Going Down The Rabbit Hole [Ryuu]

Hans didn't know what to think when he first recieved orders to head to Steel City. He and Anselm were originally told that there had been a number of missing people as of late, followed by bizarre incidents involving people being completely out of their minds. The SCPD's official statement on the matter was claiming it to be some kind of new drug being pushed by local gangs, with more intimate details being withheld so as not to draw any more attention to it than needed. But through PSI's sources, the effects were completely losing touch with your surroundings and current state of mind, where you relived a moment in your life again as if you were there. Some memories or moments were so traumatic, that victims attacked or lashed out at those they encountered while under its influence.

This didn't seem to fall within his field of expertise, and seemed like something that the police should deal with. But the higher ups in PSI weren't accepting that some street thugs had somehow invented a new kind of drug on their own, especially not one which had such a strong affect on those that come into contact with it. There were two other facts left out of the public statement, possibly due to being a rare extreme or exception. A few of the victims' eyes became an unusual pinkish magenta color just after their episode. But there was also one case of the victim displaying inhuman vitality, ignoring or shrugging off both ballistic AND energy weapons used to subdue them. The victim was also reported by officers to be shouting/speaking in a language none of them could understand. It was for those reasons that Hans was to investigate, and that led him to a brief skirmish with one of the local gangs that had been dealing with it. He simply took them down for police to get later, and took a sample of the product to send back to PSI to take a look at.

He and Anselm couldn't tell much on their own, but noted that the drug seemingly could be converted into a powder, a liquid, or strangely enough- a gas. He sent one of each, finding the reason for this to be strange. Soon PSI reported back to him, and their findings confirmed that there was something otherworldly about the drug, and initial findings as to what in it exactly was otherworldly were inconclusive. Hans and PSI sources alike investigated further, looking to try and find out more about who or what was really behind supplying the gangs with their product.

That is why Hans found himself outside of one of the industrial storage depots. Investigations had turned up some evidence that the place was being used to dispense product and more disturbingly, to smuggle people in- into what exactly? Hans was going to find out, and had opted to bring as much gear as he felt comfortable with. PSI had warned him about the potency of the drug, even in gas-form and advised to at the very least bring something along the lines of a personal hazmat suit with gas mask.

It seemed like he was lucky tonight- depending on your idea of fortune. One of the local gangs were already driving in by the time Hans was sneaking his way between the storage containers, wondering if he'd hear anyone trying to get out. "What do you see Anselm?" Hans asked the vengeful spirit sharing his body. Anselm snaked out of Hans' shadow and stealthily looked about, seeing who would come out to greet the thugs.

"Something's... not right," Anselm mentally rasped to him. "The very grounds of this place makes me uncomfortable, unlike consecrated ground- I can't put my finger on it but it makes me feel ashamed above all else," Anselm said slightly more cryptic than usually, but Hans knew what he was talking about. But this was not like the haunted places they had been to, there was something else to it. But before Hans could mull it over, Anslem caught sight of some movement coming out of one of the warehouses. "Men clad in yellow and black are coming out..." Anselm stated puzzled.

"Yellow and black?" Hans thought, following Anselm's trail and sneaking up closer for a better look. It was only when he saw an "H" emblazoned on their armor that he suddenly realized who they were, HIVE. He didn't know much about them personally, and PSI didn't keep too much of an eye on them as they fell out of their field of expertise and better left to the local superheroes- outside of Brother Blood who had questionable ties at best but not enough to warrant deeper investigation.

"This HIVE... how do you want to proceed boy? Fight your way in by force? Or let these criminals go with dangerous product to follow their suppliers back to their lair?" Anselm questioned before slinking his way back into Hans' body. That was a good question... and one he needed an answer for quick as he loaded his gun, just in case...

