Skyside 8: Base Violence and Unnecessary Change

[Ashen Lilies]

A bustling trade city famously situated atop a high-tech array of anti-gravity generators that give the flying city its name, Skyside has seen better days. Once a booming, futuristic metropolis with a strict legal system and formidable state-supported economy, the collapse of Skyside's monarchy has blown the city's political system into a state of literal anarchy. A plague of change and opportunity has infected the city at all levels, from the nobles and other persons of substance jockeying to to fill the political void left by the collapse of the old system, to new immigrants attracted by Skyside's new lack of taxes or restriction. The markets of Skyside's Tempest Row, once tightly regulated, are now open to all kinds of vice and debauchery unseen in the more stable cities of the Nexus, including a growing slave market.

While the forces of the remaining nobility and the presence of the Royal Guard generally stops widespread fighting in the streets before it gets too out of hand, violence on a smaller scale is still common, and people who cannot protect themselves (or hire others to protect them) are often beaten, killed or kidnapped to be used in experiments or sold into slavery for those with lower standards.

In general, visitors and residents of Skyside learn to stay on their toes pretty quickly. Even the safest and most affluent areas of Skyside are vulnerable to some amateur mad scientist's latest giant robot or genetic abomination running loose and causing havoc, or a temporal anomaly rolling through and causing a street full of people to suddenly age several weeks in the space of a few seconds. The city can be chaotic, and often times dangerous, but there is potential for great wealth here, if someone has a talent for spotting opportunity and grabbing it. Whether with their own hands or the remotely controlled mecha hands that they designed in their attic is highly dependent on the person, of course.

History

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Coming soon!

Factions

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With no ruler or central government in Skyside to maintain order and uphold the laws, political power in Skyside has broken down into dozens of individual political factions with differing goals and operations. Some seriously look to the palace, seeking to claim Skyside's throne and restore the city to its former position. Others are factions merely of convenience, providing certain protections and services in exchange for loyalty or money. Others may have their own goals entirely.

Any player can make any number of factions, with any form of political goal in competition with the other factions. Weaker factions might slip under the radar, but more powerful factions might be the target of other player based factions, who might seek to sabotage or undermine other factions in order to achieve an advantage. Of course, that's not to say that the target faction can't fight back...

Please remember to be courteous to other players though, and don't force conflict if it's clear that it's not wanted. On the other hand, please don't create a faction if your plan is to make them untouchable and stonewall everyone's attempts to try and interact with or compete with your faction. This is a collaborative thread, everyone have fun!

Please PM if you want a faction added to this OP.

House Sky (player: AshenLilies)

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Formerly the rulers of Skyside, the royal lineage is now held hostage within their own palace, barred from entering politics by the Royal Guard for their own safety. A king or queen of Skyside hasn't been crowned for almost a century, however the most recent and last remaining Skyside heir, Princess YoonJi, has been a little unusual in her seeming immunity to assassination plots. Countless attempts have been made on the life of the princess (scarcely into her teens) and yet all assassins have either been caught, died under mysterious circumstances, or been involved in sudden romances with palace servants, eventually settling down to become simple farmers.

Skyside Royal Guard (player: AshenLilies)

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The chief line of defense for the city and the crown, the Skyside Royal Guard remains a formidable fighting force, despite their reduced numbers and seeming lack of political involvement. The primary duty of the Skyside Royal Guard is to protect the Sky family, and as such they are rarely seen outside the immediate surroundings of the Sky Palace Tower, unless something happens in the city to attract their notice - or incur their wrath.

BrightStar Corporation (player: AshenLilies)

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An old company name dating from the monarchy days of Skyside, BrightStar Corporation seems to have taken full advantage of the chaos in Skyside to emerge as one of the largest corporate powers. Their flourishing in this new lawless environment has led to rumors of them actively working to maintain the status quo, including murdering promising Skyside heirs, or sabotaging any noble house or political force that looks like it may become too powerful and restore order back to the city.

Tempest Spaceport Commerce Guild (player: AshenLilies, in theory - though anyone is open to play a member of the guild)

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A small conglomerate of mostly Ferengi and Hutt partners that run the Tempest Spaceport. The Commerce Guild provides security to the spaceport and its immediate surroundings, as well as collects a light tax on spaceport business and trade, but are otherwise pretty chill dudes, and uninterested in wider Skyside politics.

City Defense

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Though effectively lawless, some semblance of peace in Skyside is maintained by both the private security forces of the various guilds and factions that operate within the city, as well as through the overwatch of the Syside Royal Guard, who protect the Sky Palace Tower and also the city as a whole from foreign invasion. Oeioke raising too much of a disturbance should expect to draw attention from any number of concerned parties, who may have an interest in keeping their business running smoothly, as tumultuous as the political situation may be.

As a whole city, Skyside's defenses against aerial and ground assault are dedicated and formidable. As uninvolved as they are in local politics, the Royal Guard has no desire to see Skyside fall to any foreign invasion or interference, and does not slack off in its duties when it comes to city defense, even if they are a total non-presence in Skyside's day-to-day order.

Zones

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Old Skyside/"The Raindrop District"

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The historic city nearest to Skyside's Sky Palace Tower, what's come to be known as the "Raindrop District" by newer generations of Skysiders is a place of incredible change.

The older estates, temples and monuments, abandoned by all but the most stubborn of Skyside's old order, are being demolished, replaced by new residential growth of various types, from the absolutely dismal to the actually-pretty-nice. Some of the more novel developments in housing include ad-sponsored houses, and other low-cost developments for moderate quality housing. In between the housing developments come all the small businesses you'd expect from Skyside's fastest-growing residential sector, including corner stores, fast food, laundromats, and all the other handy spots that let people get everything they need without having to travel far.

The Raindrop District is relatively safe by day, especially in the parts of the town still held on to by the old Skyside elites, nearer to the Palace Tower, but generally is more dangerous at night. Especially in the more ramshackle parts of the Raindrop District, the back alleys tend to be frequented by muggers and the like, and break-ins are very common during the day when the occupants are likely out working. The wise Raindrop District inhabitant keeps good locks and a trusty firearm close at hand, at the very least, and some shell out for more, opting to rely on protection from mercenary and security firms that provide added safety... for a price.

The Cloudtops

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The wealthiest and most glamorous section of Skyside, the Cloudtops form the new fortress of Skyside's new elites: an incredibly tall, shiny fortress, dominated by tall skyscrapers of glass and steel, covered in bright lights and connected by paved roads and elevated walkways galore.

The Cloudtops is home to Skyside's richest residents, and Skyside's biggest businesses and corporations. The Cloudtops is also Skyside's safest district, kept such by the forces of countless taskforces of well-equipped private security teams.

Tempest Row

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Depending on who you ask, Tempest Row is either a vibrant, colorful area full of exotic wares and noisy taverns where ale flows freely, and the barmaids are very accommodating; or a raging, screaming drunk who will drag you into a back alley, beat you over the head with a stick, and run off with your valuables. Or both at once.

Housing the main airship docks and largest spaceport zone, Tempest Row is the nickname for the bustling market and entertainment district of Skyside. With the constant traffic in and out of the city, Tempest Row is home to countless taverns, bars, clubs, and brothels of various sorts, providing boisterous and often debauched entertainment for Skyside's visitors.

With its large crowds and large numbers of shop guards, Tempest Row is relatively safe from violence, though the odd scientific anomaly or experiment-got-loose may amble through occasionally. Visitors in Tempest Row should instead keep a closer watch on their valuables rather than their safety, keeping a close eye out for the pickpockets, scam-artists, and cutpurses of various sorts walking through the crowds, looking for easy money; or the gangs of street toughs roaming the back alleys, waiting for someone too drunk to put up a good fight to stumble along.

Thunderhead

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The constant black smoke belching from the sprawling jumble of towering smokestacks and open smelting furnaces gives this area its name among the locals. Thunderhead is the main industrial area of Skyside, filled with factories, smelteries, warehouseries, and a whole array of other varied monuments to urban squalor. Everything from airship construction to weapons manufacture takes place here, and accidents can sometimes happen, especially with the more unscrupulous employers who care little about what happens to their factory workers, whether they be paid workers, slaves, robots or the mutated fishmen your mad scientist donor kindly granted you.

