Skyside 7: The Big Pizza in the Sky

[Ironsmith]

SSGTV

Abbi, however, is not a heavy sleeper. For a very long time, she's been unable to afford to be. So the keyholder wakes her- not deliberately, but she's awoken anyway. There's some discussion, which may wake Hana, but if not then Abbi's going to gently shake Hana and then keep shaking until she wakes. Hopefully Abbi's face is a more pleasant sight to awaken to than the naked eunuch's flabby form.

[SSGTV]

"...mmmphm......uv you too, Haze..." Snores Hana, rolling over onto her side, away from Abbi. She gives a little shiver and hugs herself, seeming to just now notice how cold it is in this room.

...In this room.

Not in a sleeping pod.

In this room.

Hana bolts awake and looks around frantically for a moment, her eyes settling on Abbi. "...[heck]." She mutters to herself, standing up and retrieving her bat. "Here I was hoping this place was just a bad dream."

No such luck.

Trust-Worthy Hotel

Now he's holding the flask, Sandals might note an inscription on the flask; For you, my Love will never die. It doesn't have a cork, it has an integrated stopper.

The receptionist who narrowly avoided a whipping is half-elf, not full elf. She nods slowly, but all this magic is well beyond her experience and she doesn't know how to react to it. "I'm... I'm not too badly hurt. I could get out on my own, I think." The whipping hadn't started yet; her only extant injury is an ache in her wrists from the drop after the step fell over and also the old injury of the cut tendon on her ankle.

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Correct taxonomy if various elf mongrels is both beyond and beneath the bandaged man's interests. "If you can go, then GO!", he shouts to the woman. It's without malice, but with such volume that it'd send small animals and easily scared humans running regardless. He then turns his attention fully to Hazel, walking closer to her fiery prison.

"Be glad I'm not binding you to the corpse of that guy you just killed. If that doesn't suit you either, then you have two... hmm, three options left. One, you get into the bottle and stay there until I've dealt with that other ghost", he says, brandishing the flask before Hazel. "Two, you do what he didn't and go through those doors", he beckons down thw corridor, where the faint outline of the skeleton-flanked doorway is still visible. There doesn't seem to be anything other than just the corridor behind the open doors, but they still radiate a foreboding sensation. "Or three, I leave you here to ponder on your evil deeds for as long as it takes for this place to burn down to cinders. So what will it be?"

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

"Ya know, I'm gettin' real sick of ya callin' me an 'evil spirit'." Hazel growls, struggling against her bindings. "I'm da same woman ya met down at Trog's. Ya remembeh dat, right? Sprung prisoneh lookin' foh heh wife?" She gives Sandels a glare. "Dat piece of [crap] went and sold heh intah slavery. Slavery. But when I give him what he desehves, I'm da bad guy now?" She stands as much as she's able and holds out her hands. "Hows about we take an option fouh; you let me go an' we get back ta lookin'. Clearly ya can bind me wheneveh you like, so I'm not gettin' away from ya if I actually do somethin' bad. But stop treatin' me like a criminal, cause I'm not."

[Abyssmal Takeover]

"Uhhh..." The Volus hesitates a response, recognizing something of a verbal trap and getting lost in it. He's not about to disparage his boss's delegating skills in front of her mecha-zombies. It was hard enough convincing her he was more useful to her alive. He's still relatively certain it only worked not because of his unique skills and talents but because he would make a horrible zombie.

Fortunately the question seemed to be all hypothetical and Korvin snaps his fingers for... something. That eventually turns into a suitcase full of diamonds after some bumbling from the help. Something which certainly holds the Volus' attention as he speaks primarily to the diamonds more than he does to Korvin.

"Ah, well, umm, unfortunately we're under strict guidelines to acquire only. We're not in the business of selling any of our properties or assets. I-I could set up a rental lease agreement if you wish. And... and if you were to remove an asset from a leased property, well that would be a breach of contract," The Volus says in a way that suggests that is probably the best way to get his asset, whatever it is. Of course, the cost to set up such a contract and lease would be much higher than normal. Might cost a few diamonds for the deposit alone.

[Abyssmal Takeover]

"Oh, now we can't have that." Korvin shakes his head and clicks his tongue mockingly behind his mask. "A breach of contract? A premeditated breach of contract? Why, that would be too duplicitous to consider. Wouldn't it, boys?"

"Er... yeah?"
"Going with 'yeah'."

"No, I was thinking more about purchasing the asset directly. Which really is a talk I should be having with your boss." He starts circling the Volus, running his hands over the little alien's shoulders. "After all, what do you think she would say if she found out you refused to sell something worth millions to me but nothing to her? That seems a fireable offense to me." His head emerges around the Volus's other shoulder. "But wait! If you do sell it, and you don't get a good price for it... hmm, why, that would just anger her more, wouldn't it?" He chuckles. "Or perhaps, if you refuse to sell it, the buyer may default to one of the other standard acquisition methods in Skyside... and then you get slapped with the worst of both worlds. Hm... quite the quagmire, wouldn't you agree?"

[Coming Up]

(a few hours ago)

As the shuttle begins its descent into Skyside, Rose wonders where the ideal place to set down would be; Raven's history of being obsessive made that a difficult question to answer. If she lands too far from the hotel and Raven decides to stab her again, she'll have a long way to run before she can evacuate from the city, which would give Raven ample time to catch and likely lill her. If she lands too close, however, Raven's zombies will be in a good position to sabotage the vehicle and she won't be able to get away at all. Decisions, decisions.

...Maybe she'd feel a bit better about this if she had some protection.

Rose puts her Hotbox in her lap and starts scrolling through the files, looking for something that might help solve her conundrum. A weapon would be too obvious, she quickly decides, and would also send the wrong message. She needs something more defensive, like...

Oh, wow. She forgot she had that.

Rose reaches into the Hotbox and pulls out a green marshmallow coat, which is a little heavier than it has any right to be. That's because the stuffing contains a mesh of ultra-durable plastic, comparable to the like of kevlar. It wouldn't protect all of her, but if Raven aimed for any vital organs, it should buy her some time.

Also, at this altitude and time of year, it's probably pretty cold out anyway.

Hmm... that might not be enough, though.

Rose reaches in and produces a pair of capsaicin capsules; the promised pepper spray. She could mount these to the inside of her coat's sleeve for some quick "get away from me" action; even a little spritz would likely irritate Raven for half an hour or more. She's made sure to dilute it carefully, so it only functions as a momentary escape tool and not something that might leave Raven in pain for a truly excessive amount of time. That would just seem vindictive.

Thus prepared, Rose touches down a block away from the hotel, stepping out and beginning her walk up to their rendevouz. The entire way, she's making little adjustments to her clothing; making sure the coat sits right on her, adjusting her cap so her hair isn't totally covered or primed for hathead when she inevitably goes inside, that sort of thing. Treat this like a date and all will be well, she thinks.

[Vahnavoi]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

"I am binding you because you are not the same and I can not trust you to stay the same!", the bandaged man replies angrily, the flames around him growing brighter in unison with his raised voice. "You, at the tavern, did not yet have power to conjure weapons, nevermind harm people with them! Thought I told you. As a bodiless spirit, your very shape is influenced by your mentality, and your shape influences your mentality in turn. Who you are, what you are, those are not stable!"