Coming to America was something often dreamed of, a trope in works of fiction and bred by despondent souls in poor countries. Touted as a land of freedom, Rapture knew it as the land of the free ( for some. ) Either way, a grime-covered city tucked away in the shadow of its prosperous neighbor became the destination in which the pierced punk would prowl. The shiny veneer of the American dream lay tainted with a past of human atrocities, and in the present, laced with poverty, sickness, and drugs. A trail of mania and fear had led her throughout Japan before its source, some type of new drug with severely concerning properties, took a left turn and headed to the east coast, leaving a geographic line of people who had experienced their deepest traumas while under its eerie influence. This was not a drug meant for pleasure, but pain. To cause chaos. A wicked thing with insidiousness sewn into its very DNA. Who it was created by and created for could not be determined right now, but the amount of spiritual damage and dark auras it had left in its wake had served as her interest point.

The young spiritualist had tracked a shipment of the drug, as of yet to gain a street name, across the ocean. Now, the young woman remained obscured in shadows, the four spirits she called her own kin buzzing with activity. The very essence of the drug made her found-family uneasy, and it took a lot to upset such ancient powers. As a precaution, she wore a sleek black respirator that filtered out most pollutants and had proven rather effective at deterring any second-hand effects. The fact that the compound was used in so many forms, even gas, was harrowing. Not only did Rapture have sensitive lungs thanks to her father’s chain-smoking, she had a sensitive past if one were to overgeneralize such an anthology of trauma. She had worked rather hard to wall up her past and had no intention of reliving such carefully locked-away memories. The very thought of doing so made her shudder, but the involuntary movement was short lived as it was interrupted by a worrying prompt.

‘There are two unusual souls here,’ the Mother Tiger warned. ‘Or are they one soul? It is hard to tell. Nonetheless, child, you need to be careful of them.’

Ryuuzaki nodded, picking up their auras as she frowned beneath the respirator. How peculiar. They didn’t feel sinister, but they didn’t feel familiar. They were foreign, out of place. Just like her, a stranger in a strange land. Perhaps this was both of their first times in America. Or at the very least, they weren’t born here. It was something in their souls that told her of such. But it didn’t make her feel any more welcome.

"Alternatively to letting them go, we could use your intangibility to find any hidden passages they could be using," Hans mentally debated with Anselm, feeling something else was different about the area- something else felt out of place but only Anselm seemed to know what it was.

"There's something with a lot of spiritual pressure nearby, stay alert. As for yer suggestion, that could work but the steps leading up to that may alert them to our pressence," Anselm grumbled in response, perturbed by the fact there was something even remotely as spooky as him here. What he said was true enough, if the HIVE guards were in any way keeping in contact, their sudden disappearance could show their hand. It was regrettable, as it would've been easier to just take them all out and head inside- especially with this other unknown.

The thugs and HIVE Guards seemed to be caught up in their transaction, and for now Hans opted to try slipping by. Wasn't hard, just took alittle athletics to get enough height and some climbing to get onto the roof from a stack of containers. Anselm was keeping an eye out, but so far no one noticed anything as he picked a lock- which in the back of his mind he couldn't help but wonder if this was one of the few places left in this city that still relied on old fashioned keys. Once inside, Hans quietly moved down to the second floor, gun primed and at the ready as he first tried to find anything amiss up here. There could be an elevator up here that went down but he was mostly trying to keep an eye out for any more guards before heading down to the ground floor to begin his search; there had to be some kind of hidden door, or stairway or something...

Rapture would need a better form to fulfill this task, she decided albeit belatedly. From her vantage point, she should be able to transform without being seen, and she banked on that idea to keep her hidden. The spirit of the Golden Scorpion had been itching to be let out, and his abilities of heightened speed and reflexes would work well with the current situation. Breathing in slowly from her respirator, the spiritualist recited a silent and ancient prayer, a proposition of co-inhabitation and freedom in exchange for archaic power. She could feel the Scorpion’s haste, to which she answered with a slight smile.

'Keep it on the down-low this time,’ she pleaded as an eruption of golden sparks engulfed her body. Better planning could have taken place, but Ryuuzaki was not one for patience. She craved knowledge, she craved answers to their supernatural enigma. ‘How could a drug be related to a spirit? Could a demon be working with another entity to produce these effects? Why?’ It reminded her of a drug from long ago that a villain called Scarecrow produced, a fear toxin, but all that was scientific. A psychoactive stimulant as opposed to… whatever this could be.

