warm and seemingly human, though it doesn't seem to match the left arm, which is slightly longer and noticeably paler. "Do you recall how long ago you were taken here?"

     That's important to know--because if she still has parts of her human self, a timeline would help pinpoint who's gone and who isn't. An aside to Xion, "We must release as many as we can," he says. "But our time grows short, and not all of them are of sound mind. I will search for some sort of manifest we can use to determine who still thinks clearly. Some thought must also be given to where they shall be taken, who will care for them..."

     He hasn't made contact with the /local/ Abnormals. And he knows next to nothing about the Watch. He's... got no idea who could take care of these people. Why is doing the right thing so hard? "Any ideas, my friend?" He seems to be taking the Ghost Warlord thing in stride. Seems to.
Xion Xion thumbs at herself. "I'm just a passing through meddler." As if that answers all of Nayla's question. But she's accosted with... a real stumper!!!

Where would all the people... go?

"Well, I know a moogle in Phoenix who could use some help with part-time jobs? I can probably twist his pom into giving you the first few weeks up front... But if you don't want to leave, I can't make you."

Xion sighs, deflated. "I can only unlock the door - I can't walk through it for you."

Ben's plan seems best. "Sure. Locks and stuff can't stop me. Let's help out everyone who can still help themselves."
Sarracenia      Sarracenia growls lightly as that fishman leaps out and immediately attacks Pramanix. "I told you so!" she says. She doesn't try to stop the pair from leaving, but does give Pramanix one of those healing mushrooms as well. "I think if he had wanted out he would have been hitting the glass the whole time." she says, then heads outside to join the others finally.

     Just in time to hear about ghost warlords and necro-elephants. "...what in the world is going on out here?" she asks before hearing the last part about who might care for those freed here. "I could also offer safety within the Sundew Kingdom, but...so far the Abnormals have proven less than amicable toward that idea."
Ben d'Tarkanan      Ben nods, and vanishes into thin air, leaving only his footprints--intentionally so, for if he used his Mark, those too would vanish, leaving Xion with no indication of his presence (that he knows of). There's also the matter of the voices... they'd probably have a field day with this, given his adverse reaction to the shadows.

     What follows is a hurried, urgent search of the premises for a manifest of patients. If they're able to find it, then freeing the more stable victims is a simple matter of just guiding Xion to their containment facilities and letting her work that Keyblade magic. If not... then it's essentially a roving smash-and-grab. Either way, Ben's message is the same to all those he frees, spoken from behind the shroud of invisibility.

     "Lord Ben d'Tarkanan. Escape now, find me later--or find the Watch."

     In this fashion, he works together with Xion to free as many victims as they can without risking an encounter with the day shift security. As dawn creeps dangerously close, he is quick to advise Xion. "I dare not tarry longer. Let us be off, and hope that your fellows have what we came for."
Ezra Mochizuki Pramanix and Sarracenia regroup with the others, as fishman escapes with his buddy. Neyla responds to Ben and Xion. "About...eleven months, to be exact." So, almost a year.

"I'm not sure..." Neyla responds to Xion, when, suddenly, all the power goes out. Blinking, she sighs. "Alright, fine. I'll take your offer." Well, seems this place is a bust, and she hasn't been here long enough to not want a life back. She tilts her head at Sarracenia. "I don't know what that is, but I know what Phoenix is."

The power goes out because one of the Tetra's just melted it all. The polar bear man, realizing it's no longer icy cold and he probably won't get fed again, does in fact go looking for him. He drives a hard offer.

The researcher, meanwhile, has her equipment destroyed, is forced to grab the subject, put her in a sidecar, get on a magic bike, and try and escape with her life, because the alternative is apparently being murdered by an armored man.

Back outside, Xion, Ben, Sarracenia, and presumably Neyla start getting people out, unlocking locks and bypassing every door with Xion's magic. Neyla joins them to help identify 'who she knows for sure is far gone', but can't identify everyone. She recommends they avoid the Birdman, still hunting. He's a volunteer, after all.

They get a few people to escape, a few who ignore, and one who tries to attack the invisible force but is easily held back or locked back in. Security down below is going to start coming up after they secure the researchers, and they'll call in for distant security, so the time to leave is Now. Sweep takes the call and moves to get out of there, not having done much but having contributed to Morale, at least.

This facility is toast. But there's likely more - it's a European company, which means an American base isn't their primary. But this is /absolutely/ going to hurt them.

What did Huginn really want, though? Was this really about profits?
Sarracenia      Sarracenia blinks in surprise at Neyla. "You don't know what a kingdom is? Or just what a Sundew is?" she asks, then without really waiting goes ahead and explains. "A kingdom is a country ruled by a monarch, usually a king. And a Sundew, besides being a species of carnivorous plant, is our family name. I am Princess Sarracenia Sundew, Crown Princess of the Sundew Kingdom!" she declares in a proud voice. She even curtseys despite not wearing a dress at the moment.

     She doesn't have a lot to contribute during the jailbreak except some small talk about fashion and questions about what the others think of her outfit. But, once they are ready to go she does have an airship nearby to carry the rescuers and those rescued to wherever they wish to go. She also gives Xion a look over before asking, "...don't you usually wear a black, hooded robe?"
Xion "Oh that's your last name? Huh!" Xion comments, as Sarracenia catches her on the way out. The clothing issue is taken up, and causes some obvious gears to turn as she considers how to answer.

Like a toaster dinging, she finds the solution with a smile. "Sometimes. But you can't always wear the same thing, right? A friend bought me some outfits I never wear, so in the end it'll work out."
Hamada Haru Kamen Rider Tetra #2 heads outside and makes some arrangements with the polar bear man, which will absolutely not result in cross-world pollination involving Shocker. All told, the deal is a /bit/ better than being bound into stockholm syndrome, though maybe only technically so.

Kamen Rider Tetra Prime is once more forced to do a large amount of property damage to accommodate passengers. Like some sort of demented Santa Claus, he deletes a hole through the structure in front of him and anything in his way in a sloping upward angle. It's only after an hour or so of flying that he actually makes the decision to relax.

His speed ramps down as he gets a few miles over the ocean, where there is Less Than No Way to get away from him and not die in the effort. Leaning back sharply from the woman, Kamen Rider Tetra twists his belt's iris shut and de-transforms. He leans forward again and... flicks on the radio, which defaults to some random trashy j-pop.

"It's an awkward time for introductions, but it isn't going to get better," Haru begins, "I'm Hamada Haru. Here are the ground rules: You're a human being so I won't hold attempts to escape against you. If you can beat me by yourself while I'm just myself and not Kamen Rider, I'll even just let you walk. Don't try it now, all three of us will die."

"I'm not interested in you physically, and I don't like not compensating people for their contributions so I'll be paying you in some form for this kidnapping eventually."

It's not /quite/ like he's operating from a script, but it's not hard to imagine that Haru has gone down a spiel /like/ this before.

He concludes, "A ride like this is the correct time for uncomfortable questions, because neither of us can go anywhere, so you may as well get anything out of the way before we land."