He takes a few steps back just so he can kick Trust's body for emphasis. "And that's just the tip of the iceberg! The same is true of this son of a whore now! Because of you! Being killed by an evil spirit, is a great way to be turned into one. You think you've solved some problem, by breaking this weak physical shell? No, you've released him to do greater evil! And that would be true of all the other people you'd kill, because guess what?"

The man walks back to Hazel, pressing his face as close to hers as he can without breaching the flames. "This scumbag was just one in a very long line of scumbags we're going to meet on our way to your wife. You couldn't keep your cool when it came to him, I can not trust you to to keep your cool when it comes to any of them. You think you promising to play nice solves my problem? What happened here is proof positive that when it comes to this topic, your promises are worth nothing. So swear, by the Sign of the Reaper, to get in the damn bottle - or I'll leave you here."

[Ironsmith]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Hazel opens her mouth to object partway through Sandels's rant, but as he goes on, painting a more and more vivid picture of just how badly she'd messed up, she slowly backs away, adopting an alarmed, wide-eyed look instead. If everything Sandels is saying is true, then she's got a major problem, and getting into the flask might be her only real chance of solving it; the man's ultimatum notwithstanding, she's not going to be inclined to treat any of her wife's other abusers any better, and even knowing she just turned an evil ghost loose on the world, she'd be sorely tempted to do it again. She needs Sandels to keep her in check, or she's just going to foul things up even more.

Hazel takes a deep "breath" and opens her mouth again, but then stops and looks at Sandels with a look of worry in her eyes. "...Promise me you'll lemme out when wehe done." She says finally. "An' that you won't led anyone drink me. Please."

[Vahnavoi]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

The bandaged man places the flask above where his heart ought to be. "I swear on the Sign of the Reaper that I will let you out when I have dealth with the spirit of the man you killed, and that I will not let anyone drink you, and that I will release you from any further bindings once I have found and rescued your wife." His tone is calmer and very formal compared to moments before. He's not merely making a promise, he's swearing an oath - a part of the ritual he's planning.

[Ironsmith]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Hazel lays her hands on the flask and sighs. "Den I sweah to get in dis flask an' stay in until you let me out, tempohrahily or foh good. ...Erh, by da Sign of da Reapeh."

Was that right? Did she do it right? She hopes she did it right. It would suck to have this epiphany and then not be able to act on it afterwards because she wasted time doing the ritual wrong. Stupidest way to lose out on life ever.

[Vahnavoi]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

"Good enough", the man says and nods, taking a step back. Holding the flask towards Hazel, he opens his right hand and holds two fingers up. "Path of Binding: Soul-containing Jar!"

The prison of fire around Hazel falls apart, and then the flames and her are drawn into the flask. Or, to her, it feels and looks like the mouth of the flask suddenly grows to the size of a horizon and engulfs her. In reality, it's she who's being shrunk. Being inside the flask is like being in a large, liquid-filled cave, with the flames forming a ball of fire that serves as a lamp for her. The surface of the rum is just solid enough for her to float on it comfortably.

Outside, the man recovers the stopper from the ground and closes the flask. Once Hazel is safely in the bottle, he sighs from relief. One spirit dealt with, one to go. He puts the flask away in his pocket and breaks into a run. He needs to find Trust, but first, he needs to stop at the hotel lobby. He needs to free those receptionists from their chains before the fire reaches them. He figures everyone else has evacuated by now.

Behind him, the fire turns a more normal color, but keeps burning. At this point, it's spread enough to be self-sufficient and will ruin, at minimum, the basement floor, possibly the whole hotel, if no-one comes to put it out. The tremors of his running make the liquid inside the flask jump up and down, creating some mighty waves for Hazel to surf on.

[Earl of Purple]

SSGTV

"Sorry Hana, no such luck. There's a keyholder for you, though. He says you wanted to be told when there was a fight?" Abbi smiles a little, though she's also a bit nervous. The keyholders creep her out slightly.

"The Directors want a deathmatch. Fighter against monsters, which don't know how to stop fighting when the other party is disabled. If you're up for it, we'll offer better weapons than your bat. This is going to be a big deathmatch; multiple waves. Each wave will count as a seperate match for token purposes, and you'll also get a bonus for each monster killed, if you survive. I'd recommend you buy some armour first. You should recoup the losses." If Hana wins, anyway. If she doesn't win, she's dead. Abbi gulps and looks quite worried.

Trust-Worthy Hotel

The receptionist yelps when shouted at and runs- well, limps quickly- away. The fire is spreading to the walls and licking at the panels of the ceiling; beyond that, it's wooden floorboards. Sandals should maybe hurry, before the fire manages to get through that.

Hopefully, Hana likes rum. At least this rum is decent-quality rum, and not cheap and horrible.

[Reinholdt]

[Coming Up]

Nothing interferes with Rose's walk from shuttle to hotel.

The hotel itself is a run down affair. One of the taller buildings in the area, the seven story brick building probably should have been demolished years ago. Yet here it is and it's clearly being rebranded and restored. They've got a pile of giant letters stacked in the alley beside the building ready to go up, but haven't gone ahead with it on account of the structural reinforcement and paint job they're half in the middle of. Making the outside all black. And the inside too. The fumes are pretty excessive, but then, the place doesn't particularly look open for business of any kind.

The doors aren't locked, or even on. They'll put new doors in place eventually. If Rose heads inside, she'll walk into an area that kind of looks like a lobby. There's some doors leading places, an openish area, and a semi-fancy desk with a mecha-zombie behind it staring at Rose. Unlike his friends, he's wearing a mechanics outfit with the nametag Brent that has some dried blood on it and asks Rose one very simple question.

"Braaaaaakes?" The mecha-zombie asks, sliding forward a form. The form has nothing to do with brakes. The form is one for selling assets and land to Black Abyss. They'll buy your house for cash it seems.

Upon the desk beside the mecha-zombie is a tray of mint looking things and a sign:

Rad-Away
Take One (Every three to four hours)
No seriously, take one.

Moments later the mecha-zombie realizes that Rose is an expected and honored guest (or Raven tells it as much) and it steps around the desk and opens a door leading to the stairs up, holding it for Rose.

[Abyssmal Takeover]

The Volus sighs long and slow. Why did they always have to make things difficult? This was Skyside, looking the other way was to be expected. He gave Korvin the easiest out he could think of! But maybe that was the problem. It was his solution and not Korvin's. Rich people always had to have things happen their way.

The clerk shifts uncomfortably under the man's touch and responds with frequent labored breaths. "I don't think you understand. Ksssh... Nothing is for sale. The boss was incredibly clear on this point. Ksssh... We are only in the business of acquiring."

Wait... how is it a business if they're not selling anything at all? Are they relying solely on rental leases?

"Any aggression Ksssh... will be met in kind. Perhaps if you told me what this asset is, Ksssh... I may be able to smooth something over for you. As it stands..."

"No deal."

[Vahnavoi]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

The bandage man follows the path taken by the valets and heads to the chair lift. He figures he'll find his way to the lobby faster and easier by getting outside first and going around the building, rather than trying to go through the interior. From there, his plan is simple: get to the receptionists, break whatever shackles bind them to their place and chuck them out of the front door. Should be simple. If no-one gets in his way, that's what he will do. Then, he will retreat back outside and stop to focus his senses. If Trust is still in or near the hotel, he ought to be able to sense his spiritual signature and follow it to the former hotel owner's location.