Her blue eyes were eclipsed with gold as the accents of her attire were tinted similarly, a warmth and exhilaration spreading through her nerves as she bonded with the Golden Scorpion. At once she became even more alert, noting that some of the grunts had “thought they heard something” but found nothing. If they were even half good at their jobs, Rapture would have been in trouble.

Two golden chakrams appeared at each of her sides, ready for any slicing and dicing that may need to be had. But for now, they remained unused as Rapture used her increased speed and dexterity to navigate past the guards safely; as much as she loved kicking hornet’s nests, now was not the time, especially with the unknown spiritual variable at play. Speaking of, the yokai priestess intended on subduing that entity before continuing; it would be better to deal with it now rather than later. Moving to the lower levels, she tracked the presence and sneaked up quite close.

To launch a surprise attack would be risky and noisy. Instead, she stood her ground and brandished her chakram. It had been a while since she utilized English and spoke in a strange accent, an amalgamation of Icelandic and Japanese, low and pointed.

“I’m here to find the source of this mess,” the four-foot-nine powerhouse addressed flatly, “are you part of the clean-up crew or will my hands need to get dirty?”

Hans prior to this was careful not to alert anyone that may be working overnight. It was highly unlikely that anyone here was a legitimate worker, or at the very least they were being paid off to turn a blind eye to anything that may be going on. He didn't want to draw unwanted attention to himself regardless as he and Anselm managed to get around cameras, still unsure of what they were actually looking for. Anselm used his ethereal spookiness to poke around, trying to find a lead. But that spiritual pressence felt like it was getting closer, close enough to where even Hans could determine more than one actual "soul." "Found something..." Anselm rasped to him.

"Good, we have company..." Hans retorted back, wincing slightly as Anselm's form retracted quickly back as Rapture made her appearance- an interesting appearance at that. His gun was out in the open but wasn't trained on her for a couple of reasons, the first was that there was no evidence that she was hostile when Anselm first sensed her, and the second was given that fact- he wasn't going to immediately make an enemy if it could be avoided. But hearing her say she was here to find the source, he was glad she wasn't part of it. Though he didn't know why specifically she was looking for the source of it yet. though had a guess based on the "clean up crew" comment. "I'm part of the clean up crew," Hans stated simply through his gas mask. "You... have more than one soul," he added curiously.

Rapture did not lower her blades. This individual didn’t give off the impression of someone sinister, but meeting another person with an unusual number of souls attached didn’t exactly put her at ease, let alone the fact that he could discern hers. ‘How peculiar,’ she thought, eyeing the man with yellow irises that reminded her of a certain enigmatic shapeshifter she knew long ago. He was tall, and although his hair was white, he looked young, about her age. Suspicious arose within her as to his motives. Even if he were telling the truth and was part of the clean-up crew, that didn’t mean he had other intentions. Perhaps he sought to obtain the drug for himself or someone he worked for.

Unlike the aforementioned shapeshifter, Rapture could not effortlessly tell whether someone was lying or not, but the fact he didn’t shoot or appear to be on the offense told her enough. Begrudgingly, she lowered her chakrams and looked him over a bit more. None of her spirits seemed to comment on his nature other than the presence of an additional soul, and she was not in a position to judge someone because of that.

“And you’ve got two,” she replied simply her respirator giving her already strangely accent voice a mechanical tone. “Neat. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I will make myself clear. I am here to figure out what is behind this drug trade, and ideally to kill it. My findings indicate that it’s supernatural, which is why I, a spiritualist, have been called in to deal with it. I do not intend on taking prisoners. I don’t kill civilians. And once I’ve gotten rid of the source, I will make sure the product is entirely eliminated.  I have no desire for glory, just results. Seeing that you’ve protected yourself, I’m guessing you’re thinking along the same lines as I am.” Stepping closer with a dominating air, the petite powerhouse exuded confidence. “If you’re agreeable to my methodology, I’m open to a temporary partnership. The name is Rapture, and it seems I may have a use for you.”

"Hans will suffice for now, and that's acceptable," Hans replied simply, his already monotone voice becoming more distant through his gas mask. She could tell he had an extra soul too, given her multiple souls that should've been a giving; but it was still as she put it- neat to hear it. "I'd say you can't interrogate dead men, but that shouldn't be an issue. We already found the path down, but we just need to find the actual entrance," Hans added as his shadow seemed to move of its own, a pair of eyes mimicking Hans' own.