Thunderhead is among the most dangerous of the districts, with vicious gangs and supervillains hiding out in the mysteriously abandoned warehouses (seriously, Skyside is short on space, why are all there all these abandoned warehouses?), and gangs frequently forming among the poorest of Skyside's communities: the underpaid factory workers and industrial chattel that fill row upon row of unmaintained tenement housing and ruined apartments. Most good factories have guards to protect their workers (or keep them from escaping), but among the houses of the working poor, the streets can turn into a danger zone at any point, with very few people willing to stick around and bear witness.

Groundtown

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For those who couldn't get onto Skyside proper, one can always live in its shadow. While Skyside once was a mobile city, moving place to place for safety and resources, since its collapse it has remained stationary, allowing secondary development under and around the city. Located directly under and around the floating city, Groundtown is a small, but growing settlement of improvised buildings and pre-fab housing blocks, populated largely by Skyside's poorest and most unfortunate workers, poorer even than Thunderhead's inhabitants, commuting morning and evening to the city above by way of hanging basket-lifts and small flying skiffs.

Located outside even Skyside's limited bubble of security and order, and utterly ignored by the Royal Guard, Groundtown can be truly hellish at times. Fighting on the streets between warring gangs is an all too common sight, and even the heaviest of personal weaponry cannot always guarantee personal safety. Residents of Groundtown lock their valuables up tight and keep their gun under their pillow, and visitors should always keep their eyes peeled for thieves and muggers. What little safety can be had in Groundtown comes from the powerful gangs who do their best to control the disorder within their own territory, and the superpowered and/or costumed vigilantes who can be found patrolling nightly, unwilling to let Groundtown fall apart and be consumed by darkness.

Locations

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Please PM the thread creator with a description if you want a location added to this index!

Sky Palace Tower (Player: AshenLilies, Raindrop District)

BrightStar Spaceport (The Cloudtops)

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The second largest spaceport in Skyside, the shiny new BrightStar Spaceport, owned by BrightStar Corporation, is a chief connection between Skyside and the great final frontier. Frequent shuttles and cargo ships make trips between this spaceport and various space-stations close to the Nexus, including Salmagundi station, and there's talk of BrightStar Corporation expanding the spaceport to include a space elevator between the spaceport and Salmagundi station.

Tempest Spaceport (Tempest Row)

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Larger than BrightStar Spaceport, Tempest Spaceport is a little less well adapted for big business and heavy shipping, as Tempest Spaceport is not actually just one spaceport, but a loose connection of spaceports and associated businesses, all run by members of the Tempest Spaceport Commerce Guild. The Tempest Spaceport is a favorite stop for independent spacers and smaller shipping industries, being a cheaper, if less glamorous alternative to the BrightStar Spaceport in the Cloudtops.

Attila's Cantina (Player: Tempest Row)

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Located within the Tempest Spaceport complex, Attila's Cantina is a bar run by an enterprising Hutt named Attila, who caters mostly to the pilots, captains and crew of starships stopping at Skyside. A large variety of food and beverages can be found here, with a special emphasis on items resembling what can be found from Attila's home galaxy, making it especially popular among those who have been sucked into the Nexus from said galaxy. People who know to ask can purchase small quantities of rare Spice from Attila, and he has a wide variety of contacts among Tempest Row traders and dock keepers, making him a good source of information for people looking to know what's what in the area.

The Cantina is relatively clean and bright, though noisy with the constant chatter of alien species. The ubiquitous Bith space-jazz band plays on a raised stage to once side, along with Twi'lek dancers (free and well payed) and vocalists. A few heavily armed guards dot the edges, and Attila himself keeps his powerful blaster shotgun clearly visible above the bar (along with a larger, even more powerful blaster hidden under it) in order to dissuade troublemakers.

Atlas Park (The Cloudtops)

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Located in the midst of the Cloudtops, Atlas Park is a little bit of an anomaly within the urbanized city center. Atlas Park is covered by a transparent dome, keeping out any pollution from the city, while allowing the climate inside to be manipulated to a fine degree. Atlas Park is home to some very attractive landscaping, exotic plants, a small lake, and in general is just a very nice green space for people to relax away from the buildings and bustle of the rest of Skyside. A massive statue of the titan the park is named after stands proudly in the middle of the park, carrying aloft a sphere covered in stars and constellations on his shoulders in reference to the original myth. Oddly enough, though, anyone who manages to get a close look at his face might note an odd expression carved there, which, combined with the slightly odd tilt to his shoulders vaguely suggests an image of Atlas shrugging.

Entrance to Atlas Park requires payment of a moderate fee to keep the park running, though membership cards can be purchased to allow free access over a period of time.

Tinkertown (Thunderhead)

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A small sub-district located in between Thunderhead and the Raindrop District, Tinkertown is an odd district full of warehouses that have been mostly rented as labspace for the large cohort of mad scientists and visionaries who call Skyside home. As such, Tinkertown tends to be even more chaotic than Skyside at large, home to a wide variety of technicolored explosions, noxious gas outbreaks, and half-fish abominations wandering the streets, looking for their mummy. The non-Mad Scientist population of Skyside usually knows to stay well away from Tinkertown, though some find themselves drawn to the noise and excitement, or the glamorous (and occasionally lucrative) occupation of being some up-and-coming supervillain's henchman, hunchbacked assistant or attractive mistress.

Temple to Pazuzu (Player: Earl of Purple, Tempest Row)

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One of the buildings here, an overhanging pub with a novelty glass floor that quickly went out of business due to one short gunfight and a very long drop, has been taken over by a new group.

They've put up a sign outside depicting a red vulture with wings and talons outstretched superimposed on a silver cloud. Beneath that is a sign proclaiming this to be the Temple of Pazuzu, and on the other side is a list of the dates of various religious celebrations.

Outside, it still resembles the other taverns, being a three-storey building with a flat roof to dock smaller aircraft. Inside, there's an altar at the far end with a cage suspended over a hole in the floor next to it. There's a central aisle with rows of pews on either side, most suited for winged individuals.

OoC Notes and Rules

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1. For we are not Gods, merely Men. Godmodding is not permissible! As stated in the rules in the FFRP Central Thread,, godmodding is generally not allowed without permission. If you're shaky on what might be, and what might not be godmodding, please follow the above link.
2. An interior decorator is you! Remember the curtain! It is accepted that there will of course be some inter-PC relationships, and that romance and certain physical interactions (commonly known as sex) happen. However, please be courteous to others and curtain any scene that you wouldn't be willing to write with your parents watching. This is so you can stay within forum rules, as well as letting those uninterested in the scene pass by without having to glimpse your poorly written and anatomically impossible erotica. Thank you.
3. It's probably a Nemesis plot.
4. I can help them! “My character is an escaped slave who became a paladin and hates slavery! She's going to attack every slaver she sees and singlehandedly tear down Skyside's slave industry!” Since everything is legal in Skyside, it's inevitable that some less well-looked upon industries, such as slavery, will find a foothold there, which more morally upright characters may take affront to. However, always be mindful of the consequences of a random paladin trying to attack slavers in the streets, burn markets down or knock down doors and bash in heads. Even in a lawless city, slavery is still unpopular, and any slavers brave enough to be operating in the open are likely to have lots of guards to protect their interests. Also, Skyside does still have some factions interested in public order, as well as the Royal Guard, who will try to stop any fights that start spreading and disrupting safety and order in a large area. Someone who consistently acts very aggressive and randomly assaults people and property in the open is likely to find themselves in a lot of trouble, very quickly. Also, not everyone wants to have to constantly respond to every Joseph McHero and Sally Superwoman who wants to pick a fight with them. If you plan on having a character take action and take down a specific store or organization, please be courteous and ask the players involved if they're willing to RP it, and remember that there are more subtle ways to take down an industry than kicking them in the teeth.
5. Our words are backed by NUCLEAR WEAPONS. Remnant/Riverside/Orgs hunting down supervillains hiding out in Skyside: Go ahead. In general, it's perfectly alright to carry out retribution against any criminals trying to hide out in Skyside, as long as the force sent is relatively discrete or small scale enough to avoid notice from the powers-that-be. Large numbers of troops or powerful strike forces will generally draw negative attention from the Royal Guard, though, unless they have been informed of the operation beforehand and approve (though they probably won't). Gotta protect that independence, yo.
6. 3 EDGY 5 ME Please do your best to avoid excessively dark or disturbing roleplay. Skyside can be a den for cruelties and evil of all sorts, however, some situations are simply too dark for this forum. Try to avoid roleplaying or alluding to scenarios that could be disturbing or potentially triggering, even if it may be realistic or showcase how awful your character is.
7. Long Live the Queen! Princess YoonJi is immortal. Period. You can try to kill her and dismantle the Sky dynasty. You will fail.