[Ironsmith]

SSGTV

"Sorry Hana, no such luck. There's a keyholder for you, though. He says you wanted to be told when there was a fight?" Abbi smiles a little, though she's also a bit nervous. The keyholders creep her out slightly.

"The Directors want a deathmatch. Fighter against monsters, which don't know how to stop fighting when the other party is disabled. If you're up for it, we'll offer better weapons than your bat. This is going to be a big deathmatch; multiple waves. Each wave will count as a seperate match for token purposes, and you'll also get a bonus for each monster killed, if you survive. I'd recommend you buy some armour first. You should recoup the losses." If Hana wins, anyway. If she doesn't win, she's dead. Abbi gulps and looks quite worried.

[SSGTV]

For what it's worth, Hana is also visibly worried. She wasn't expecting to get thrown to the lions, metaphorically or very likely literally. The fight with the orc had already nearly wiped her out; she's not looking forward to an endurance match with wild beasts. Although, at this point, she's grateful she made the arrangements she did with Abbi; she's going to need every last one of those tokens for armor, and therefore survival. "...I suppose I had better get to shopping."

Trust-Worthy Hotel

The receptionist yelps when shouted at and runs- well, limps quickly- away. The fire is spreading to the walls and licking at the panels of the ceiling; beyond that, it's wooden floorboards. Sandals should maybe hurry, before the fire manages to get through that.

Hopefully, Hana likes rum. At least this rum is decent-quality rum, and not cheap and horrible.

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

The bandage man follows the path taken by the valets and heads to the chair lift. He figures he'll find his way to the lobby faster and easier by getting outside first and going around the building, rather than trying to go through the interior. From there, his plan is simple: get to the receptionists, break whatever shackles bind them to their place and chuck them out of the front door. Should be simple. If no-one gets in his way, that's what he will do. Then, he will retreat back outside and stop to focus his senses. If Trust is still in or near the hotel, he ought to be able to sense his spiritual signature and follow it to the former hotel owner's location.

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

For her part, yes, Hazel does rather enjoy the rum. Or at least she would under happier circumstances. As it is, she's mostly trying to handle the implications of being locked up to her neck in booze and not drowning. It's a surreal experience; too close to her usual sleeping arrangements to be unfamiliar, but far enough removed to be uncanny.

[Coming Up]

Nothing interferes with Rose's walk from shuttle to hotel.

The hotel itself is a run down affair. One of the taller buildings in the area, the seven story brick building probably should have been demolished years ago. Yet here it is and it's clearly being rebranded and restored. They've got a pile of giant letters stacked in the alley beside the building ready to go up, but haven't gone ahead with it on account of the structural reinforcement and paint job they're half in the middle of. Making the outside all black. And the inside too. The fumes are pretty excessive, but then, the place doesn't particularly look open for business of any kind.

The doors aren't locked, or even on. They'll put new doors in place eventually. If Rose heads inside, she'll walk into an area that kind of looks like a lobby. There's some doors leading places, an openish area, and a semi-fancy desk with a mecha-zombie behind it staring at Rose. Unlike his friends, he's wearing a mechanics outfit with the nametag Brent that has some dried blood on it and asks Rose one very simple question.

"Braaaaaakes?" The mecha-zombie asks, sliding forward a form. The form has nothing to do with brakes. The form is one for selling assets and land to Black Abyss. They'll buy your house for cash it seems.

Upon the desk beside the mecha-zombie is a tray of mint looking things and a sign:

Rad-Away
Take One (Every three to four hours)
No seriously, take one.

Moments later the mecha-zombie realizes that Rose is an expected and honored guest (or Raven tells it as much) and it steps around the desk and opens a door leading to the stairs up, holding it for Rose.

[Coming Up]

Rose smiles and blows Brent a kiss as she walks by; she'd offer him a hug, being a friend and all, but given his supposed propensity for biting, that didn't seem to be the wisest idea. She'll take on of the Rad-Away mints with her, but she's not going to eat it; she has no idea what's in it, and a good night's sleep in a pod will cure her of any symptoms of radiation poisoning anyway, save perhaps for damage to her reproductive health, which seems sort of redundant. She also mentally takes note of the form, wondering just what Raven's been up to and how she's gotten her hands on enough cash to buy so much real estate in such a short period of time.

[Abyssmal Takeover]

The Volus sighs long and slow. Why did they always have to make things difficult? This was Skyside, looking the other way was to be expected. He gave Korvin the easiest out he could think of! But maybe that was the problem. It was his solution and not Korvin's. Rich people always had to have things happen their way.

The clerk shifts uncomfortably under the man's touch and responds with frequent labored breaths. "I don't think you understand. Ksssh... Nothing is for sale. The boss was incredibly clear on this point. Ksssh... We are only in the business of acquiring."

Wait... how is it a business if they're not selling anything at all? Are they relying solely on rental leases?

"Any aggression Ksssh... will be met in kind. Perhaps if you told me what this asset is, Ksssh... I may be able to smooth something over for you. As it stands..."

"No deal."

[Abyssmal Takeover]

"Very well." Korvin smiles, stepping back away from the Volus. He's also noticed this peculiar quirk of business; all acquisitions, no sales, which shouldn't be economically feasible unless Black Abyss had some extremely generous financial backing, or else was essentially printing money from some other venture.

With the added knowledge that two Hotboxes (belonging to Hana and Hazel Reeverman) have been taken from their owners and are therefore unaccounted for, he has a few of his own theories about how this miracle corporation came to be.

"What I'm after..." He begins, weighing his words carefully, "Is a box, about this big, made of chrome. It's a refrigerated storage unit, intended to preserve biological specimens. This one contains a strain of cold virus which has been engineered for maximum lethality; I intend to trace it down and dispose of it." To anyone who didn't know what a Hotbox was, this might sound vaguely plausible. But to anyone else, it would be a lie as transparent as glass. Perhaps the Volus would fall in the former category; but Korvin strongly suspected his boss did not.

[Reinholdt]

[Coming Up]

Brent has never interacted with Rose before today and does not actively consider her a friend. But perhaps there's a smoldering ember of warmth in his dead heart upon receiving an air kiss.
Or perhaps not.
Who can say?

As Rose reaches the second floor, before she can open the door, she's ambushed! Sorta ambushed. Raven's coming down from the stairs to meet her and goes in for a rather forward hug as she sweeps down the steps. "Rose! I've missed you! Where have you been hiding?" Like it was Rose who disappeared off the map. Raven goes to grab Rose's hand and tug on it to pull Rose up the stairs. "Doesn't matter. This way!"

All the way up to the fourth floor. "Sorry about the stairs. We're still working on the elevator." Within is a large, kinda empty floor and Raven uses the tip of her umbrella to switch on the lights which flicker on ominously to reveal something covered in a sheet about six by three by three feet. No doubt just waiting here in the middle of the room for Raven's big reveal. Based on the grin on her face, she's been looking forward to showing this off quite a bit.

[Abyssmal Takeover]

"Sounds dreadful," the Volus comments. He's relatively certain his specialized suit would keep the pathogen away from him in the event of an outbreak, but he doesn't want to test his luck.