"You may call me Anselm..." Anselm introduced himself with a ghostly rasp.

Their goals were aligned in this it seemed, and he knew better than to ask too many questions. Though he was curious as to whether or not she was here s a free agent or like him, she worked with others and came to this same conclusion- a branch of PSI? No, unlikely. Even the other branches could identify other members. With Anselm being the untrusting spoop that he was, Hans traced Anselm's search back to one particular part of the building that had locked off areas for keeping small items, one of them was open and that seemed like a good enough place to start. Now they just needed to find what Hans felt like was just a hidden hole downwards, Anselm's findings didn't turn up a larger opening for something like an elevator so it was probably more of a trapdoor...

Now that the man appeared amenable, Rapture allowed herself to relax a bit. She sheathed her charms by tying them to her sides. The weapons looked strange and large against her smaller frame, but make no mistake that Ryuuzaki held impressive physical power for her size. Petite yet muscular, built more like a gymnast although she lacked those skills. ‘Maybe my proximity to the ground can serve as an advantage,’ she thought and began to look for a trap door. The lighting was dim, so she sent a small current of electricity through her chakram, making them glow and illuminated. She couldn’t find a latch anywhere, but wasn’t entirely surprised; that would have been too easy.

‘Look for an embedded handle, Ryuu. Find the grooves,’ the Golden Scorpion offered, and sure enough, his suggestion led to a discovery near a corner of the room. The sparks from her weaponry bounced off a metallic surface and revealed a groove and places for a hand to fit. Rapture placed one of her hands in the indented areas, gripped, and turned. A locking mechanism hissed as she turned the circular device with some effort. This thing was heavy, but the spiritualist didn’t seem to mind. Up came the spherical door. 'Thank you kindly, Scorpion,' she noted, then turned to her new companion.

“Be a gentleman and volunteer to go down first,” she smirked, showing pointed canines. She truly had no problem leading the way, but she might as well make this man useful, if for any reason but to assert her dominance.

Hans had a similar thought when searching for the aforementioned entrance, silently reminding Anselm that he could've probably continued to use his ghostly being to fish it out faster. To which he quipped that he didn't want his host body to get lazy and complacent- which was a polite way of telling him to look for it himself. Damn grouchy ghost. He had started on the other side of the storage they were searching, dividing the work up to hopefully find it faster. "She can call upon the elements for assistance... a witch if I ever did see one," Anselm rasped to Hans.

"More likely some kind of meta of supernatural persuasion," Hans quipped back.

"Doesn't matter what you call it- back in my day it'd be the same thing," Anselm huffed before Rapture found what they were looking for, Hans just sort of giving her an even blanker look than he had with the gas mask over his face.

"Fine with me- try not to catch anything climbing down," Hans cracked a joke about her chakrams as he started to make his way down. The climb down the ladder was compact but nothing smaller than your average manhole cover. it wasn't much brighter down here, not that he minded as he took an alert stance with his gun raised down the immediate tunnel waiting for them down at the bottom.

"The air is... thick... down here," Anselm noted airirly. He wasn't referring to the air specifically so much as what seemed to be emanating from within. There was something down here, something that was giving off its spiritual pressure.

"Into the belly of the beast we go..." Hans stated as he continued to lead the way. The architecture down here was different from upstairs, it had that "HIVE Academy" decor to it with its blacks and yellows which seemed to take on an eerie and foreboding look with the dim lighting. Seemed counter intuitive to have the lights so low but maybe they were trying to be discreet with power. There were some voices up ahead at an intersection as Hans pressed his back up to the wall and peered around the corner, there were two guards down that way just standing around which he signaled to Rapture. "Watch that way..." Hans requested, pointing to the hallway infront of them as he inched out from around the corner with his gun raised.

Holding his breath for a moment, Hans squeezed off a couple silenced bursts from his gun and managed to drop them both. That was two less problems to deal with as another guard was rounding the corner down the hallway across from Hans and Rapture...

