Lucas heaves his body upward and gasps as he clears the water. He takes a moment to come to his knees and then stand, still breathing heavily. He wipes the sewage water from his face. "Oh man, that was not good. I could have drowned!"
He looks at Concussion. "Thanks for the help. These guys are just playing with us." He grabs his baton and the grenade, hoping that the water didn't affect it.
He nods to the others and follows them down the tunnel.
Midnight's blast of air crashes into the orc's chest like a battering ram, sending him flying backward only to splash down into the slowly receding sewer water.
The other raises his pistol and fires at the man with glowing fists bearing down on him.
Miss
The retort is flat and devastatingly loud in the narrow confines of the tower but the shot is wide and pangs! on brickwork further along.
Akio glaces back and nods at Midnight as she takes out one of the orcs then pushes on slicing through the water finally closing the distance between him and the orc still standing.
Then ducking under the orcs defences he unleashes one large punch directly up under it's chin.
Akio's blow is sickening, rocking the orc's head back like it is on a spring. The orc staggers back and slumps against the wall before sinking down.
2x revolver
7x bullets
1x medpack (CLW potion)
1x basic flashbang grenade (thunderstone)
Napalm brings up the rear of the group, looking over the two Orcs that they managed to take down. "Good work. Yeah, this shows they can be smart as well as brutal."
"Does someone want the grenade? It might come in handy to surprise them."
"Nothing but tricks, we have them in a face to face fight easy. I'm a little beat up, i've got a medpack myself Lucas please take it the one they had." Ebon then begins to strap up his wounds. "When we're all ready lets keep up this momentum and get to the Dragon."
hp-15/15
Do not fear Connie, you may never have faced such a situation before, but I have and will lead us through. Just be on the alert, as you note they may try to ambush us, our best bet is to proceed quickly before they have a chance to dig in.
Melania moves forward ahead of the others.
Lucas looks at the medpack. "Are you sure? I mean, we might need this to patch you or Midnight up if we get into a big scrape. I'll just try to stay to the back more."
The group presses on, more cautiously this time, wary of any more tricks and traps that this gang might have up their sleeve.
Following the sound of splashing feet is relatively easy in the confines of the tunnel but eventually the sound stops.
You stand gathered in the narrow tunnel, straining your ears for the slightest sound as to where the fleeing assailant might have gone and suddenly realise you have no idea where you are in relation to the city streets above.
But before you have a chance to contemplate this for too long you hear the echo of a slamming metal door down a tunnel to the east and follow quickly after, coming to a metal grated door in the side of the tunnel.
Beside it are hanging strips of tape that read; Derelict. Scheduled for demolition 09/22/17
Ebon moves up to the door and attempts to push it open but notices the lock. "It's locked anyone here good with a lock pick? You should be able to reach in, Id rather not try and smash it down if we can going a little quieter."
Napalm looks over the metal grated door as Connie tries her luck as literally disassembling the lock. "Wow, that's a interesting effect."
Midnight shrugs.
All the locks I've faced before were electronic, and broken by a keycode cypher generator, standard issue to...
she looks away
Anyway, Connie anything yu can do would be good as our only other option is violence...
Connie begins to concentrate on the lock, her hand glowing a pale green. The lock begins to quiver slightly and rattle in the housing but it remains tightly locked.
Akio watches Connie as she tries to open the lock only to fail but does not give up.
"You have some very impressive gifts. I wonder what more potential you have waiting to show themselfs." He says carefully pushing the door open.
Midnight's eyes grow wider for a moment, before returning to her usual unblinking stare.
I am glad you are not a criminal Connie, you would be a good one.
she says matter-of-factly
...and difficult to imprison as well...
She points to the gate.
Shall we?
Pulling the gated door open, you climb the stairs, noting the wet bootprints of someone passing this way.
At the top is a metal maintenance door that hangs ajar.
Wary of an ambush, you gingerly push the door open and Akio jumps through, tucking into a roll and coming up in a fighting stance.
But no bullets fly his way.
Connie looks around the room and sees everything covered in a thin film of dust. There are boxes stacked here and there, a rail of clothing to one side and.... She starts quickly as a skeleton leers suddenly out of the gloom, clawed hands clutching toward her throat....!
Wait.
No, it's just a costume. Just a mouldy old skeleton costume of black and white cloth, hanging askew on a coat hanger beside the door.
A foul smell, almost as bad as the sewer you just left, emanates from a slightly open door to the east while a further set of steps leads up to another door that hangs mostly open, a corridor leading off at a right angle from it.
Akio turns fits held up in a fighting stance as the costume is disturbed starteling Connie. "Are you ok?" he says as he goes back to looking for the boot tracks.
The boot prints continue up the steps.
Screeching the floor Ebon picks up the tracks again following them through the dusty room he ends up at the steps leading up. "The tracks lead up there." He points to the steps.
Still hovering slightly over the floor, Midnight pauses for a few moments as the others scan the room.
As Akio indicates up the stairs, she nods
If there's nothing here, we should move quickly...
She soars up the stairs.