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Thinking about roleplaying in the Nexus? Come say hi in our Discord!

[Ironsmith]

SSGTV

The lead zombie groans and shuffles forward, stumbling awkwardly and nearly twisting its ankle as their lone shoe slips on the floor. It doesn't stop it, or even slow it down much, and it raises its hands and rapidly approaches, jaw clacking up and down. The mummified corpse is slower, the desiccated muscles creaking as it also shuffles forward. The halfling's faster than the mummy, and is able to overtake, head lolling back on its broken neck. But the halfling's short legs prevent it from overtaking the first zombie, which is first to make contact, pushing at Hana with its weight as it bites at her. Hopefully Hana moved away from the wall, or this fight may end faster than anyone expects, as the first zombie pushes her onto the spikes.

[SSGTV]

Hana might never have encountered zombies before, but thankfully, their terrible balance is a glaring weakness she can exploit. When the first zombie lunges at her, she steps nimbly to one side, hooking her foot around its leg in an effort to get it to trip. If all goes well, it'll be the one to take a tumble into the spikes, which should take it out of the fight even if it doesn't kill it.

Beyond that, though, Hana's mostly taking a reactive approach to this fight. She could be in here for a while, she doesn't want to waste all her energy early on... especially since passing on the meals provided by the studio has left her without much of it.

[Coming Up]

Leaning against Bruce Almighty feels extremely gross to most people with normal sensibilities.

Rogue time travelers, terrorists, and an organization eating itself with its own misguided deeds. Sounds exciting. But Rose is quite correct that Raven lacks the context for all that. Doesn't mean she doesn't listen though.

Just how she listens to Rose's pitch. Raven admits that she likes the part where Rose is flattering her. But not much else. Raven Ebondark pulls her hand away from Rose's affectionate squeeze. "This isn't a show Rose." But... But Raven just... "I don't have a mustache. AND all power naturally belongs to me, being the Empress of Everything." Raven always thought that part was easy to understand. Then again, she tends to be wildly inconsistent at times. Except about being the Empress. There's nothing she's more consistent about! Maybe she needs a big flashing sign that lights up one letter at a time that some Mecha-zombies can hold behind her to remind people of that fact. Would that be helpful? It might be helpful. She's going to commission one of those.

"More importantly, we're not even remotely done talking about you. How could you even ask me to start considering us? That's unfair." Raven's always believed herself to be open and honest about who she is, so it's taking some time to process the double life of Rose Verdoyant. "For starters, you're a MERCenary? ... Was that 'ex-boyfriend' of yours one too? What about the car, was that also a MERC asset? Why did MERC need... no, if it needed a paint job you wouldn't have had to lie. I've not kicked over any of MERC's stuff. What do they want with me? ... How much of us was just a job to you?"

[Coming Up]

Rose sighs. Yeah, that last one was pretty much what she expected Raven to ask eventually. It's not an entirely unfair question, either... Rose did just reveal a major deception, it's only natural Raven would want to know how deep it goes.

"More than you'd like, less than you'd think." She says finally, a little cryptically. "Little things here and there, mostly. But if you were just a job to me I wouldn't have told you about it just now. As an infiltrator, the best course of action for me would've been to say nothing, so I could keep coming back again and again to get up-to-date information on your activities. Being unseen is sort of a prerequisite for that kind of work." Rose leans back against Bruce. "In telling you, I'm giving up on that mission. MERC won't have much choice but to pull me out and assign me elsewhere. If I ever see you again, it'll be on my own time and with my own resources, not MERC's. Why would I do that if I didn't care about you?"

She shuffles a little and puts a hand on the empress's shoulder. "As for the rest... well, at least those are simple answers. Yes, my 'ex' was a MERCenary, too. My handler for this mission, even. The cart... that was all me. I am... not a good mechanic, unlike a certain supergenius I know. Fortunately, I didn't need to be; I just needed an in. I could hardly have just walked in and been like 'hi miss Ebondark, could you tewll me all youw secwets pwease?'. Would've gone over like a lead balloon full of explosives." She sighs. "And as for what MERC wants with you... I don't know. I'm not even 100% certain MERC is at the end of the causality chain there; the whole business is predicated on acting on someone else's behalf, after all. And in any case, that's not nearly as important as the fact that they are interested in you. I might not be their idea of the cream of the crop, but the fact that they bothered to send anyone at all speaks volumes. If you get too aggressive now, they're to notice." She shakes her head slightly. "...That's what I was trying to warn you about, honestly."

[Earl of Purple]

Spoiler: Previously, at the Trust-Worthy Hotel

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[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Indeed, underneath the reaper man's jacket and bandages, there's a conspicuous empty space where his heart ought to be - something Trust would've noticed while searching for something to injure the man's body with. The man hoped such observation would dissuade Trust from, well, doing something like this. Alas, it's not his lucky day.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Phineas?", the skull-faced apparition begins, but then stops. He knows the look on Trust's face. This kind of malice is beyond reasoning with. He already gave Trust three chances to stop, that's enough. Still, he's not out of plays yet He could've wrestled his body back from Trust the moment it was possessed, he just didn't want to, as that would've risked injury to his body. But, if Trust is going to leave it to die out of his own accord, then the reaper doesn't need to use any force lf his own to expel him. His body does still bleed, so being stabbed means the reaper will have to work fast, but it's still easier to fix than some of the alternatives.

So, the apparation watches and waits for Trust to maim his mortal body. The moment Trust leaves his body and tries to flee, though, the reaper extends a finger and repeats some, by now familiar, words: "Path of Destruction: Crimson Flame Bullet!" Loud bangs ring through the air again as the reaper takes a series of shots at fleeing Trust - he keeps firing until there isn't enough left of Trust to possess a rat, or the former hotel-owner manages to escape his line of sight.

Then he walks next to his collapsed body and presses a palm against its wounded leg. "Path of Binding: Reinforcing Bandages!" The cloth already wrapped around his body begins to shift and change in texture, both stopping the bleeding and bracing the wounded ankle. There's more he could do to fix the damage, but that will have to wait - he's still in a burning building, after all. He takes a look around to check if the flames have already spread into the lobby and to see if the receptionist who was screaming prior is still alive.

The ghost screams as the blasts tear it apart, leaving a raggedy wisp fleeing the building. Really should have tried going through the floor, but alas. The best ideas always arrive too late.

The fire is in the restaurant area, and the bar is burning. Occasionally, a bottle of alcohol that hasn't been rescued explodes, spreading more fire. The lobby itself is filling up with smoke, and the floor is a little hot, and over there the carpet is starting to blacken and scorch, but there's no open flames here yet. The half-drow still has bound hands, but she has now stood up, holding the scalpel and a broken hairpin. The female receptionist has also stood up, and is glancing nervously at the man she's just seen speaking to nobody and stab himself in the leg, before wrapping the injury. The male receptionist is still breathing, but he's slumped back, blood is leaking from his mouth, and he's still shackled to the desk. The crude lockpick the half-drow was using has broken.

SSGTV

There's a crack as the zombie's leg, weakened by repeated stumbles and death, breaks when Hana trips it. It falls over, impaling itself on the spikes around the wall; it continues to struggle, but can't manage to free itself.

The halfling is approaching next, the freshest of the three. It doesn't stumble as much, and whilst its head lolls backwards it still reaches out with bloody fingernails. It doesn't see where Hana is, so its fingers will mostly likely scratch along her greaves rather than her legs or belly- unless Hana can hit it first.

[Vahnavoi]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

The reaper leaves his body alone for a moment longer and strides to the desk. Even if the people there still fail to see his spectral form, they almost certainly can see when the anchor points of their shackles are suddenly and violently torn off the desk, along with sizeable chunks of the desk. "Move!", the apparition commands the half-drow and the woman, with force and volume of a large bear growling at them. He then grabs the dying male receptionist and drags him halfway through the lobby, to where his body lies. There, the apparition turns back into a swirl of flame and dives back into his mortal shell. The bandaged man gasps and shakes as the flame fills him, before suddenly wrenching himself into a sitting position. Groggily, he looks at the other man, painstakingly crawling into a kneeling position and slapping him across the cheeks.

"Hey. Hey! You still there? I kinda sorta need you to decide if you're going to die now or later! 'Cause I will have to haul your ass through one door or another, and I'm hoping your ghost is lighter!"

[Ironsmith]

SSGTV

There's a crack as the zombie's leg, weakened by repeated stumbles and death, breaks when Hana trips it. It falls over, impaling itself on the spikes around the wall; it continues to struggle, but can't manage to free itself.