Rapture briefly had a flashback to the time she had been commissioned to visit the Parisian catacombs and deal with a rogue yokai that had made a nest there. She didn’t mind small spaces, per se, but the weight of being in an underground network of over six million skeletons did not sit with her well. The place had been crawling with spirits of the dead, and worse yet, they were French souls. It made finding a Japanese demon like a needle in the haystack. A particular point of interest was an inscription further upon her journey downward. “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” A parallel to the descent of Dante and Virgil into hell.

But that was France, and this was the United States. The country was not laden with thousands of years of human atrocities –– just a few hundred. She wondered for a moment, what would be worse? Dying from the plague or dying reliving your most traumatic moments?

‘Dying of the plague is a traumatic moment,’ the Scorpion offered slyly, an energy of excitement underplaying the sassiness of his delivery. Her spirits did not often get to go to new places, and neither of the four had visited the United States yet. That, and meeting whoever or whatever was behind this gave a small modicum of relief from eternal boredom.

The spiky spiritualist rolled her eyes as a reply and followed Hans down the ladder. The air became significantly thicker, and for a brief moment, she wondered if her respirator had failed her. The device hissed as it adjusted to the pressure change, signaling an end to her worries. As she touched level ground again, she observed her new companion kill two guards without hesitation.

‘Thank the gods,’ she smiled in relief. ‘I don’t have to pussyfoot around this man. Not that I was going to…’ she briefly remembered that Steel City was frequented by a certain caped crusader who banked on fear but didn’t have the cajones to kill a dude. She could solve so many of his and society’s problems by straight-up murdering someone like the Joker, a mere human touted by edgy white boys and isolated emo teenagers who didn’t know any better.

The dim lighting was less than favorable and pointless with the tacky black and gold decorations. Rapture hadn’t dealt with HIVE before but already determined how utterly wimpy an organization built on mindless obedience would be. Sure, it got the dirty deeds done, but it wasn’t the Bee-Squad ( her new destination for the group ) she was concerned about. ‘Could this… whatever it is be controlling them? A partnership?’ Crazier partnerships had been made, she and at least four others knew well. ‘Maybe it needs a more physical venue…’

Another set of guards interrupted her thoughts, of whom she greeted with a couple of concentrated lightning zaps to their hearts. They were down in seconds, silently sizzling in their newly crisp corpses. The Golden Scorpion responded by reaching out and consuming the souls, which thankfully had remained uncharred in death. Repurposing human souls was her way of keeping the spiritual world free of undesirables and keeping the planet clean. One could call Rapture an eco-friendly person.

“Let’s get a move on before the bodies are discovered,” she directed, lamenting the fact that none of her spirits also took care of the physical waste. “This thing feels spread out. It’s not concentrated anywhere so far. I’d say we split up, but I’ve unfortunately seen Scooby-Doo, so.”

Hans after dropping the two guards kept his aim trained down that hallway, waiting patiently to see if any more guards or personnel heard the bodies drop. Also despite the fact his gun had a suppressor, there was still the slim chance someone may have heard it nearby. He barely moved his head when he heard his partner in cleaning up some crime deal with another pair of guards making their way from the opposite end of the hallway. That may have been louder than his gun but he didn't worry about it as Anselm dragged the two bodies of his kills back toward the entrance. "Agreed- we won't have much time until the ones topside come back down," Hans nodded before briefly being confused by what she had referenced. That... sounded like some kind of show and based on the name he figured it was some kind of children's show- not important to dwell on right now as Hans decided to double back down the hallway where Rapture's kills were.

This thick air seemingly being spread out would definitely be problematic for actually finding the source of the drug, but they could always just find someone in charge or looked like they were responsible for helping in the drug's creation- like a scientist or something. "Doubt any of these thugs know how to make what we're looking for but maybe there's someone here that does- we can learn more from that," Hans told Rapture so they would be on the same page. "One may be useful for questioning further later but that remains to be seen right now," Hans added, implying one should maybe be kept alive but that didn't matter right now. They'd have to find someone first.

