Why German Cafes are Death Traps

(OOC: ....Oh dear.)

The first construct would, very slowly, approach the next light, and grab it, quietly as possibly removing it. Same with the next one. Until the entire hallway was dark. Then, it would begin going through the rooms, silently executing and devouring the souls of the infirm, using the darkness to mask his presence. It was a VERY good thing soul perception didn't work on them.

The other constructs goal was.....different. It quietly opened the window, and crawled through. Luckily, no one was in the hallway. Walking to a large black door, it pulled out a keyring, and opened it. Entering, it watched the sleeping security guard for a moment, before walking up and snapping his neck. Turning around, it then locked the door.

The constructs now had control over the hospital security.

Walking over to the various screens, it studied them for a moment, before noticing just who was in the building. Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. Ohdearohdearohdearohdearohdearohdearohdearohdearohdearohdear. This, this was not expected. Well, luckily, the door was very much sturdy, and locked, and unless they had a floor plan, or knew about this hospital from prior experience, this construct would be fine.

With that, the construct pressed the intercom button. This was, in the parlanance of the modern youth, 'gonna suck'.

"Greetings, Rose, Sylas, Dowan, Kylicc! How have you been? Fine, I hope. Have any of you reconsidered my offer? No? Very well, moving on."

"I must say, I am a tad surprised. I knew I was something of a threat, but to send the team that slew Asura after me? I'm flattered! Greetings, Ms. Albarn, Mr. Evans, Ms. Tompson and Ms. Tompson, Mr. Kid. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Ignatius, though some call me Inker, for reasons I surmise are obvious to you, assuming you were briefed on the situation."

"Anyways, now that greetings are done, let me give you a SUPRISE! I shall let you all guess. Go on, guess. Guess what the surprise is. If you want, I can give you a hint."

Black*Star looked, for reasons obvious to anyone who knew him, very much upset. "HEY! I HELPED BEAT ASURA TOO! I PUMMELED THAT KISHIN HARD! WHERE'S MY GREETING!?"

A collective groan went through the group, and Maka fished out a book from her coat, sneaking up behind Black*Star. "Makaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa CHOP!" She slammed the book over his head before looking up at the nearest loudspeaker. "We know who you are, Ignatius. We're not here to play your games. We're going to stop you."

Sylas and Kyllic both transformed, leaving Ignatius facing 5 pairs, including two Death Scythes. Sylas's voice echoed through the hall. "This ends here, Ignatius. One way or another, you're done."

Kid nodded, holding Liz and Patti at the ready. "He's right. We're going to wipe you from the face of the Earth in the name of my father. Prepare yourself."

"Meh."

crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapCRAP!

"Well, since NONE of you feel polite enough to humor an old man, I'll just tell you then. Thrice blasted spoil sports. I mean, back when I was a youth, we used to LOVE surprises."

"Anyways, moving on, would you like to know something funny? This hospital was made in the 1950's, during the height of the cold war, when it was considered not to be a matter of 'if' but 'when' the East invaded. Due to its proximity to where the wall was, this hospital was always considered a prime target. As such, it was reinforced to withstand missile strikes, and, as a way of curtailing armed ruffians, it has THIS nifty little feature."

With that, a large, heavy metal shutter would slam down behind the group. They would also hear numerous other slammings all across the hospital.

"Door control, everybody! A staple of cold war security! Or I image so, at least. Now, over the years since the cold war ended, they slowly removed all the funer security features, and upgraded others. So, sadly, I can't gas you, no matter how much I want to. Well, I could, but that would involve proxying a Bomber. Anyhoo, stairs are still unlocked, and one of my constructs are currently doing a bit of harvesting on the third floors. I just knocked out elevators, but the stairs are still open. Why don't you hurry?"

Sylas, if he presently had teeth, would have gritted them. As it stood, all he could do was pull Dowan where he wanted to go. As she began to take steps, he spoke to the gathered members. "Three teams. Myself and Dowan. Rose, Kyllic, Black*Star, and Tsubaki. Maka, Soul, Kid, and Liz and Patti."