"Ksssh... Doesn't sound familiar though. A small chrome box, refrigerated, holds doom. I'll check our records, see if we even have it. Ksssh... You may have the wrong company." The Volus turns to waddle back into his somewhat ramshackle office to pour through his laptop for any mention of a chrome box.

It's a particularly long check. The Volus comes back in short order, shaking his head. "We don't have what you're looking for."
Or the Volus is lying because a deadly plague like that could go to the right buyer for way more than what Korvin is offering and Volus is looking to filch it for himself.

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

"The ones she summons demons in of course... what other ones could there be?" Asks a person who is 'ignorant' in the art of the arcane. "Because it would be super neat and cool and I think the occult is just... really fun, like aesthetic wise."

Bellana leans her head down to whisper conspiratorially to Lumine. "And a candlelit room with spooky ambiance really turns me on, know what I'm saying?"

[Searching for Truth]

"Ehh, angels? Lady T is into those too." Lumine claims. "But also spirits which I happen to be an expert in." There was a lot of empathized words in that sentence. "But yeah, let's go then!"

The zombie (or ghoul? hard to tell) then lifts up the pixie and places it, well, exactly where she wanted to be placed on the dancer. "Perfect, looks like I got some proper ti(cke)ts to ride now." Luminie declares with a grin as she tries to make herself comfortable down there. The mercenaries giggle, though that might only be due to the influence of the pheromones.

Unless Ilpholin want to murder her for that awful joke, since it seemed to have provoked a confused look from of the saber, the zombie will now lead the way. All the skeletal tennis players following their lead.

The mercenaries certainly seem excited about this despite all the weirdness. They're probably used to it.

As it turns out the closest ritual room was actually just a corridor away. Its a big door Luminie unlocks with a gesture that leads into something that looks like a chapel of a temple. They arrive on a balcony overlooking the room with two sets of stairs leading down to what could be called the ritual floor.

In the north-east and north-west corners of the room are two statues. The east seems to have been made to look like a eagle-winged humanoid man with a helmet covering their face. Its made in silver and is holding a spear pointed at the center of the room.
The west one is a gold statue of a bat-winged humanoid woman with a sword as long as its counterparts spear. Like him she's wearing a helmet which covers her face and is also pointing her weapon towards the center.

The rest of the room is set in shining white and a black marble so dark it seems to consume the light around it. Deceptions of both angels, set in white marble, and demons, set in black marble, have been carved or painted on both the walls, the ceiling and even the floor.
They engage one another either in battle- or quite explicit sexual scenes. Some of them aren't even humanoid in appearance. Several of the white figures appear more akin to depictions of biblical angels made up of masses of wings and eyes. While some of the black figures appear like several animals mixed together into terrifying monsters. But regardless of their appearance its easy to see what's what due to the color coding going on in here.

There are only two exceptions to this. The first is the center of the floor where what first seems to be a swirling vortex can be seen. A closer look will reveal that this is in fact only an optical illusion made up of the same white and black marble as the angels and demons in the room. The other exception is the ceiling where this vortex is mirrored but the white and black have been inverted, creating an almost hypnotic effect.

"Well, here we are. Cool, huh?" Lumine inquires as she pats the dancers chest.

[Ironsmith]

[Coming Up]

Brent has never interacted with Rose before today and does not actively consider her a friend. But perhaps there's a smoldering ember of warmth in his dead heart upon receiving an air kiss.
Or perhaps not.
Who can say?

As Rose reaches the second floor, before she can open the door, she's ambushed! Sorta ambushed. Raven's coming down from the stairs to meet her and goes in for a rather forward hug as she sweeps down the steps. "Rose! I've missed you! Where have you been hiding?" Like it was Rose who disappeared off the map. Raven goes to grab Rose's hand and tug on it to pull Rose up the stairs. "Doesn't matter. This way!"

All the way up to the fourth floor. "Sorry about the stairs. We're still working on the elevator." Within is a large, kinda empty floor and Raven uses the tip of her umbrella to switch on the lights which flicker on ominously to reveal something covered in a sheet about six by three by three feet. No doubt just waiting here in the middle of the room for Raven's big reveal. Based on the grin on her face, she's been looking forward to showing this off quite a bit.

[Coming Up]

"Raven!" Rose calls back, running the other half of the intervening distance between them. Not one to pass up the opportunity for a romantic gesture, she'll join in on that hug enthusiastically, going so far as to sweep Raven off her feet (assuming she isn't much heavier than she looks) and plant a "god I've missed you" kiss right on her lips.

There. That should be sufficient to communicate a lack of any hard feelings keeping them apart.

With Raven taking the lead on going up the stairs, Rose follows quickly, only barely needing to fake any excitement. She's been anticipating Raven's work ever since she got the message; she just takes that sense of dread and channels it into something a little more positive.

"Oh, wow." Rose breathes, taking in the size of the item under the sheet. Raven's managed to buy up a new building, cover renovation costs, and build whatever this is? She must have been super busy.

Rose reaches out to the sheet, as if to pull it off, but looks back to Raven for confirmation. If she recieves it, off comes the cover.

[Abyssmal Takeover]

"Sounds dreadful," the Volus comments. He's relatively certain his specialized suit would keep the pathogen away from him in the event of an outbreak, but he doesn't want to test his luck.

"Ksssh... Doesn't sound familiar though. A small chrome box, refrigerated, holds doom. I'll check our records, see if we even have it. Ksssh... You may have the wrong company." The Volus turns to waddle back into his somewhat ramshackle office to pour through his laptop for any mention of a chrome box.

It's a particularly long check. The Volus comes back in short order, shaking his head. "We don't have what you're looking for."
Or the Volus is lying because a deadly plague like that could go to the right buyer for way more than what Korvin is offering and Volus is looking to filch it for himself.

[Abyssmal Takeover]

"Oh, I'm quite certain you do." Korvin replies, picking lint off the Volus's shoulder. "I've spent weeks tracking this parcel down. Your superiors had the lucky break of reaching it first, and for that, I applaud them. But I really do need it in my hands. Now..." He dusts off the top of the Volus's head. "I was hoping to be gentlemanly about this. Give you and yours a chance to do everything above board. I've found I much prefer it when we can all be friends. Wouldn't you say?" He gives a little wave to the orcs behind him, who quietly close the doors to the office, interposing themselves in such a way as to block entry.

[Earl of Purple]

Trust-Worthy Hotel

The chairlift is built into a staircase up to the back of the building. There's guards and other workers about, but it's quite confused; they're organising to see what's going on and trying to find out if there's anything important still inside the building, which is tricky because the person who everyone assumed would organise it is dead and nobody has ever actually organised a fire drill.

Sandals can get around the building and back into the lobby without being stopped, where he'll find the receptionists. There's three of them; the one rescued from the doctor's office is here too, lying on the floor under the desk. They're the same two receptionists as Sandals saw earlier, though the male one is thrashing and kicking. The woman is sobbing in fear and terror; fire is visible in the kitchen, not far from the bar where two maids and a valet are working on grabbing bottles of alcohol from the top shelf. The ghost of Trust is hovering over the reception desk, one spectral arm reaching down the thrashing receptionist's throat. Nobody- except Sandals- is reacting to his presence; they can't see him.

SSGTV

"You don't have to say yes. I don't know what you're up against, but it'll be waves. So likely something weak, or weak-ish at least, though there will be more as it goes on. You are entitled to say no, at this point. You have been here under a day and fought two battles, winning both. It is entirely optional to fight." Though Abbi thinks it's probably a good idea to invest in some armour, anyway.