The halfling is approaching next, the freshest of the three. It doesn't stumble as much, and whilst its head lolls backwards it still reaches out with bloody fingernails. It doesn't see where Hana is, so its fingers will mostly likely scratch along her greaves rather than her legs or belly- unless Hana can hit it first.

[SSGTV]

For what will probably not be the last time, Hana is silently grateful she went with the greaves. It doesn't seem likely those scratches would do much, but if the zombie could roll her head forward enough to bite, that might cause problems.

As it is, Hana can just step aside and bring her machete down on the zombie's exposed neck, looking to chop its head off. Surely that would still kill it dead, right?

[Earl of Purple]

Trust-Worthy Hotel

The chains can't resist being pulled from the wall, and now the two women limp quickly towards the exit. They can't quite run, but they're giving it a good attempt.

The male receptionist grunts when slapped, and opens his eyes. He spits out more blood and stands. There's a tooth with the blood; whatever Trust was doing, he wanted to cause pain, not death. He's a bit groggy, and doesn't know much of what's going on, but he stands up... and nearly falls over.

SSGTV

The machete swings easily into the neck, crunching through skin, muscle, cartilage and bone. There's a trickle of clotted blood, and the body falls over. The halfling's head bounces free, and glares at Hana with orange eyes and continues trying to bite.

The mummy is the last zombie standing, reaching out for Hana with desiccated fingers ending in broken nails, shredded flesh and pointed bone. It doesn't want to scratch her, though; it wants to grab her and hold her still as it gets is mouth in close to bite with its broken teeth, though eating Hana seems unlikely. The tongue is missing, as are a lot of flesh from the cheeks and some from the neck.

[Reinholdt]

[Searching for Truth]

Ilpholin spends the time bouncing on her heels slightly, keeping her body in gentle motion as she tries to take mental notes of the things being pulled out for the angel summoning ritual.

"Well yeah, but everyone can summon the dead or demons. I've never seen an angel summoned before. I want to know what it's like," Bellana claims. Everyone might be an exaggeration but it is a lot more common certainly.

[Coming Up]

"Perhaps..." Rose spins a wishful tale that'd be oh so easy to just agree to because it's what Raven wants. But they're just words. Raven couldn't be sure that Rose would really do what she says and withdraw from her mission at MERC. She's not sure how she could ever be sure about that again. Well... there was one way, but there's no point in retreading old ground.

Raven cheers up a little as Rose points out the obvious which had eluded Raven thus far. "Hey, you're right! They are starting to notice me." She gives half of an evil laugh, though it's still a bit forced. "That's wonderful. I definitely should get more aggressive then, until the whole world sees me as I truly am." Raven forces herself away from Bruce and onto her feet. "Well... maybe not aggressive per say. Definitely need to finish refining this." The Empress pats Bruce Almighty lovingly. "And while I do, buying everything I can until the market crashes and inflation skyrockets. Plus I want this building to look nice and spiffy and shiny black before some heroes inevitably shows up to crash the place. Or... maybe I can get some Superman/Lex-Luthor thing going on where the heroes just vaguely threaten me but can't actually touch me here. Hmm... nah. Shame no Nexus hero actually follows any laws. That'd be nice."

After a moment of hesitation, she offers a hand to Rose to help her up if she wants. "Was there anything else you needed to tell me? Anything else I should know?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

"Oh, you've never even seen an angel b-b-being sum-summoned before? We-well-" Lumine can barely speak with the dancer bouncing around so much and eventually decides to pop out of her cleavage.

Meanwhile, the zombie is bringing out what appears to be candles, a remote of all things and finally various holy symbols. These holy symbols are probably more esoteric than the ones Ilpholin is used to but still recognizable as such to her considering her demon hunting experience.

But as the undead starts getting out what seems to be a small golden pyramid the pixie stops her. "Whoa, we're not going to need that. I'm going to do a Lumine-special."

Doing as she's told, the zombie walks over to the circle and gently puts down the candles and holy symbols which it has gathered on a small black table which seems to have been carved out from the same block of marble as the floor underneath it. Then she starts to set up the candles into holders within the floor.

Lumine then turns to Ilpholin once more, her moth-like wings fluttering gracefully in the air as she draws closer. "Say, Belana? You know anything about summoning?" This up close its clear that Lumine favors a hair color so black that it has to be dyed. She's also using quite a degree of black eyeliner, lipstick and even her bathing-suit, all the same color.

"Since usually it requires you to do crap like sacrificing blood, have good intentions or make pacts to summon beings like demons, angels and spirits. But this is the nexus and you could just find one of them working at the closest fastfood joint. So why bother going for other planes when you can find them all right here?"

Lumine flutters over to the summoning circle. "Which is why I'm introducing the Lumine-method!" She claps her hands excitedly. "Instead of pulling beings from other realms this one simply pulls the closest one- well, within certain parameters. When I first did this it just summoned one of Telly's own demons, which already were in the room with us." That had been awkward. "But this new improved version lets me pull any being I specify from a set distance away from the circle. Clever, huh?" The pixie smiles widely, clearly waiting to be showered with compliments.

"It also requires a lot less effort in addition to no blood and stuff being needed." The pixie gestures at her zombie. "See? Even a zombie can perform it!"

The zombie has indeed managed to put down and lit all the candles and have placed one of the holy symbols in the middle of the circle. "The centerpiece there is my custom-symbol. It has all the specifications I want carved into it. Making it feel as smooth as technology rather than old-stuffy magic. Heck, I would have replaced the candles long ago if Telly wasn't such a romantic." She giggles to herself as the zombie walks out of the circle and then presses a button on the remote. This causes chanting to start, apparently coming from speakers which have been hidden somewhere inside the room.

As the chanting starts, the circle starts to glow. "Just look! It's revolutionary! What would normally require sacrifices, take hours of preparation and some dumb cult of people have taken minutes! I'm a genius!"

[Ironsmith]

SSGTV

The machete swings easily into the neck, crunching through skin, muscle, cartilage and bone. There's a trickle of clotted blood, and the body falls over. The halfling's head bounces free, and glares at Hana with orange eyes and continues trying to bite.

The mummy is the last zombie standing, reaching out for Hana with desiccated fingers ending in broken nails, shredded flesh and pointed bone. It doesn't want to scratch her, though; it wants to grab her and hold her still as it gets is mouth in close to bite with its broken teeth, though eating Hana seems unlikely. The tongue is missing, as are a lot of flesh from the cheeks and some from the neck.

[SSGTV]

So the bodies can't act independent of the heads. That's... well, that'll be good to know in future encounters. The odds of it being particularly relevant to this one are rapidly diminishing. Especially since this last zombie(?) has left its neck so negligently exposed. All it would take would be a quick swing from Hana's machete to remove the creature's jaw, since it's being held on by little more than a set of decaying tendons. At least, that's her assesment of the situation. If it can't bite her, it isn't much of a threat.

[Coming Up]

"Perhaps..." Rose spins a wishful tale that'd be oh so easy to just agree to because it's what Raven wants. But they're just words. Raven couldn't be sure that Rose would really do what she says and withdraw from her mission at MERC. She's not sure how she could ever be sure about that again. Well... there was one way, but there's no point in retreading old ground.

Raven cheers up a little as Rose points out the obvious which had eluded Raven thus far. "Hey, you're right! They are starting to notice me." She gives half of an evil laugh, though it's still a bit forced. "That's wonderful. I definitely should get more aggressive then, until the whole world sees me as I truly am." Raven forces herself away from Bruce and onto her feet. "Well... maybe not aggressive per say. Definitely need to finish refining this." The Empress pats Bruce Almighty lovingly. "And while I do, buying everything I can until the market crashes and inflation skyrockets. Plus I want this building to look nice and spiffy and shiny black before some heroes inevitably shows up to crash the place. Or... maybe I can get some Superman/Lex-Luthor thing going on where the heroes just vaguely threaten me but can't actually touch me here. Hmm... nah. Shame no Nexus hero actually follows any laws. That'd be nice."

After a moment of hesitation, she offers a hand to Rose to help her up if she wants. "Was there anything else you needed to tell me? Anything else I should know?"

[Coming Up]

Of course Raven would take that as good news. Rose told her exactly what she wanted to hear, only not on purpose this time. But... maybe that was a good idea anyway. If she could provoke Raven into lashing out prematurely, into making a strategic mistake that would lead to her capture-

No, she can't do that. She just told Raven she's been manipulating her from the day they met, she'll be on the lookout for such things. Maybe honest advice would suit her purposes better. Once they'd patched things up to the appropriate degree, of course.