Another voice joined his own in the air, soft and quiet, but demanding. Tsubaki's voice. "What are you planning on doing with just yourselves? Wouldn't two teams make more sense?"

Sylas snapped his retort, clearly in no mood for this. "There are Four floors. Basement, Ground, 1, and 2. We can cover more ground with three teams than with two. Besides, not only am I a Death Scythe, but Dowan and I are essentially two meister and weapon teams now. She has her sword, and I have... well, my trump card. We'll be fine." With that, and a nod from Dowan, they raced forward towards the stairs, at the ready and not giving the others time to retort.

Rose sighed, looking to Black*Star. "Basement?" He nodded, semeing more serious than before. They broke off into a run, headed for the same staircase but going down instead of up.

Maka looked to Kid, shaking her head. "C'mon, let's take the first floor. Reassure the staff and such..." Kid nodded, looking grim. "I have a feeling a lot of blood is going to be spilt tonight." Maka only nodded, racing forward through the halls with Kid on her heels.

OOC: And the games begin...

"AH, False reassurances! Well, better a hopeful lie, over a dark truth, eh?"

"Wrong. My dear Maka, wouldn't it be better to tell them just how GRIM the situation is? Just how much of a percentage they have of not making it through the night? Very well. Moving on, to all of you, since I only have two constructs in the building, I thought it would be fair to even the odds a little. Like this."

With that, the lights cut out.

"Ta da! You see, after the whole boondoggle with Dowan and company, I realized something. Soul perception does not work on my constructs. So, in utter darkness, they make the ultimate assassin. They do not need to breath, sleep, eat, and unlike humans, they can remain perfectly still for as long as they need to. Shoul make this EXTRA fun!"

....

"I would advise getting a flashlight. They are in the supply closets."

MEANWHILE

The third floor construct would have already killed over twenty people, and, was placing little, tiny, harmless looking rings all over the place, using the darkness granted to move quietly.

Said rings were psuedorings, and would drive their owner to madness, enthralling them to Inkers will. Hell, even TOUCHING them was enough to do the trick. However, unlike the constructs, they WOULD show up using soul perception. As tiny, black voids that gave an air of WRONGNESS about them.


And Inker gave the order to his reserve units to be ready to move. He still had things to do until then, but he did so ever value swiftness.

OOC: 2nd floor, if the security construct is on the floor above that one

Dowan and Sylas made their way onto the second floor, using the light from his resonance as opposed to a flashlight. They noticed a minefield of rings, and a third voice enchoed from Sylas, sounding slightly cockney, but still very much sounding like Sylas. "Ignatius, this pathetic charade is boring me. I know what these rings will do. You can't fool a madman twice..."

Rose and Black*Star made quick work of the basement, Kyllic glowing bright as a fluorescent bulb in Rose's hands. The took time to reassure the staff that no harm would come to them, with Black*Star boasting that the situation was under his complete control.

Maka and Kid did the same on the first floor, with the exception that Maka carried a flashlight she'd taken from a supply closet in one hand, and Soul in the either. They spoke in hushed tones, and often waved staff into examination rooms so they'd be safe.

"......So, what, your British now? Anyways, thing is, the rings aren't for you. Contrary to what you may think, my plans do not revolve around making you feel inadequate or injuring you profusely, nor do they always involve mass murder."

...

"I will concede, however, that they USUALLY involve mass murder."

Of course, while they were talking, the Construct had used the open window to exit the floor. One down, several to go. Then, they pull off the retrieval. Crawling to the ground floor, Maka would hear three shutters raising, and another falling. Entering the buildings through one of the new openings, the construct would continue to drop rings.

"Anyways, this is a hospital wide announcement, to all of the meister groups. I would suggest you start moving people to the basement, and quickly, as I am about to gas the ground floor, and the second floor is now covered in psuedorings. As well as the first. Watch your step."

With that, the shutters leading outside once again shut, and, under the cover of night, a few certain constructs would make their way to the hospital.

Sylas began to glow, turning back to his human form and planting a foot on the upwards staircase. Without looking down at his wife, he took a few steps up. "Dowan, go down and help the others..." She shook her head, indignant. "I'm not leaving you again." He remained calm, hands finding his pockets. "I'll be fine. You need to help the others. Protect people. Save lives." Dowan slowly back up, towards the staircase down. "Come back, okay?"