At the shop, if Hana decides to go (and the keyholder will tag along if so) it's built into the wall, a long bench with a man beyond wearing leather blacksmith's gear. The selection's quite small; there's a breastplate- though it's several thousand tokens to buy. She can buy some things, though; there's football shinpads, leather bracers, arm-guards, decent gloves, and heavy boots. A slightly battered morion helmet, and a spike-topped pickelhaube, and a bicycle helmet (which is far cheaper, though also less sturdy). There's also clothing, if Hana fancies some of that. Ripped t-shirts, a light button-up shirt with mismatched buttons, shorts and hotpants. Most of the clothing is a little skimpy, though possibly better than the bikini she wears now; all of it is some level of damaged or stained. It's clothing they can't really sell elsewhere, most of it.

[Reinholdt]

[Searching for Truth]

Ilpholin's not going to murder the pixie for a bad joke, but Bellana will giggle at it like it was funny (it wasn't).

The dancer bounces in place as they get to the ritual room, clapping her hands together. "Oh wow, it looks so neat!" She starts down the stairs, each step springy as she looks around the impressive ritual chamber. Her eyes aren't all focused on the fairly impressive decorations or hypnotic patterns, however, instead looking for anything that looks like it might hold ritual implements. A chest or alcove or cabinet. Something that might hold a lie detector.

[Coming Up]

Raven is only a little heavier than she looks.

The Evil Empress pulls Rose away as she goes for the sheet. Honestly, what is she doing? Well, Raven can't fault Rose's curiosity. Still, she dances in front of Rose to do the revealing herself. "Lady and... yourself, may I present to you... BRUCE ALMIGHTY!!" With a remarkable flourish and a spin, the catgirl whips the sheet off, letting it float dramatically to the ground off to one side.

Underneath is Rose's mecha-zombie friend, the old front desk clerk that once tried to tell her how much he liked her perfume but she ran away. She can tell because his nametag is still on. And that's about the only part of him that's recognizable. What exists in front of Rose is an abomination, more tower shaped with person like features stitched on. Wires and pipes connect to exposed organs before those themselves connect to widgets. A bloated head rests atop the rectangular mountain of flesh and technology, and fingers poke pointlessly out of the sides as if something had sucked in the arms. Stretched skin provides unhealthy looking patches in a few places. Embedded upon the left side is a computer monitor displaying the green text of an outdated operating system and an unhealthy looking keyboard. It's to this that Raven skips over to.

"Go ahead, ask him for anything! Ok, well, not anything. But..." Raven taps away at the fleshy keys for a moment and the entire thing comes to life. In a sense as it begins to shudder and splurt. There's the sharp odor of burning flesh as Bruce gets quite hot. But moments later, a large block of gold is expelled forward, sliding to a halt in front of Rose, some residue clinging to it.

Raven grins maniacally at the results and babbles excitedly. "Haven't quite figured out the radiation issue yet and what I can make is still limited. Mostly to basic elements. Silver, Gold, Platinum. I have managed to do Electrum so, I know the potential for so much more is there. I just have to work out the kinks." Raven clasps her hands together, still smiling as she looks at Rose to see what she thinks.

[Abyssmal Takeover]

"Umm..." What was this guy's deal?! The Volus offered to get him the asset earlier in exchange for a minor and insignificant breach of contract. Which seems fair considering it's some sort of doom plague. Only they don't have the thing Korvin wants and now he's going below board, what?

The accountant glances around nervously. He's quite certain the mecha-zombies would avenge him. But that does him little good. He much more prefers the 'still alive' status followed by 'unharmed'. But he also doesn't know what to do for this guy to keep him from going off the deep end, already having acted erratically.

So with a hint of panic in the Volus voice, he says, "W-well... why don't you tell me which building this thing was supposed to be in that you said we've acquired? Ksshh... M-maybe it was misclassified as something else or hasn't been put in the system yet?" The equivalent of checking in the back for an item the Volus was pretty sure wasn't there, but he's running low on options and is willing to try long shots now.

[Vahnavoi]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

The bandaged man is appalled by disorganization of the evacuation attempt, observing the disarrayed people as he passes by. Maybe he should've seen this coming, given all the other signs of bad management, but it does nothing to ease his growing contempt for this side of Skyside.

When he reaches the lobby, he quickly notices the woman he freed minutes ago. Why is she on the floor? Did she pass out due to smoke, or did Trust's ghost kill her? If the latter, she's going to be the thrid ghost the man has to deal with. His gaze moves on to the other receptionists. He notices Trust cramming his hand down the male receptionist's throat. A first attempt at possession? That would ve typical.

"Please, Mister... Trust, was it? Or Worthy? Not sure I caught your name", the bandaged man says, walking closer to the check-in counter, speaking to catch Trust's attention. "It's already over. Crawling inside that man's skin won't stop me from taking you to your rightful destination. At best, it will delay me some." Though the man may need to use some violence if Trust does manage to possess the receptionist - the tool he normally uses to dislodge spirits possessing bodies of other is sadly misplaced and under lock and key at the moment. The man points his right index finger at Trust, ready to invoke his destructive powers and shoot a few more holes through Trust if he doesn't play nice.

[Ironsmith]

SSGTV

"You don't have to say yes. I don't know what you're up against, but it'll be waves. So likely something weak, or weak-ish at least, though there will be more as it goes on. You are entitled to say no, at this point. You have been here under a day and fought two battles, winning both. It is entirely optional to fight." Though Abbi thinks it's probably a good idea to invest in some armour, anyway.

At the shop, if Hana decides to go (and the keyholder will tag along if so) it's built into the wall, a long bench with a man beyond wearing leather blacksmith's gear. The selection's quite small; there's a breastplate- though it's several thousand tokens to buy. She can buy some things, though; there's football shinpads, leather bracers, arm-guards, decent gloves, and heavy boots. A slightly battered morion helmet, and a spike-topped pickelhaube, and a bicycle helmet (which is far cheaper, though also less sturdy). There's also clothing, if Hana fancies some of that. Ripped t-shirts, a light button-up shirt with mismatched buttons, shorts and hotpants. Most of the clothing is a little skimpy, though possibly better than the bikini she wears now; all of it is some level of damaged or stained. It's clothing they can't really sell elsewhere, most of it.

[SSGTV]

"And if I win, we're that much closer to getting out." Hana replies. "I think that's worth the risk."

Hana skips right by the clothes; none of them are going to help her and she's not really all that uncomfortable in a bikini anyway, save maybe for the fact that it's about due for a wash. The armor holds her interest, but she's a little indecisive with regards to what she actually wants to get. Arm guards could be weapons in of themselves in her hands, but if she doesn't protect her legs, she may never get the chance to use them. Conversely, leg gaurds might make it easier for her to handle low blows, but she doesn't like the idea of leaving her head vulnerable. And getting just a helmet seems suicidal.

"...Screw it." Hana finally decides, buying herself the leg guards. They're better than nothing.

[Coming Up]

Raven is only a little heavier than she looks.

The Evil Empress pulls Rose away as she goes for the sheet. Honestly, what is she doing? Well, Raven can't fault Rose's curiosity. Still, she dances in front of Rose to do the revealing herself. "Lady and... yourself, may I present to you... BRUCE ALMIGHTY!!" With a remarkable flourish and a spin, the catgirl whips the sheet off, letting it float dramatically to the ground off to one side.