While their initial infiltration seemed to go unnoticed, Hans had Anselm sneak peeks around any corners or into rooms when he came back and warned Hans of some guards that seemed aware of them being here. Hans looked around and pointed up to a small blinking red light hidden in the grooves of the honeycomb-like walls. "They know we're here..." Hans told Rapture, also pointing to where the hall split to signal to her that there were guards waiting for them around that corner. They had to clear them out one way or the other, as there was a room they could check out but the guards would surely trap them in there. "There's probably going to be more than this group..." Hans commented as he pulled a frag grenade from a pouch and armed it, swinging his arm around the corner low and hurling it down.

After a second or two followed by a hurried order to scatter, there was an explosion. Hans shifted around the corner and started to open fire, trying to pick off the survivors. Now they DEFINITELY knew they were here, as the sound of more boots emanated from the hallway opposite- also indicated by a barrage of energy projectiles.

"Finally... some fun~" Anselm rasped, snaking out of Hans' shadow and toward the secondary group where he'd more or less use his spooky strength to bludgeon as many of them to death as he could until Hans or Rapture got to them...

It had been such a very long time since Rapture had seen some action, and although killing mindless grunts paled in comparison to fighting kaiju and these were just the appetizers to the main course, she would eat happily, as would her spirits. Grateful that the Golden Scorpion wasn’t exactly the picky type when it came to dining on souls, the petite powerhouse unsheathed her chakram fully and sent a few bolts of lightning magic into the crowd. Less-than-favorable scents of sizzling corpses permeated as fire was returned in her direction although this group seemed to have trained at the same academy as the stormtroopers. But Raptured courted no pity for those who chose to partake in crime, no matter their reasoning or station in life. She used to give some lenience to low-level thugs but not anymore; if idiots like these chose to fuck around, they’d soon find out the consequences of their actions. That, and none of them appeared to be under any mind control or influence, which would have warranted an exception.

Utilizing her martial arts and gymnastics training, Ryuuzaki dodged the spitfire easily, eventually getting closer and letting the actual bladed parts of her chakram do the talking as she stored her magic for later use. She ignored the rude retorts about her size, taking pleasure in mowing down those who dared defy her pint-sized fury. During her exploits, the opportunity to use a grunt as a human shield presented itself, and not one to miss out on solidifying tropes, Rapture seized it with a small grin on her face. This betrayal of emotions led her to realize that the grunts’ helmets not only protected their identity but most likely served as respirators of their own. ‘How easily broken are these helmets broken?’ she wondered and tested the theory with a sharp jab of the edge of her chakram. The protective material was broken through with little resistance, not to her surprise. ‘Something that might come in handy later,’ she noted, but she’d also rather kill someone when they weren’t being tormented by traumatic visions.

Anslem seemed to have been doing a considerable bit of damage, which she had met tenfold. It interested her that he could do things separately from Hans. And speaking of, more guards were coming and it was his turn to join in the fun.

And Anselm did join in the fun- his sulfuric yellow eyes burning dimly in the dark as he mercilessly snapped a pair of necks by slamming the grunts into the walls at an angle. Being that he was a ghost, his pressence was making the corridors very cold as he rounded on the next group that rounded the corner. Anselm released an earsplitting howl that could've given a Banshee a run for its money, a sound that the living couldn't help but shirk at and even the hardened mercs they were dealing with had trouble keeping it together as Anselm stretched out and started dragging victims toward him and Rapture...

Hans meanwhile didn't have crazy supernatural powers- he had spells for certain and had proper military training. But that would only still get him so far as he watched their back, trying to drop as mean soldiers down that hall as he could. Anselm's screaming didn't help but because they shared a body, plus his experiences it didn't get to him as badly. There were alot down here, but it was when an eye beam lanced by and grazed his shoulder that he actually swore. That was an eyebeam from a Blocker, a heavy duty "security" battle droid with pincer-like hands and a powerful eye laser. Well, time to start using some spells. Hans quickly chanted something as he reloaded, going around the corner and laying down suppression fire just long enough for him to pick a spot, and created a wall of bones erupt from the ground and toward the grunts. 