Rose takes Raven's hand and gives her a coy little smile. "Well, nothing on that scale, no. Pretty much everything else I'd have to say boils down to the implications." She pulls herself up and gauges Raven for a hug. "...Are we still good? Or... um..." She rubs at the back of her neck nervously. "You know what I mean. We still have a relationship, right?"

It's a fair question. Raven may or may not be among the people who would consider that a deal-breaker. But then, Raven seemed kind of hooked on the idea of Rose being devoted... which she played into by confessing as readily as she did. At a minimum, she expected Raven would need time to process this, and might lash out in the process...

So she's got her finger on the pepper spray trigger, just in case.

[Earl of Purple]

SSGTV

The zombie is separated from its lower jaw, which falls and thunks against the floor and sheds some teeth as it does. This doesn't stop the mummified corpse, which continues to advance and tries to grab Hana and push her. It'll also try biting her, but with no lower jaw this part is doomed to failure. It does still lack eyes, so Hana could possibly avoid it and either kill it with a blow to the skull or push it onto the spiked wall or just away from her.

The gate the three zombies entered from, however, begins to open. The slavers have decided this is the end of round one, and it's now time for round two.

[Reinholdt]

[Searching for Truth]

Bellana watches all of this with fascination, much of it genuine. Though she does try to subtly motion for Anika to go get ahold of that supposedly unneeded golden pyramid. Whether Anika understands emphatic pointing of a finger behind the esoteric dancer's smooth, sensual back is a gamble to be sure. Bellana certainly doesn't press the issue past that quick gesture.

Bellana's eyes have to focus in on Lumine when she flies up close and asks her about summoning. "Umm... you need to know a dead language to do it?" Bellana answers quickly, having little practical knowledge on summoning. Apparently her knowledge starts and stops with 'It's cool'. Fortunately Lumine seems inclined to fill them in on some of the details anyways.

Which causes a knot in Bellana's stomach to form a little. This little necromancer was going to summon an angel from within the Nexus? Most of those are useless! They're all deeply attached to whatever weird demon buddy cop comedy routine they've already established. They almost certainly aren't going around smiting demons cause Ilpholin would have heard about them by now if they were.

Ugh. And she can't just stop the ritual from happening at this point. "That's very clever Lumie! Silly zombie, don't perform summons, you'll get smoted." Bellana's already given the pixie a pet name as she clasps her hands together excitedly, squeezing them just a little too hard to disguise the growing frustration and anger under a pile of bubbly happiness.

"Oh... that's right. We won't be smote, right? Like if they angel gets mad cause you interrupted their nap or something?" Bellana asks Lumine. "I know you're a genius and all, but it took forever to do my hair today and I don't want to get it ruined. Are we safe?"

[Coming Up]

"Yeah ok. We're good," Raven says, her voice upbeat, as if the entire conversation hadn't just taken place. She'll give Rose that hug she's clearly been eying Raven for, completing the emotional whiplash with some affection. It almost seems too quick, but Raven makes no attempt to scalpel Rose into a better afterlife and no mecha-zombies show up to try and pin Rose down. There are no demands that Rose follow through with her MERC mission severance plan or to never lie again or to make a big romantic gesture. No devious scheme lay behind that hug, seeking to play the spy against her organization. It was just... acceptance in a way that was raw and unconditional.

It was all rather strange, but then Raven was an unusual bird to be sure.

"So for this room, I was thinking lasers and chainsaws. Or chainsaws made of lasers. No wait, chainsaws that shoot lasers. Ooooh, better: Lasers that shoot chainsaws! Yeah, that'll be perfect. What do you think? Four ceiling turrets and a surprise wall one when you round the corner? I can't have them all shooting at the elevator. Gotta give them time to get off. Elevators are annoying to replace." Raven asks Rose her opinion on interior decorating as the evil empress looks around the blank floor and imagines an evil empire.

[Murkus]

[Searching for Truth]

All of a sudden, there's a slender woman of no particular height in the middle of the circle. She's dressed in a frilly blue see-through nightgown. Her skin is silvery metal, her hair a tumble of shiny golden braids. Two majestic metallic wings curl at her back.

She puts her hands on her hips and gives all present a skeptical look. Particularly Anika, but she doesn't call out the elf specifically yet.

"Okay, somebody has some 'splainin to do."

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

"We're fine, the circle- oh wait, here it comes!"

Lumine looks excitedly at the center of the circle and then-

"Aw, crap. Its a dud." She gestures for her zombie servant. "Notebook please."
Dutifully the zombie reaches for what seems to be a black clip that's hanging off a breast pocket in her poloshirt but what is actually a pixie-sized notebook.
"Right." She flies up near the edge of the circle and gives Tina a critical look. "So this is how this is going to work. I'm gonna ask you a couple of questions and then I'm gonna send you back to..." She looks at Tina up and down. "Frill heaven I guess. Since I think neither of us want to repeat this happening, yeah?"

Meanwhile, the saber walks up to the cabin from where the zombie brought out the summoning supplies and... stops in front of the pyramid once it seems to realize it didn't have hands which to open the cabin with.

Hmm...

The saber looks at the two mercenaries who seem quite preoccupied staring at Tina and then starts to bite the knob in an attempt to turn it. That might take a little while.

[Ironsmith]

SSGTV

The zombie is separated from its lower jaw, which falls and thunks against the floor and sheds some teeth as it does. This doesn't stop the mummified corpse, which continues to advance and tries to grab Hana and push her. It'll also try biting her, but with no lower jaw this part is doomed to failure. It does still lack eyes, so Hana could possibly avoid it and either kill it with a blow to the skull or push it onto the spiked wall or just away from her.

The gate the three zombies entered from, however, begins to open. The slavers have decided this is the end of round one, and it's now time for round two.

[SSGTV]

Unfortunately, this is when the first wave of fatigue hits Hana, and her knees buckle as the jawless zombie tackles her. She lets out a cry of surprise when the creature tries to bite her, but without its jaw it's not going to break the skin.

She recovers quickly enough, though. With a groan of effort, she rolls and tries to shove the zombie off onto the spikes, so she's clear of the hostile corpse before wave two comes out. At least, she hopes she can.

[Coming Up]

"Yeah ok. We're good," Raven says, her voice upbeat, as if the entire conversation hadn't just taken place. She'll give Rose that hug she's clearly been eying Raven for, completing the emotional whiplash with some affection. It almost seems too quick, but Raven makes no attempt to scalpel Rose into a better afterlife and no mecha-zombies show up to try and pin Rose down. There are no demands that Rose follow through with her MERC mission severance plan or to never lie again or to make a big romantic gesture. No devious scheme lay behind that hug, seeking to play the spy against her organization. It was just... acceptance in a way that was raw and unconditional.

It was all rather strange, but then Raven was an unusual bird to be sure.

"So for this room, I was thinking lasers and chainsaws. Or chainsaws made of lasers. No wait, chainsaws that shoot lasers. Ooooh, better: Lasers that shoot chainsaws! Yeah, that'll be perfect. What do you think? Four ceiling turrets and a surprise wall one when you round the corner? I can't have them all shooting at the elevator. Gotta give them time to get off. Elevators are annoying to replace." Raven asks Rose her opinion on interior decorating as the evil empress looks around the blank floor and imagines an evil empire.

[Coming Up]

Is...

Is she for real?

Rose gives Raven a reassuring little pat on the back as they hug, briefly puzzled at Raven's... almost non-reaction, really. Rose could sort of understand it if she were dealing with another agent, ARC or GIN alike; tricking, abducting, attacking, and even trying to kill each other was part of the job, and it's understood among these professionals that hostile interactions are pretty much never personal. But Raven wasn't-

Well, actually, now that she thinks about it, maybe Raven does see it the same way. She's a self-proclaimed supervillain, after all. And Rose was just doing her job, even if she was emotionally manipulating Raven to do it. The situation really isn't that far removed from what she's used to.

Huh.

...It's also still possible that Raven's just trying to lull Rose into a false sense of security before actually retaliating. It might be a good idea to keep on her toes regardless. And maybe to test the waters a little bit to see if they stand where Raven says they stand.