"I have every intention to." With that he continued to ascend, heading for the top floor.

Blask*Star and Rose raced up the stairs in time to help a crowd of fleeing patients and staff down the stairs, keeping vigilant for his attack.

Maka froze, readying Soul. She continued towards the sound, resonating with Soul to cast a dim glow around them. Patti and Liz began to glow as well, shifting into their resonance forms. Kid nodded to her, and Maka tossed the flashlight ahead of them as a way to illuminate the area.

"See, this, THIS is why civilization is crumbling, except not really. Everyone is so damn GULLIBLE."

In the staircase to the basement, another large shutter would slide down. Followed by another. And another. Until there were five shutters, all lined up, trapping the civilians.

"Good news, the civilians, they are now trapped, underground, in an airtight space. And with the press of a button, I can cut off air and absolutely WRECK the power system. Oh, you COULD repair it, but they would be dead by then from suffocation. And before you get any ideas, let me remind you of a few things: This hospital was designed to survive missile strikes. Not nuclear, I admit, but still quite large. And the basement was designed to be the bunker where civilians and government officials would hide, so don't expect to break through. Now, here is my offer: I need one of you to take one of my rings. You don't even need to actually touch it, just get something you can carry it in. Then, I need you to take it somewhere."

MEANWHILE

Maka, Death, Soul, and the Thompsons would hear a ding, and the elevator doors opening and closing.

"And for those of you near the elevators, that noise you heard was my construct going down into the basement. Now, follow my instructions, and I give you my word I will not harm anyone. You may ask Dowan, I at least TRY to keep my oaths. I AM a gentleman, after all."

....

"And before you try to unseat me from my perch, realize this.  I can press a button faster than you can tear down a shutter."

Sylas continued on, beyond the reach of reasoning from the others. He continued up the final staircase, feeling a rush of adrenaline that accompanied a hunt.

Make and Kid quickly turned, running back to the entry hall, where Rose and Black*Star were in the processing of attempting to break down the shutters. It wasn't going well, but they'd managed to at least dent the first.

Dowan finally made her way down the rest of the stairs, looking at the assembled group. "Sylas went on ahead. I don't know where he is anymore..."

"Oh dear. It seems your friend Sylas did not get the memo. Very well. Shutting down power to systems five through eleven."

Everyone would hear a click noise.

"That, for those of you not in the know, was the air control system. The basement no longer has air. Should you continue to try and bust down the shutters, and should Sylas continue to try and get at me, I will shut down power to the entire hospital, and order my construct below to savage the civilians. LAST. CHANCE. I would STRONGLY advise you stop and GODDAMN do what I say. Unless you don't actually CARE about the civilians, and merely wish to inconvenience me. Very well, in that case, I will order my construct to begin attacking, until I either have what I want, or all the civilians die."

With that, the construct below would begin using the dark to stealth kill the civilians and devour their soul.

"I would suggest you contact Sylas and inform him to cease what he is doing, lest more people than necessary die."

Dowan went pale white, and quickly turned, bounding up the stairs. She pushed herself hard, and given that he was proceeding at a leisurely gait she quickly caught up to him, tackling him to the ground. He struggled for a moment before being pinned by her immense strength, staring up at her. "We can't... let him win." She shook her head, her voice breaking. "I don't think that's possible..."

Rose and Black*Star began to furiously batter the shutter, managing to break it down.They attacked the next, and were quickly joined by Maka and Soul. Kid, in the meantime, made his way up to the second floor, and, using a pair of tongs, picked up one of the rings and deposited it in a jar. "There. We've collected the ring. What now?"

"I need you to take it to a water purification plant. There is one exactly half a kilometer from this location. I require you to place it in one of the filters. And, Maka et al, I would advise you to STOP doing what you are doing. I can always put up more shutters, but I doubt you can bring back those who are to die because you refused to listen to me when I said NOT to try breaking down the shutters. Cease trying to break the shutters, and I will cease to kill civilians"

MEANWHILE

On the floor Dowan and Sylas was on, they would hear the intercom.