Underneath is Rose's mecha-zombie friend, the old front desk clerk that once tried to tell her how much he liked her perfume but she ran away. She can tell because his nametag is still on. And that's about the only part of him that's recognizable. What exists in front of Rose is an abomination, more tower shaped with person like features stitched on. Wires and pipes connect to exposed organs before those themselves connect to widgets. A bloated head rests atop the rectangular mountain of flesh and technology, and fingers poke pointlessly out of the sides as if something had sucked in the arms. Stretched skin provides unhealthy looking patches in a few places. Embedded upon the left side is a computer monitor displaying the green text of an outdated operating system and an unhealthy looking keyboard. It's to this that Raven skips over to.

"Go ahead, ask him for anything! Ok, well, not anything. But..." Raven taps away at the fleshy keys for a moment and the entire thing comes to life. In a sense as it begins to shudder and splurt. There's the sharp odor of burning flesh as Bruce gets quite hot. But moments later, a large block of gold is expelled forward, sliding to a halt in front of Rose, some residue clinging to it.

Raven grins maniacally at the results and babbles excitedly. "Haven't quite figured out the radiation issue yet and what I can make is still limited. Mostly to basic elements. Silver, Gold, Platinum. I have managed to do Electrum so, I know the potential for so much more is there. I just have to work out the kinks." Raven clasps her hands together, still smiling as she looks at Rose to see what she thinks.

[Coming Up]

...Oh [fun].

That is not good. That is not good at all.

Rose stares wide-eyed at the machine, barely keeping enough presence of mind to disguise her horror as wonderlust. She runs a hand over the skin of the horrible device in front of her, wincing at the feeling of rotted skin. Poor Bruce...

"...You built a Hotbox." Rose finally breathes, struggling to keep the fear out of her voice. Raven stole her tech and used it to create a machine that could give her a potentially infinite amount of wealth to work with. That alone could cause a lot of damage, especially in a place as economically unstable as Skyside. But Raven wasn't going to be content to just buy herself a mansion and be done; she describes herself as a conqueror, and this kind of money could be used to buy a lot of hardware.

And worst of all, it's all Rose's fault. She practically gave Raven this technology, and the advice needed to use it effectively. Which means it's going to come down to her to fix it.

Rose's eyes well up as the implications of that settle in. Raven's not going to be a one-note villainess that can be safely ignored anymore. When word of this gets back to MERC, it's going to be all hands on deck. There won't be time to consider the possibility of reforming the catgirl; her superiors are likely going to want her killed, or at least jailed. Since the danger isn't just that Raven has such a device, but that she knows how to make one, Rose won't be able to get away with putting Bruce out of his misery and calling it there. Raven herself will need to be dealt with.

Rose wipes her eyes on her sleeve and sniffles. "It's wonderful." She lies.

[Abyssmal Takeover]

"Umm..." What was this guy's deal?! The Volus offered to get him the asset earlier in exchange for a minor and insignificant breach of contract. Which seems fair considering it's some sort of doom plague. Only they don't have the thing Korvin wants and now he's going below board, what?

The accountant glances around nervously. He's quite certain the mecha-zombies would avenge him. But that does him little good. He much more prefers the 'still alive' status followed by 'unharmed'. But he also doesn't know what to do for this guy to keep him from going off the deep end, already having acted erratically.

So with a hint of panic in the Volus voice, he says, "W-well... why don't you tell me which building this thing was supposed to be in that you said we've acquired? Ksshh... M-maybe it was misclassified as something else or hasn't been put in the system yet?" The equivalent of checking in the back for an item the Volus was pretty sure wasn't there, but he's running low on options and is willing to try long shots now.

[Abyssmal Takeover]

"Well, as it happens, you're in luck." Korvin chortles, pointing to the floor. "Because you're standing in it. You could go downstairs right now and bring it to me." Which would also give the Volus an excuse to run if he wanted to attempt that. "I would suggest you start looking immediately. I am not known for my patience."

[Reinholdt]

[Coming Up]

"NYAHAHAHA!!" Raven plants her hands on her hips and juts out her chest as she laughs boastfully. She too was frequently overwhelmed by how amazing her mecha-zombies were as well as the depth of her own genius. Maybe not to the point of moved to tears, but given that Rose has been denied Raven's brilliance for so long, it was completely understandable that Rose would become emotional.

Her evil mastermind reveal out of the way, Raven relaxes a little. "It is wonderful, isn't it? But it isn't quite a hotbox yet. I mean, it'll get there. After all, I am Empress Ebondark! There's no engineering puzzle I cannot solve with a few creative substitutions. But if I could get another look at yours, it would make the process go a lot faster." Raven suggests. There's no way using a former person in this process falls within safety guidelines.

"I'd, uh, offer you anything you could want from Bruce Almighty, but you can already do it better. Anyways, it's accelerated my plans by years. I've already purchased a factory that's being repurposed to churn out mecha-zombies for me. Finding bodies for it isn't much of an issue in Skyside. Oh... I guess I shouldn't mention that." Given how scared Rose was of Skyside. "Did you grab one of the rad-away pills downstairs? They'll cleanse you of radiation and we're kinda swimming in it right now, sorry."

[Abyssmal Takeover]

"What? This piece of junk didn't hav- uhh... you know let me do that. Ksssh... Yeah. Check the basement. I-I'll be right back," The Volus says, nervously heading for the stairwell. From there he'd be able to go up a floor and get to the admittedly shaky fire exit and just disappear for the day. His admittedly high salary does not cover dealing with unstable people with box fetishes.

[Ironsmith]

[Coming Up]

"Y- yeah, I grabbed one." Rose holds up the mint-pill and smiles. "I didn't have any idea why you had them, but it all makes sense now." Not that she really needed it anyway; her pod would take care of any damage from the radiati-

BEEEEEEEEP

Rose frowns and looks down at her Hotbox, which had given the little warning sound in response to acute exposure to radiation. Sure enough, when she checks the display, she finds herself greeted by the following message:

Internal radiation filters at 120% saturation. Replacement advised.

Oh, great. Now her Hotbox wasn't going to work right.

...Actually, now that she thinks about it... this might be a bigger problem than she realized. Raven's model was already bigger than hers, and while it put out a lot of radiation, it might not be too affected by it. There's a very real chance Raven might have managed to improve on her technology, rather than just taking it.

Regardless, Rose is still down one Hotbox until she has an opportunity to change the filter, which isn't happening in Skyside.


"...So, um..." Rose begins, clicking off her Hotbox so the beeping would stop. "...Aren't you at all worried about the other villains in town?" She asks. "I mean, this is a game-changer. If one of them suddenly came forward with... I don't know, a death ray or something, wouldn't you want to hit them while they're still vulnerable so they couldn't take you out?"

And Raven looks pretty vulnerable. Her building doesn't even have doors.

[Abyssmal Takeover]

As soon as the Volus leaves, Korvin sighs and mutters something to his orc bodyguards, who re-open the office doors. He then leaves a business card on the desk, certain the Volus isn't getting in touch with him again but might want to at least warn his boss about the crazy man who came in looking for a doom box. For added effect, he slams his palm down on the desk, leaving a scorched handprint that draws attention to the card; he's not going to let himself be forgotten so easily.