"...Well, I have to give you points for style." Rose smirks as Raven describes her vision for the room. "But... I dunno, that sounds vaguely wasteful to me. I mean, your whole brand up to this point has been built on using zombies. That gives you a need for corpses. You're going to have people breaking into here, in turn providing corpses. It seems a shame to take them apart in a way that makes it difficult to stitch them back together again. Maybe you could pump the room full of poisonous gas or something?" She offers.

[Reinholdt]

[Searching for Truth]

Well Tina is hardly an imposing presence, but at least she looks durable. Which... might be enough? Screw it, even if the best they do is wreck this summoning circle, that's still something of a win. Ilpholin just hopes Tina can actually fight despite appearances.

While the others are distracted with the appearance of the angel and interrogating her, Bellana shifts over to the edge of the circle supposedly binding the angel in place and preventing her from leaving to beat up her summoners. It is mighty noisy when Bellana makes a wild swing, her hand becoming a biting purple axe that slams into the floor, looking to cut right into the stone. To break the floor and smash the seal holding Tina.

"This pixie summoned you for dark perversions at the behest of her evil mistress who regularly summons demons and angels, using the former and capturing the latter. I'm here to kill the demons and rescue your kin," Bellana explains rather rapidly, as she's expecting a fight and needs to get Tina up to speed quickly.

[Coming Up]

"Rrrnnngghhh, but... chainsaw firing lasers!" Raven pouts. "Ugh, you're right," the supervillainess concedes. Cool isn't always practical.

"I better go with a slow acting poison though. Gotta give them a chance or it's not any fun. Maybe... something heavy that fills in the room from the bottom then." Raven's tail twitches a little as she considers the possibilities. Probably going to have to outsource that one. She doesn't deal too much in poisons, but it shouldn't be very hard to buy death trap gas in bulk.

...

She's installing a chainsaw firing laser somewhere in this building though, no matter how impractical and off brand it might seem. Probably her office.

[Ironsmith]

[Coming Up]

"Rrrnnngghhh, but... chainsaw firing lasers!" Raven pouts. "Ugh, you're right," the supervillainess concedes. Cool isn't always practical.

"I better go with a slow acting poison though. Gotta give them a chance or it's not any fun. Maybe... something heavy that fills in the room from the bottom then." Raven's tail twitches a little as she considers the possibilities. Probably going to have to outsource that one. She doesn't deal too much in poisons, but it shouldn't be very hard to buy death trap gas in bulk.

...

She's installing a chainsaw firing laser somewhere in this building though, no matter how impractical and off brand it might seem. Probably her office.

[Coming Up]

"Hey, no reason why you couldn't carry around a small one for personal use." Rose smiles and gives a little shrug. "Then you get the benefit of actually seeing it in action, too."

Although it'd probably get pretty tiresome to carry around after a while. And Raven would probably have to waste a lot of R&D to create such a device in the first place, then to miniaturize it enough to carry around without snapping her back in half... but then, it's not like she doesn't have the resources at this point. And everyone needs a hobby.

Rose smiles and hugs Raven around the shoulders. "Ooh, and maybe you could still do guns anyway! Just picture it; your hero walks in, there's turrets everywhere, bullets start coming at them from every angle... and then they smell the gas and realize they're on a time limit. The turrets cut them off from the elevator, so they can't do the sensible thing and back off. They can't methodically take out the guns, the gas will get them if they stay still too long. That's the sort of dilemma that makes sure they're not getting out of here without doing something really cool first. Or, you know, dying unceremoniously and giving you a free corpse to play with."

Hey, Rose might not be a supervillain herself, but she's slept with enough to see some pretty great lair setups.

[Murkus]

[Searching for Truth]

"What? No! Get away little bug... thing!" Fettina shoos the pixie with her lip curled in disgust. Oh, it was a little person. Well that was just strange. She looks around and spies Anika in her saber form. "Hey-- hey! Anika? Is that you? Get over here and explain what's going on! Right now!"

Then Bellana goes and explains everything anyways. Tina had been sure Anika must be responsible. And Bellana breaks the circle! Fettina didn't even realize she was being bound by that, but she'd probably appreciate it if she did. "Oh, okay," says Tina, as if she were satisfied. "Well, nobody gets to any dark perversions without buying me a drink first, and I'm not a fan of people who enslave angels, so... whatever. I gotta tell you, though, my kin are a looong way from here. I sorta got my wings in a special case."

"I don't know a lot about killing things, but demons are kinda super bad, right?" the angel asks. "Who's this mistress of theirs?"

[Earl of Purple]

SSGTV

The desiccated corpse is surprisingly light; water is heavy, and this one has withered and dried out, losing most of its fluid. The dead corpse hits the spikes just right, one passing through its weak and papery skull; it stops twitching entirely, unlike the first zombie. That one is still moving, head pointed towards Hana and arm reaching.

The next wave is bigger than the last; over twice the size, in fact. The first two are ragged, mummified things- not as bad as the jawless corpse Hana just beat, but nearly so. One wears a tattered and bloodstained orange jumpsuit, the other a blue shirt and torn trousers, also bloodstained, an empty holster hanging at its belt. They're both wearing handcuffs, the orange-clad zombie's right hand tethered to the blue one's left. They still have their blood-filled eyes, and they reach out and stumble closer. Behind them, there's another rather fresh zombie, a young woman wearing an ill-fitting black one-piece swimming costume, with large pieces cut out of the belly, sides and back. Her hair is plastered to her head by white paint dumped over her head, dripping down onto her face, shoulders and costume, and she's wearing a hairband with mouse ears. A length of rope tied about her waist drags on the floor, mimicking a tail. The fourth zombie is the biggest; a powerfully built man wearing a plastic hardhat and a ripped hi-vis vest and jeans; somebody's tried to take him down before, a row of large builder's nails sunk into his chest, pinning the hi-vis jacket to his body. He's reasonably fresh. He's followed shortly after by the fifth zombie, a young woman wearing an adult bunny costume; she staggers awkwardly in high stiletto heels; one of her ankles is clearly broken, and she's very slow as a result, though she's also got fresh blood around her mouth, chewing on a hunk of flesh. The sixth zombie was a keyholder very recently; he's naked, his dusky skin spattered in blood, and his throat has been ripped open, gore dripping down his chest. The final zombie is easy to miss. A long-dead corpse, coated in dust and sand, dragging itself forward with its hands. It is missing most of its lower torso; the pelvis is visible, the right leg entirely gone and the left missing below the knee. Despite this, it moves quite vigorously; it manages to outpace the playboy bunny, snapping its jaw with great enthusiasm- something it has done a lot, as most of its teeth have shattered, leaving only sharp remnants of jagged enamel in its mouth.

The prisoner and police officer are approaching fastest, behind them the keyholder, then the Abbi-lookalike, then the dragger, then the builder, and finally the bunnygirl.

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

Lumine's right eye twitches as Tina accuses her of being a bug.

But then a lot of things happen at once. The bimbo angel calls the big cat 'Anika', a name that she vaguely recalled from somewhere. Then Bellana starts acting completely out of character and- oh no!

She lets out a loud gasp.

The circle!

Bellana had secretly been a normie all this time!
She had destroyed the circle and now she was gonna do dumb things to her!

Well, thankfully there were security protocols within the chamber and she had learned something from the Riverside disaster.

"...what the hell, Bellana?! I though you were cool. You just gave up everything for some bimbo angel. Now you're going to get ****** by the security measures! So bye and smell ya' later!" And in a poof the pixie suddenly disappears in a cloud of magical dust.

She actually turned invisible but they don't know that. She's just going to get out of the way while those morons were getting ******.

Speaking of which...

Once Bellana broke the circle there was an audible click from the doors and the two cabinets and a voice that Tina will recognize as none other than Tellysandra's can be heard all through the summoning chamber. She sounds fairly bored.

"Someone just disturbed my circle and it isn't going to be me dying for it. Unless you're supposed to be here or are the future klutzy me in which case you know what to do~"

Judging by the two mercenaries reaction to all this, which is running for the door, they're not supposed to be here.

Then another voice can be heard as all the lights within the room starts to darken. "Someone's been naughty~" Which is then followed by a girlish giggle. "Oh and is that an angel of chastity? I just love those!"

There is no apparent source of the voice but it might be those speakers that Lumine was using earlier. Too bad she took the remote with her when she went poof.
Tina and Ilpholin can no doubt sense a demonic presence in the room now however. This one might be particularly revolting to Tina as its polar opposite of her supposed virtue.

Anika's reaction to all this is stopping attempting to open the cabinet and turn to look at Tina with her best 'surprised saber' expression.