As they shuffle through the room, Connie pokes into a few of the boxes. She finds they are full of costumes of huge variety. From plastic knight armour to roman togas, WW2 army uniforms and a set of delicate fairy wings.
All are in a pretty poor state of repair having suffered water damage or mould at some point or other.
Stacked haphazardly in one corner are various other props but her attention is drawn most by a bloody handprint on the wall nearest the slightly open door from which the foul smell originates.
Meanwhile, at the top of the stairs, Midnight sees the corridor extend for some thirty or forty feet before turning sharply at the end. Half a dozen doors sit off the corridor and whilst some are also padlocked, others have been smashed open and a quick glance reveals dilapidated dressing rooms with broken furniture and smashed mirrors.
Ebon steps up next to Concussion and looks over the bloody hand print, then gets a whiff of the odour coming from the door. "That doesn't smell good, we will come back. But let's keep following these tracks I don't want whoever it is tipping of the dragon." He then pushes off up the stairs to Midnight moving past her he attempts to follow the tracks.
As the others head up the stairs, Napalm's curiosity from the foul odor wins out. He tries to glance into the room with the open door, hopfully using his night visions to make out whatever was making that horrid stench.
Lucas covers his mouth and nose and pushes the door gingerly with his boot.
The room beyond is tiled from floor to ceiling, including the floor, but the tiles are old and caked with grime. Broken plumbing is all that furnishes the room, with exposed pipework protruding through the walls, a smashed toilet lying on one side in a corner.
But among the filth, is blood. A lot of it.
And then, heaped in the opposite corner is a pile of plastic bags, stuffed with oddly shaped filling. They too, are caked in blood and worst of all.... where one of the bags has torn.... a very pale foot protrudes.
Lucas shouts to the others. "Holy s$%@! Come see this! They got a room full or bodies in here!" He backs away, covering his nose and mouth.
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Ebon stands back from the door trusting the others to know whats in there. "This is bad. But we knew they weren't some common thieves, let's end this now we stop the dragon before they can do that." He points to the door. "To anyone else. We can report all this to Shield and the police when we get out."
Sniffing then wrinkling her nose, Midnight frowns
Stale copper, we should alert the local Peace Officers once we are done here, there is evidently another crime to investigate...
She pauses
Does anyone want to abandon pursuit in favor of attending to the dead? I am sorry to say I do not yet understand enough of Earth's multicultural ways to be able to assume what any of you would do in this situation...
She blinks slowly as her gaze flicks from one person to another.
Ebon keeps his distance from the room. "What's dead is dead, I don't mind to be disrespectful but where I'm from we respect them more by putting a stop to those that killed them. Their body will be retrieved, but I don't want the dragon getting away again."
"Right. Lets find this monster and bring him down. That could be someone from the neighborhood who refused to pay them protection money, or a witness to another crime."
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The image of the body in the basement is burnt into your minds like an indelible image and you aren't sure if the smell will ever leave your nostrils.
But despite that you remain focussed and follow the corridor until it turns once again and you take a further set of stairs leading up to a large landing off which half a dozen more doors lead.
A double set are slightly open though, and from within you can hear raised voices some distance away.
Nodding to the others, Midnight pushes it open.
It’s obvious by now that at one point this was a grand theater.
The gold railings still gleam despite years of sitting unpolished, and plush red velvet covers the walls and cushioned furniture. The cushions are mostly brown now, covered with mold and dirt.
The damp, pervasive scent of moldy fabric and rot fills the air. There are two large balconies on each side of the theater about twenty feet above the orchestra level. The floor slopes down slightly, ending at a theater pit at the base of the stage.
The stage itself is empty save a large, comfortable-looking chair in the center, illuminated by a single spot-light that gleams down from up above.
The chair is flanked by two burly orcs, one of whom is out of breath and struggling to say something to the figure sat in the chair - a surprisingly small and gremlin-like creature with a mouth full of teeth and a ridiculous red child's dragon costume draped around it.
As they pause at the door, Lucas takes out two bottles. He drinks the firstone and his hands become noticably quicker. He keeps the other vial in his hand, ready for a moment's notice.
When 'the dragon' is revealed, Napalm barks out a laugh. "It's just some gremlin in kid's clothing!"
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Ebon is hesitant as The Dragon is finally revealed. "Let's not take this foe so lightly." He says with a stern face. "You remember what we saw downstairs." He then starts to walk forward.
"I've been looking for you, your reign of terror on these streets ends today. We're taking you and your goons in." He shouts out.
The little gremlin's face scrunches up in distaste.
You don't come into Dragon's Lair and make threats to Dragon!
The orcs beside Dragon pump their shotguns threateningly
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Seeing the orcs load their shotguns, Napalm activates a small device on his belt. Suddenly a shimmering field glows around him. "It worked!"
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Dragon." Napalm moves down the aisle after Ebon, staying a few steps behind him. "Either way, you won't be threatening the people in Chinatown anymore. If you come with us willingly, you won't be hurt and we'll promise that your boys are treated well."
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