And then he leaves. Just walks out the front door with his guards in tow. Huh.

[Reinholdt]

[Coming Up]

Added organic elements may have unforeseen benefits. Or foreseen benefits. It's really hard to tell with Raven what she does or doesn't know sometimes.

"Hmmm..." Raven puts her finger to her chin in thought. "Not really? It's not like I'm getting in anyone's way at the moment. Somebody new owning something old is pretty common around here I think. I mean, sure eventually they're going to notice because I mean, I'm the Empress of Everything, how could you not notice, right? But my mecha-zombies will protect me." They're good mecha-zombies like that.

"And it takes time to get a building evil worthy. As you saw coming in, I have a bunch of construction working on it. We can add deathtraps here and there. Maybe an employee break room. Oooh, or combination break room and deathtrap. It'd be super exciting for the employees. Keep that adrenaline up, raise productivity. And anyone lucky enough to die gets promoted!" Raven clasps her hands together, rubbing them with gleeful anticipation to join the world of corporate greed.

"This building will be pretty special. I mean... it's already pretty special isn't it? You know where we are and what that means right?" Raven asks, becoming more serious for a moment as she looks at Rose.

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

Ilpholin's not going to murder the pixie for a bad joke, but Bellana will giggle at it like it was funny (it wasn't).

The dancer bounces in place as they get to the ritual room, clapping her hands together. "Oh wow, it looks so neat!" She starts down the stairs, each step springy as she looks around the impressive ritual chamber. Her eyes aren't all focused on the fairly impressive decorations or hypnotic patterns, however, instead looking for anything that looks like it might hold ritual implements. A chest or alcove or cabinet. Something that might hold a lie detector.

[Searching for Truth]

Bellana can't see any chest or cabinet but if she sees where Lumine is gesturing, towards the two statues, she can spot that on each of their chests is a handle. "Soooo... whatcha' wanna do beautiful? Angels or demons? Can do ghooooosts too, which is honestly a lot more fun in my opinion. They're a lot more sexy than people think."

The mercenaries seem as new to this room as Ilpholin and wanders around, gazing in wonder at the architecture.

[Reinholdt]

[Searching for Truth]

"Huh?" Bellana says as she heads in the direction of the angel statue. "I just thought the atmosphere was cool. Can you summon things too?! That's amazing," Bellana says in complete awe of Lumine's ritual prowess.

"Can you summon an angel then? A really sexy, really powerful one?"

[Earl of Purple]

Trust-Worthy Hotel

She's not dead, nor passed out; she's moving a leg, and wiggling occasionally.

"It is Trust. Phineas Trust." The ghost grins, and pulls his arm out of the receptionist's mouth. It's followed by a spurt of blood, and the receptionist shudders and gasps, head thrown back and blood leaking from their mouth. He's still alive, but might not be for long. "Why'd I want this skin? He's chained to the floor in a burning building. I can do better'n that." He grins, and starts running towards Sandals.

SSGTV

Abbi nods, though she still looks worried. "I guess, but... Good luck."

The leg guards take quite a chunk of the tokens she's got, but they're adjustable so they fit quite well. And so the keyholder leads Hana over to the gates, and beforehand there's a trolley with some weapons on it. No spears or polearms; there's a machete, a hand axe, a longsword with a broken blade so it's a shortsword, a delicate-looking rapier, a triple-flanged iron mace, a spiked morningstar, and a stone maul. Or she could go for a set of nunchuks, a dagger, or an assegai made from a short pole and a kitchen knife.

[Vahnavoi]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

The bandaged man a sighs when the male receptionist starts vomiting blood. He's probably beyond his help now and will become the third ghost he'll have to deal with. What a bother. Anticipating Trust's sprint, the bandaged man points his finger at the ghost's pelvic area. "Crimson Flame Bullet!", he shouts when Trust has managed to take all of two steps, the sound of a gunshot ring through the lobby. If his aim is true, the bullet will sever Trust's left leg - he won't be needing that where he's going. But, seeing that it might not stop a crazed evil spirit, the bandaged man also balls his left hand into a fist and lunged forward after taking the shot, aiming to punch Trust in his face - a rude but very effectice way of informing uppity ghosts that yes, the man is fully capable of touching them.

[Ironsmith]

[Coming Up]

Added organic elements may have unforeseen benefits. Or foreseen benefits. It's really hard to tell with Raven what she does or doesn't know sometimes.

"Hmmm..." Raven puts her finger to her chin in thought. "Not really? It's not like I'm getting in anyone's way at the moment. Somebody new owning something old is pretty common around here I think. I mean, sure eventually they're going to notice because I mean, I'm the Empress of Everything, how could you not notice, right? But my mecha-zombies will protect me." They're good mecha-zombies like that.

"And it takes time to get a building evil worthy. As you saw coming in, I have a bunch of construction working on it. We can add deathtraps here and there. Maybe an employee break room. Oooh, or combination break room and deathtrap. It'd be super exciting for the employees. Keep that adrenaline up, raise productivity. And anyone lucky enough to die gets promoted!" Raven clasps her hands together, rubbing them with gleeful anticipation to join the world of corporate greed.

"This building will be pretty special. I mean... it's already pretty special isn't it? You know where we are and what that means right?" Raven asks, becoming more serious for a moment as she looks at Rose.

[Coming Up]

Rose isn't sure how raising the adrenaline levels of a mecha-zombie is supposed to help, but Raven's the one with the technical details of how they work. And hey, worst case scenario, she can just patch them up if they run afoul of the deathtraps, right?

Oh, wait. Raven's implying she has living employees now. That's... wow, that is so much worse.

"I mean, I know what this building means to us." Rose begins with a little smile. "Any time you go up onto that roof, you're going to be getting a little reminder of our first date." She saunters up to Raven, wiggling her hips a little bit in the process. "Is that what you meant? Or did you have something else in mind?"

SSGTV

Abbi nods, though she still looks worried. "I guess, but... Good luck."

The leg guards take quite a chunk of the tokens she's got, but they're adjustable so they fit quite well. And so the keyholder leads Hana over to the gates, and beforehand there's a trolley with some weapons on it. No spears or polearms; there's a machete, a hand axe, a longsword with a broken blade so it's a shortsword, a delicate-looking rapier, a triple-flanged iron mace, a spiked morningstar, and a stone maul. Or she could go for a set of nunchuks, a dagger, or an assegai made from a short pole and a kitchen knife.

[SSGTV]

A proper bladed weapon looks like the best option to Hana; it won't rely too much on her being physically strong, but could certainly benefit from it, and in terms of usage, would be pretty close to her old stun baton. To that end, she chooses the machete; it's a little short, but it's very clearly still in okay condition and she's trained to use one (even if it has been a while).

[Earl of Purple]

Trust-Worthy Hotel

Trust's leg is severed by the blast, but it doesn't seem to stop the evil spirit; it slows him down, but he still moves forward- he's already figured out he doesn't need gravity; by pretending he still has the leg he can still walk on it. The punch also connects, the moment before it lands a grin breaking out on Trust's face. It hurts, as does the missing leg, but breathing hurt him for a very long time. He can still deal with pain, and reaches forward to try and thrust his fingers into Sandal's face, aiming to get them up his nose or down his throat. If he succeeds, he'll then push himself and try to possess Sandals, who is a far more desirable host than a receptionist chained to a desk in a burning building.