[Reinholdt]

[Coming Up]

"Ehhh... they're better turrets than personal weapons." Raven says, flourishing her umbrella, spinning it once. "Besides, I'm spoken for on that front." She modifies her umbrella a lot. Maybe she'll add a chainsaw firing function to it at some point.

Raven nods enthusiastically at Rose's suggestions though. "You've put a lot of thought into this. You sure you're not angling to become a villain yourself? We could get something really twisted and hot going if you're going bad on me~" Raven chews on lower lip imagining the scenarios. It wasn't the typical hero/villain romance to be sure. "Well at the very least, do you want to design your own floor? We have three I haven't even started messing with. Full creative freedom." Everyone always promises full creative freedom, but it almost never turns out to be true. Rose still has to create something super evil after all.

[Searching for Truth]

"A warlock named Tellysandra, embedded in Skyside, floating city of sin." Bellana says, eyes darting around, becoming more mechanical as they start filtering for heat. Seeking the source of the voice. Trying not to feel extremely underwhelmed by this angel who just said she isn't good at killing demons. Hopefully the angel turns out to be at least decent at being a meat shield and won't drag Ilpholin and Anika down.

Unfortunately for Lumine, it'll take a lot more to get past Ilpholin's senses, carefully honed in the deep Underdark. Learning how to fight blind was one she trained extensively for and even the light fluttering and subtle shift of air pressure that marks the pixie's presence stands out to Ilpholin. As may be evidenced by how her hand darts out and attempts to snatch the pixie right out of the air and squeeze Lumine painfully tight. "Didn't you say you wanted to have fun? You're in this with us now."

Other than that, she stays relatively still, bracing herself for what's to come rather than seeking to escape it.

[Murkus]

[Searching for Truth]

"Tellysandra?" Fettina sputters, both in response to Bellana and the overhead comm. Anyone paying attention will be able to see Fettina's face contort with rage. Dark, hot color flows beneath her cheeks like veins of molten earth.

She mostly ignores the spooky demon voice from the speakers. Not a problem until someone shows a face she can punch. So instead she stomps over to the cabinet Anika's trying to get into and simply thrusts her fist into the front of it, wherever the lock probably should be. She is stronger than an ordinary human, but more importantly her metal hands are effective bludgeons for simply smashing things. Clearly Anika needs to get in there for some important reason. Better help.

Also, with that out of the way, she can glower at the big cat. "Anika. Change back and tell me what you and the belly-dancer are doing here right now. I know you can understand me! Don't give me the dumb cat look!"

[Ironsmith]

SSGTV

The desiccated corpse is surprisingly light; water is heavy, and this one has withered and dried out, losing most of its fluid. The dead corpse hits the spikes just right, one passing through its weak and papery skull; it stops twitching entirely, unlike the first zombie. That one is still moving, head pointed towards Hana and arm reaching.

The next wave is bigger than the last; over twice the size, in fact. The first two are ragged, mummified things- not as bad as the jawless corpse Hana just beat, but nearly so. One wears a tattered and bloodstained orange jumpsuit, the other a blue shirt and torn trousers, also bloodstained, an empty holster hanging at its belt. They're both wearing handcuffs, the orange-clad zombie's right hand tethered to the blue one's left. They still have their blood-filled eyes, and they reach out and stumble closer. Behind them, there's another rather fresh zombie, a young woman wearing an ill-fitting black one-piece swimming costume, with large pieces cut out of the belly, sides and back. Her hair is plastered to her head by white paint dumped over her head, dripping down onto her face, shoulders and costume, and she's wearing a hairband with mouse ears. A length of rope tied about her waist drags on the floor, mimicking a tail. The fourth zombie is the biggest; a powerfully built man wearing a plastic hardhat and a ripped hi-vis vest and jeans; somebody's tried to take him down before, a row of large builder's nails sunk into his chest, pinning the hi-vis jacket to his body. He's reasonably fresh. He's followed shortly after by the fifth zombie, a young woman wearing an adult bunny costume; she staggers awkwardly in high stiletto heels; one of her ankles is clearly broken, and she's very slow as a result, though she's also got fresh blood around her mouth, chewing on a hunk of flesh. The sixth zombie was a keyholder very recently; he's naked, his dusky skin spattered in blood, and his throat has been ripped open, gore dripping down his chest. The final zombie is easy to miss. A long-dead corpse, coated in dust and sand, dragging itself forward with its hands. It is missing most of its lower torso; the pelvis is visible, the right leg entirely gone and the left missing below the knee. Despite this, it moves quite vigorously; it manages to outpace the playboy bunny, snapping its jaw with great enthusiasm- something it has done a lot, as most of its teeth have shattered, leaving only sharp remnants of jagged enamel in its mouth.

The prisoner and police officer are approaching fastest, behind them the keyholder, then the Abbi-lookalike, then the dragger, then the builder, and finally the bunnygirl.

[SSGTV]

Hana was hoping to have gotten her second wind by now, but self-inflicted malnutrition is coming back to bite at her hard. Almost in a literal sense, given these zombies' preferred method of attack. Between that, and their numbers advantage, it's more important now than ever that she approach this with a good strategy. First, she's going to back away slowly, to make that distance count as much as possible; the zombies are already splitting up as a result of their differing foot speed (so to speak), and she wants to exaggerate the effect to the largest possible degree, since it's much easier for her to fight one zombie at a time than it is to take on multiple at once.

Unfortunately, since the handcuffed zombies look like they're going to reach her first, fighting two at once is going to be exactly what she'll have to do. Maybe she can exploit the fact that they're bound together?

Hana waits until they're close, then surges forward and tries to cut the tendons in the prisoner's hip, in and effort to force him to drop (and therefore make the policeman drag it around). Here's hoping she doesn't get grabbed when she tries it.

[Coming Up]

"Ehhh... they're better turrets than personal weapons." Raven says, flourishing her umbrella, spinning it once. "Besides, I'm spoken for on that front." She modifies her umbrella a lot. Maybe she'll add a chainsaw firing function to it at some point.

Raven nods enthusiastically at Rose's suggestions though. "You've put a lot of thought into this. You sure you're not angling to become a villain yourself? We could get something really twisted and hot going if you're going bad on me~" Raven chews on lower lip imagining the scenarios. It wasn't the typical hero/villain romance to be sure. "Well at the very least, do you want to design your own floor? We have three I haven't even started messing with. Full creative freedom." Everyone always promises full creative freedom, but it almost never turns out to be true. Rose still has to create something super evil after all.

[Coming Up]

Now that's a tempting offer. Being the designer of some of Raven's traps would give Rose some very up-close information about the layout of the lair (which she could still pass on to MERC despite her cover being deliberately blown, if she so chose). And even that aside... Raven did manage to make villainy sound appealing, if she could put the whole "hurting innocents" thing out of her head for a minute. Then again, the more she seems to fall into villainy, the more credibly she can direct Raven away from unethical actions under the guise of giving practical advice instead. Properly directed, Raven might even be good for the city (and the Nexus as a whole).

Or at least, that's what she's going to tell herself.

With that in mind, Rose grabs ahold of the front of Raven's dress and plants a kiss right on her lips.

When she finally pulls away, she gives the empress a grin. "...That's a 'hell yes, thank you very much', in case it wasn't obvious." She giggles.

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

Lumine is grabbed but that causes her to scream which is enough for her pet zombie to attempt to body slam Ilpholin. Just throwing its entire body at the nymph. It might be more than just an ordinary zombie considering its apparent strength.

Meanwhile, Anika had not expected this sudden intensity from Tina and quickly shifts back into her humanoid form just in time for the angel to rip off the cabinet door open. "Uh." She starts as her gaze shifts to the now open door. "Ilpholin and I were gonna find and defeat the warlock who runs this place. That Telly lady."

Inside the cabinet Tina will find a golden pyramid along with three scroll cases, even more candles, and a figurine of an eye with nine pairs of wings. Furthermore, there's a wooden board with various feathers put through the holes of it, a white robe, what appears to be blacksmith tongs and finally a curved mirror mask without holes for either the mouth or the eyes. Tina can feel her essence responding to the golden pyramid, the figurine, all the feathers and the mask as they seem to hold some manner of magical or symbolic energy to them.

As these things are happening a pink-colored mist starts to creep through the spaces in-between each one of the carved marble figures. Not just through the floor but the walls and even the ceiling. It's thick and if anyone in the room have been highly addicted to drugs or anything else with a smell, this mist smells exactly like it. Otherwise it just has this seductive floral scent.