"Attention, attention. This thing working? Good. Anyways, Dowan, Sylas, I am currently speaking to you two, and you alone. I wish to make you an offer. You wish to beat me, correct? Well, if you wish, I can give you that power. No one would judge you for taking the offer. I am, after all, a monster. A vicious, cruel monster who deserves, no, NEEDS to die. So, I could give you the power to best me, to best all like me, the power to fight evil like no other. All you have to do is ask."

Sylas took a ragged breath, looking up at Dowan and discreetly mouthing. "Trust me..." He then cleared his throat. "What, Ignatius?"

The 6 of them stopped, back away from the shutter. The weapon glowed, turning into their normal human forms. Kid made his way down the stairs with a jar with the ring inside, looking at the assembled group. Liz and Patti stood behind him, looking unsure. He looked towards the door. "Let's go."

"Take one of the rings, one of the larger ones that look funny compared to the others. Place it upon your hand. Embrace a madness of a different sort."

Of course, doing so would connect their mind DIRECTLY to that of the Prime Ring. Which would then drive them so far beyond sane it wasn't even funny.

Meanwhile, the basement construct would cease to slay the hospital dwellers, and the shutters for exiting the building would rise.

Sylas looked for one of the larger rings, finding one and looking down at it. "Dowan... Go downstairs. This is going to be...bad." She nodded, looking worried but turning and heading down to the first floor.

His echo appeared beside him, the physical manifestation of his madness. For the first time, he looked worried. "Are you sure you can do this?" Sylas shook his head. "No, but you can." To the cameras it would appear that he was talking to himself.

There was a shift in him, his back stiffening for a moment before he relaxed, giving a too wide grin. When he spoke, the twinge of cockney had returned. "Ignatius, you devious son of a bitch, I hope you're ready for a taste of your own medicine!" Then, with much gusto, Sylas reached down and scooped up the ring.

Dowan met the others outside, saying nothing and receiving worried looks, but Kid pushed the group on, towards the water treatment plant.

OOC: Now it gets interesting...

(OOC: Considering that Mad!Sylas is about to be in direct communication with a living brown note/sealed eldritch abomination in a can, yeah, going to get very interesting. Gimme a mo to type, the Rings voice style is...different.)

Sylas would begin to hear a voice. A voice that was most definitely NOT Inkers. A horrible voice. A inhuman voice. A very, very unpleasant voice.

Human you-shoud-noT-Have-taken-This-RING.  PRePare To have your mind consumed by MADNESS THE LIKES OF WHICH YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN.

".....You should not have done that. You should not have listened to me. For whatever it is worth, I'm sorry. I truly am."

Of course, if Sylas was quick/lucky enough, he might be able to throw away the ring before it started to mind rape him.

MEANWHILE

Tracking the water treatment plants group was a single construct, which used the shadows to remain unseen as it tracked them.

(OOC: I would REALLY advise throwing the ring away. The thing using it to speak to Sylas is .... unpleasant. You know how Inker likes to play headgames? This thing is worse[READ: Eldritch Abomination] and, as long as Sylas is touching that ring, it has DIRECT. ACCESS. to his soul. Which is not a good thing.)

OOC: Are you ready for the deepest secrets of my main character?

There was a shift inside Sylas. A world appeared inside him, a reflection of his soul. In a grand throne sat his mad self, looking at the horrifying blob before him. And he did what one wouldn't be expected to do in this situation. He laughed.

The Mad King stood, approaching the monstrosity, leering at it. After a moment, he laughed again. "Oh, this is RICH. Pathetic! You call this an assault? You have so much to learn about toying with a mans soul. Now I... I can play his soul like the most beautiful harp. You? A child beating a tambourine..."

The scene shifted, becoming a desolate wasteland, and the madness changed its form, becoming not unlike the monstrous form Asura had once taken. But still, it spoke with the voice of Sylas, albeit twinged by an accent. "I am a remnant of the first kishin, you pathetic ooze. I wormed my way into this boys soul when he was 8 years old, and over the past decade and a half I have gorged myself on him. This is my dominion. Only one madness will have the soul of Sylas Hammer, and it will be MINE!" Sylas's body slowly started to crush the ring, his cloak of madness appearing in a blaze of black/red soul force. "MINE!"