SSGTV

Now she's got her weapon, the door opens and Hana can walk out into the arena. It's a large one, as big as the first one where she faced the fox-man. Although this one has spikes mounted on the wall, and there's bloodstains splashed across the floor, walls, and spikes. A door opposite opens up, and there's a groan as her opponents emerge. The first is a slender, near-naked man, his greyish skin marred with a great many prior injuries, many of which should be bleeding- but aren't. He wears a pair of shorts and a single trainer, shambling awkwardly into the light. His blood-filled eyes alight on Hana, and the zombie shuffles forward. Following behind are a much older corpse, mummified by long exposure the elements, draped in a stained and torn hospital gown, twigs and leaves caught in its tangled sun-bleached hair. This one should be blind, its eyes missing, yet it groans and follows the first, stumbling awkwardly on bare feet worn- in places- to the bone. The final zombie is smaller than the first two, and fresher; a halfling, with dirty blonde hair, completely naked. Her feet and wrists are dripping old blood and skin, her head lolls too far backwards on a broken neck, with slight bruising on her chin, and five red dots mark her chest.

[Vahnavoi]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Trust's ghost... succeeds! The bandaged man's spirit is expelled and he takes his place. There's a brief moment of discontinuity and then Trust finds himself looking at the world through the bandaged man's eyes.

He gets to savor his triumph for a second or two before grim reality makes itself apparent. All the supernatural powers and reinforcements holding the man's body up departed with his spirit. Under the bandages is a burned, withered husk, and Trust's own spiritual injury comes back to haunt him when he realizes he can't feel one of his legs - and unlike his ghost form, this body is affected by gravity.

"Phineas, Phineas, Phineas", a hollow voice comes from behind him. "What did you think would happen?"

A swirl of crimson flame and smoke is coalescing into shape of a man in the middle of the lobby. The intensity of the manifestation is great enough that even people without gift of second sight can see it - such as the dying male receptionist or the screaming female one. Soon, the flames settle into a figure cloaked in black, with blazing red eyes. Its face is bone white - a closer look would reveal it's wearing some kind of a helmet, shaped like caricature of a human skull.

"Outside my body, I'm still a reaper. While you inside my body are a crippled spirit trying to limp away in a crippled body. Give up. There's been enough senseless violence for one day."

[Reinholdt]

[Coming Up]

Raven frowns with disappointment, eyes glancing away from Rose. "It means I know you've been lying to me," Raven says quietly. She was trying to give Rose one last chance to come clean.

"The company that owned this building has had it for the last fifteen months. I... I came here after my phone broke, figuring that I could contact you here somehow if you showed up or by talking to the right people. Instead I find out you've never had anything to do with this place and..." Raven trails off, one of her hands holding her other arm.

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

"Huh?" Bellana says as she heads in the direction of the angel statue. "I just thought the atmosphere was cool. Can you summon things too?! That's amazing," Bellana says in complete awe of Lumine's ritual prowess.

"Can you summon an angel then? A really sexy, really powerful one?"

[Searching for Truth]

"Well- of course I can. Why an angel though? Most prefer demons for all that kinky stuff, which the spirits of the dead can do too by the way. Just since they're dead don't mean they don't want to party." Lumine claims as her zombie helper starts making her way towards the cabinet in the angel statues chest. They unlock it with a key and starts to help themselves to various supplies inside. Likely things Ilpholin has never seen before as she's more used to demonic rituals.

[Ironsmith]

SSGTV

Now she's got her weapon, the door opens and Hana can walk out into the arena. It's a large one, as big as the first one where she faced the fox-man. Although this one has spikes mounted on the wall, and there's bloodstains splashed across the floor, walls, and spikes. A door opposite opens up, and there's a groan as her opponents emerge. The first is a slender, near-naked man, his greyish skin marred with a great many prior injuries, many of which should be bleeding- but aren't. He wears a pair of shorts and a single trainer, shambling awkwardly into the light. His blood-filled eyes alight on Hana, and the zombie shuffles forward. Following behind are a much older corpse, mummified by long exposure the elements, draped in a stained and torn hospital gown, twigs and leaves caught in its tangled sun-bleached hair. This one should be blind, its eyes missing, yet it groans and follows the first, stumbling awkwardly on bare feet worn- in places- to the bone. The final zombie is smaller than the first two, and fresher; a halfling, with dirty blonde hair, completely naked. Her feet and wrists are dripping old blood and skin, her head lolls too far backwards on a broken neck, with slight bruising on her chin, and five red dots mark her chest.

[SSGTV]

What the hell was she looking at?

Hana frowns as she slowly shuffles into the arena, machete in hand. She's heard if zombies, of course. GIN has even had limited success in creating them, if only in the sense of a highly-suggestible person with no will of their own. But taking a corpse and getting it to act on its own again, in a process distinct from actually reviving it, was a scientific impossibility.

Then again, so were a lot of things she's observed in the Nexus. She really should have seen this coming.

"...Well, [heck]." Hana mumbles, falling into a ready stance. "Come on, then. I'll see if I can make this quick."

[Coming Up]

Raven frowns with disappointment, eyes glancing away from Rose. "It means I know you've been lying to me," Raven says quietly. She was trying to give Rose one last chance to come clean.

"The company that owned this building has had it for the last fifteen months. I... I came here after my phone broke, figuring that I could contact you here somehow if you showed up or by talking to the right people. Instead I find out you've never had anything to do with this place and..." Raven trails off, one of her hands holding her other arm.

[Coming Up]

And there it is.

The worst seven words someone in Rose's position can hear.

"I know you've been lying to me."

And with them comes an honest-to-god dread in the pit of her stomach. Rose has officially broken Raven's trust. Fighting back when she attempted to zombify her is one thing; Raven should expect that Rose could and would defend herself if her life was threatened. But now she'd been caught actively lying to Raven, outside the context when she would really need to. Raven's probably internally auditing everything she said now. Was her sob story about her sister and niece also a lie? Her run-in with gangsters? Was she even who she said she was?

Since the answers to those questions were "yes", "yes", and "no", Rose could ill afford the extra scrutiny.

Which leaves her in a delicate position. If Raven spots the thread on any of those, she could unravel Rose's entire cover, and from there, find out who she really was and why she was really here.

Which on top of being lethal for Rose, would be just heartbreaking.

In short, she'd have to earn Raven's trust back, and quickly.

"...You're right. I did lie to you." Rose admits, looking down at the floor. "I... in the moment, I just wanted the date to go well, and to impress you, so I said..." She sniffles, running her finger under her eye. "...I said I owned the place, which was a lie. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..."

Then she sighs and shakes her head.

"You know what? No." She straightens and looks Raven in the eye. "If the truth's coming out, the whole truth's coming out. I'm not going to lie to you yet again by only confessing when I'm caught, to what I've been caught doing." Rose reaches into her pocket and pulls out a little leather-bound booklet that vaguely resembles a passport. "I... I'm telling you everything. No more secrets between us."

She flips open the booklet and hands it to Raven, so the nekomancer can see the badges in the front, backing up what she would say immediately after.

"Special agent Rose Marie Verdoyant, ARC, ex." Rose begins, before adding with a little sigh, "...and MERC, present."