"Let us get to know one another, shall we? I want to explore Every. Inch. Of. Your. Delicious. Bodies." The voice sounds closer now, clearer. Yet Ilpholin still can't place exactly where its coming from as it still sounds like its coming from every direction at once. Like something speaking with multiple mouths simultaneously. She's now pretty sure it isn't coming from the same sound system that Lumine used earlier though. This voice doesn't seem to be filtered through any sort of electronic device.

[Vahnavoi]

Trust-Worthy Hotel

The chains can't resist being pulled from the wall, and now the two women limp quickly towards the exit. They can't quite run, but they're giving it a good attempt.

The male receptionist grunts when slapped, and opens his eyes. He spits out more blood and stands. There's a tooth with the blood; whatever Trust was doing, he wanted to cause pain, not death. He's a bit groggy, and doesn't know much of what's going on, but he stands up... and nearly falls over.

The bandaged man sighs from relief when the receptionist wakes up and shows he's at least somewhat capable of movement. When the receptionists stumbles, the bandaged man catches him and puts him upright. "Don't fall! Keep moving! Head for the exit! There's a fire behind!", he pretty much shouts into his ear, alternating between shoving him forward and pulling him back depending on what's necessary to keep him up and going in the right direction.

When they finally make it out of the burning hotel, the bandaged man lets go of the receptionist and tries to sneak away. He needs to find some hole to hide in to fix his leg and take a rest. Hopefully none of the hotel staff outside pay him much attention.

[Reinholdt]

[Searching for Truth]

Huh. How did Anika and this angel know each other? Well, certainly something to ask when things were a little less exciting.

Ilpholin had honestly been expecting the zombie to throw itself at her earlier. Must have been a delayed response. Zombies are a little slow on the draw. It isn't particularly hard to duck to one side, the hand not holding Lumine turning into a blade looking to sever the zombie's head at the neck as she sidesteps it. If she can off this zombie and make Lumine feel real danger, that mini-horde just outside might break down the doors for them. Which would save her and Anika a lot of hassle later to be honest. So for now, Ilpholin will consider that the plan.

Hopefully that happens sooner than later too. A concerning pink mist was talking to them, promising them untold... well, it's untold. "Anika! Angel Chick! Don't let that demon mist touch you," Ilpholin recommends. She's not sure how well they can prevent that from happening, but she'll stall for as long as she can, starting by moving towards the door, away from where the mist was entering, ducking around the zombie a second time if she must. Secondly, her blade is going to shift up until it's practically two perpendicular blades. Blades that begin to turn. It's a fan! Well not as fast as a normal fan would be, this is really awkward for Ilpholin to do, especially for any extended time. But it's still generating some pushing wind. Back pink mist! Stay out of Ilpholin's body.

[Coming Up]

Repeat a lie often enough, hard enough, and it becomes the truth.

Though at least part of it is true already. That certainly helps! As does, perhaps, Raven's lips as she eagerly shares in Rose's kiss. Raven's tastes like licorice and doom.

She'll rub Rose's arm with a pleased smile. "Excellent. Do you want floor three, five, or six?" First floor is lobby, second floor has the planned employee 'break room', fourth floor contains Bruce Almighty for now, and top floor is Raven's office. It doesn't look like an office. It just looks like another haphazard lab work room that once started as an office.

[Earl of Purple]

SSGTV

The prisoner's jumpsuit, and the withered flesh beneath, provide limited obstacle to Hana's machete, and the orange-clad zombie collapses. It still reaches out for Hana, though, as does the dead cop it is shackled to, with functionally three limbs (actually four, but two of them are moving as one) even as the prisoner collapses and drags the police officer's arm down. Of course, if Hana manages to avoid them, the naked corpse of the keyholder is just behind them, so if she's not careful she'll find herself between the three zombies and that's not a great place to be.

Trust-Worthy Hotel

The male receptionist is able to stumble out, with Sandal's help. Once he's out and Sandals wants to let go, the two girls that escaped shortly beforehand come over and help him away, to a sitting position on a box nearby. Sandals can easily sneak away without being noticed; the guards are more interested in ensuring the slaves don't run away, and assume he's a customer. They don't care what customers do.

Holes might be harder to find, though there's some nearby; abandoned warehouses, the sewer system, and so on.

[Ironsmith]

[Coming Up]

Repeat a lie often enough, hard enough, and it becomes the truth.

Though at least part of it is true already. That certainly helps! As does, perhaps, Raven's lips as she eagerly shares in Rose's kiss. Raven's tastes like licorice and doom.

She'll rub Rose's arm with a pleased smile. "Excellent. Do you want floor three, five, or six?" First floor is lobby, second floor has the planned employee 'break room', fourth floor contains Bruce Almighty for now, and top floor is Raven's office. It doesn't look like an office. It just looks like another haphazard lab work room that once started as an office.

[Coming Up]

Quite the dilemma. It would behoove Rose to pick a floor with some tactical importance; if she ever needs to get someone through the defenses later, she'll need to be able to bring them somewhere useful. On the other hand, Raven seems to be handling all of the defenses in the important places herself; Rose won't get a free pass to get to Bruce Almighty or Raven herself. If she wants her choice of location to be anywhere important, she'll have to volunteer it herself.

"I'm thinking fifth floor." She says finally, with a sly little smirk. "I could set you up with a space for interrogation and detention. Somewhere you can take a hero after a climactic battle without killing them and wasting a perfectly good rivalry." She gives Raven a flirty giggle. "Or, if there's been a drought of heroes lately, I'm sure we could find another use for the equipment..."

"...stress-testing new equipment for your zombies, I mean. What'd you think I meant?"

SSGTV

The prisoner's jumpsuit, and the withered flesh beneath, provide limited obstacle to Hana's machete, and the orange-clad zombie collapses. It still reaches out for Hana, though, as does the dead cop it is shackled to, with functionally three limbs (actually four, but two of them are moving as one) even as the prisoner collapses and drags the police officer's arm down. Of course, if Hana manages to avoid them, the naked corpse of the keyholder is just behind them, so if she's not careful she'll find herself between the three zombies and that's not a great place to be.

[SSGTV]

As soon as the prisoner drops, Hana sees what she thinks is an opening in their defenses. The cop now has one limb dragged down by the prisoner, and the other is slow and not exactly in a good position tp block. Summoning her strength with another wave of adrenaline, she slashes out with her machete, aiming to take the officer's head off.

[Vahnavoi]

[Abandoned Warehouse - some distance from Trust-Worthy Hotel]

The bandaged man slinks into one of those abandoned warehouses, wondering on the way why no firefighters or the like have arrived to take care of the burning hotel. Civil order in this city leaves a lot to be desired. He wouldn't be surprised if the fire spreads to the warehouse and burns down a whole city block.

Once he's reasonably sure he's alone, he pulls out the flask Hazel's ghost is trapped in and holds it close to his face. "Bad news. Trust got away. I shot enough holes in him that it ought to be a piece of cake for the next Reaper in line to catch him. Sadly, I'm not sure there are any around. Should take him a while before he can do more than give people bad dreams."

He sets the flask down and takes a better look at his leg. "He did manage to stab me, though. With my own pen, out of all things. It will be slow, going forward. I lack energy to regenerate. I don't have a clue where your wife is, other than she's kept as a slave by someone in this city. Maybe I should just take you back to your body."

[Morty]

[Slavers' Guild]

A man comes to the Slavers' guild. He appears to be an old half-elf, with grey hair and wrinkled, pockmarked face, wearing half-frame glasses. He's dressed in a long waistcoat that looks like it was fashionable at some point but now is just worn down. He's leaning against a cane and clearly has trouble walking. Peering around with squinted eyes, he goes looking for someone to talk to about business.

[Reinholdt]

[Coming Up]

Raven tilts her head in thought. "Well I thought you meant torturing old people until they give up their senior citizen discount coupons or the heroes arrive, but I guess it can be used to stress test the mecha-zombies. I feel like that would be better handled at one of the other facilities. More room to work, more space for explosions, can be right near the factories. Just... seems to make more sense on a logistical level. But, uh, sure. Quality control right? Gotta make sure my babies won't squeal," Raven says going over to one and tracing its chest with a sigh. She's just kidding. She knows they would never betray her. Not unless someone forced them to.

And that person would pay dearly.

She turns back to Rose and smiles. "Well then, I suppose I should introduce you to our top acquisitions guy. He'll get you everything you could ever need. You probably saw him on your way up." If Rose is amenable to this, Raven will lead them both back down to the first floor.