Sylas would find himself unable to crush the ring, and both he and the mad king would hear laughing.

you kishin are a mere quirk of this universes physics. paracites at best. would you like to know what i am?

With that, images would flash through their mind. Horrible images. Sun exploding, planets dying, entire GALAXIES withering away. As well as other things. Strange non-eulcidian creatures engulfing entire planets, things that would erase humans from existence, thousands of horrors that could not and SHOULD not be named.

i am older than your entire universe. i have seen entire races rise and fall, and yet i remain. i am the alpha, i am the omega. i am the multiversal constant.

in other words, both you and your meister repulse me. all of humanity repulse me. this entire universe repulses me. and when i escape this ring, i will destroy it in its entirety. but in the mean time, lets play a game. first, let me set things up so that you cannot get rid of me

With that, Sylas would find the ring burning him, burning him badly, melting into his hand, and causing the flesh around it to regrow, trapping the ring in his hand.

there we go. now, onto the fun and games. you will have realized by this point that manipulating flesh is fairly easy for me, correct? tell me, a sound soul resides in a sound blank in a sound blank. if you answered a sound mind in a sound brain, you are correct. now, tell me, for a creature to whom flesh is like soft putty, how might this be exploited to bring a person to true madness?  

The mad king grinned as the ting began to burn into him, laughing as the flesh grew over his hand. "Tell me, monster. Do you know what Sylas can do so amazingly well?" His body moved quickly, small axe blades and pointed spear growing on his other hand before digging into the flesh, tearing nerves and skin and muscle apart until hints of the ring began to show. "Regenerate. Now, you mentioned true madness. Clearly you have never stood before a true kishin. Nay, I assume you have only ever met those humans who would become kishin given time... TRUE MADNESS IS ME, YOU WORM!" The rage contained in that singular statement felt like it had the power to render worlds barren and extinguish suns, and all the while Sylas's body dug one hand into the other.

The group reached the entrance to the water treatment facility, all looking grim. Regardless, they pushed the gate open, continuing on.

...am i supposed to be impressed? i literally have enough hate within me to destroy the unverse if i ever escape. while your power is quite impressive, for a being of terrestrial origin, it is still only the power of a terrestrial organism. i literally see very little difference between how your mind and the others work. anyways, prepare to have your soul corrupted and the body you possess warped. i am forming the tumor as we speak. and, because it is made up of his own cells, it will inherit his healing powers. because it is i making it, it will give off my own madness. hatred. he will slowly be driven to hate everything that exists in this universe, including yourself and himself. the instability will, eventually, cause him to explode as his soul implodes on itself. but i am willing to make a deal. i will give you your own body, using his cells and my hosts ink. your power would be considerable. all you have to do is ask.


MEANWHILE

The water treatment facility was strangely.....silent.

There was a war going on in Sylas. He could feel the tumor, and the indecisiveness of his other half. It was time to intervene. Over top of where they were meeting, a bright light flared, his soul bursting with released power. He spread his hand out, carving a hole around where the ring had been in his hand, a lump of meat falling down onto the floor. His fingers grew long pointed ends, digging into where he felt the tumor now stagnating after being cut off from its host source. The spear ripped into his stomach, tearing out another bundle of flesh, even as he descended onto the confrontation. "I'm sorry, but I've been a host to someone before. Never again..." The presence of the creature began to grow smaller as he continued to tear out the diseased flesh. "He's happy where he is, and you're unwelcome. I look forward to killing you at some point, or just locking you away somewhere..."

fool. you might think you have won, but we will meet again.....

With that, the voice faded into nothingness.


".......Well, glad to see you resisted it. Did better than me, at any rate. Trust me, though. Avoid doing that again. You just got lucky. I doubt IT will be so generous next time. Anyways, if I were you, I would go inform your wife what just occurred. She is most likely worried sick."

(OOC:What, no post for the characters at the water treatment facility?)