Hans had the wall go as far down as he could get it, wanting to keep that way blocked for as long as possible. "Problem?" Anselm rasped, using a grunt as an improvised weapon as several grunts opened fire on him. It stung but he was already dead- what were they actually going to do? Besides give Hans a headache anyway. Then another Blocker started to make its way down the hallway before him. "Oh, that..." Anselm hissed snaking toward it as it warmed up an eye beam, Anselm twisted around as the eye beam lanced through the opening between parts of his body- not hitting him as he brought his claws down to bare and tried to slam it face first into the ground. It resisted and retaliated with a claw swipe of its own, completely going through Anselm but forced him off as its claw tore through part of the wall. It began to warm up another eye beam, locking its gaze toward Rapture this time as Anselm solidified again...

Hans and Anslem were turning out to be quite the duo as Rapture watched between her own efforts, dodging the occasional attack and dissuading defensive efforts. It fascinated her how the two worked side by side as opposed to her and her spirits’ integrated approach. She wondered if she’d be able to manifest them in the way Hans did with Anslem, but put that thought aside for a bit as a new foe came into view. This droid appeared to be much more capable than its human counterparts, and Ryuuzaki commended its arrival, studying as Anslem manipulated his matter to deal with the thing. It was quite resistant, perhaps it needed a taste of its own medicine.

“That eye beam is neat,” Rapture grinned as The Golden Scorpion scoffed.

‘For a machine,’ he allowed and charged up a heavily concentrated bout of lightning in Ryuuzaki’s chakram. ‘No man-made object can subvert nature herself.’

His comments weren’t untrue, as the Golden Scorpion’s lightning was a manifestation of that which is found in mother nature; he simply absorbs some from an ongoing thunderstorm wherever in the world and redirects it. Being a spirit of great power and renown, Raito had earned the favor of several lightning deities while on earth. As Rapture harnesses it, his very spirit is imbued in the unique element, allowing him to navigate the charges with ease and hit specific targets while avoiding others.


“Hans,” Rapture addressed her partner as her blazing golden irises stayed lock on the droid’s imminent eye beam. “Hit the floor!”

Naturally, the petite powerhouse did not wait for a reply and instead brought both chakrams in front of her and crossed them, blades touching and creating a conduit for some seriously wicked energy to brew. A split second before the droid was able to emit its laser, Ryuuzaki and Raito unleashed a mean blast that entirely destroyed the upper half of the robot, leaving the bottom half to short circuit and twitch almost comically. A few grunts faced a similar fate as the discharge short-circuited their hearts. Now, the remaining were starting to run.

Rapture had half a mind to go after them but decided against it; she didn’t want to expend any needless energy… besides a quip.

“I hope a little lightning didn’t kill you,” she said without turning to look, the hall vacant for now. “I’m not sure how well Anslem and my four would get along.”

The Blockers would be a small issue, one way or another- for Hans anyway but that's what supernatural allies were for. This was a fact that after a moment or two would be proven right as Rapture told him to get down, and he did- Anselm also preemptively sank into the floor and snaked his way back toward Hans as Rapture let loose a powerful attack to eliminate the blocker and several thugs behind him. The others seemed to be on the run now, giving them a breather. "If you had, I would be in dire need of a new vessel..." Anselm rasped to her.

"I'm fine," Hans assured her simply, getting back to his feet and taking a moment to assess the area. Nothing else was charging them down yet, which meant they could move on. "Let's see what's hiding in one of these rooms," Hans suggested, still keeping a watch out for anything moving in the dark before going into a nearby room. It had better lighting, looked like some kind of chemistry lab of sorts. Maybe this was where they actually made and processed the stuff? There was also a medical chair of sorts in the middle of the room closest to the opposite wall, concerning. Did they test the stuff on people here too? There weren't any restraints, however... willing test subjects?

He didn't recognize or see anything he understood, and there didn't seem to be anyone inside of this room either. There was however a computer that he went over to and started to poke around with. "Hurry with your investigation... I do not like being down here," Anselm rasped, though he didn't like a lot of things so that wasn't saying too much- but the feeling was mutual.

As Hans started trying to find something on the computer, he would feel a sharp, stabbing pain in his head- Rapture would as well. "Insects scurrying through our corridors..." Hans steeled himself and started aiming his gun around the room as if expecting the attacker. That sounded like a multitude of voices. "Leave... before I become more agitated," more predominantely male voice demanded.

"Unless you want to replace our lost workforce..." a femine voice added curtly.