[Main] Down For The Count

[SadistPoet]

New years day...
January 1st, 2032

Within the Neon District and Intermediate District people found relief in that it was a new year. They all took a collective sigh of relief as they made resolutions, and left behind the bad. Humanity as a whole had become more lively and vocal about the New Year holiday due to recent uncertainty in the world. In recent memory, several people have mutated developing dangerous powers, a world war just ended, a hero died (with mass suicides following), magical girls run freely, and the predicted end of the world never came. These events gave humanity the lesson that their days are numbers, well almost everyone heeded this lesson. There is a minority of humans who could be considered not human at all. Those who survive clinging to the outer edges of the very lowest of society. Humanity has many names for these people: degenerate, scum, hoodlum are a few examples. Now, even these low-born failures can find some comfort in the New Year, after-all they are still hollow-shells of "humans." Something beneath them pays no heed to the New Year.

The degenerates, scum, and hoodlums have come to find someone beneath them, The Downers. Within the Outer Zone their is one universal rule: never trust a downer. Now some privileged outsider, who has never seen the horrors of living, may say that The Downers are misunderstood. Maybe they have a point, but that possible truth does not change the reality that Downers live their lives in existential horror - a constant loop of addiction. No-one could reach them to cure them, for their addiction was beyond human rehab, and all Downers knew they would and die chasing a high. This was the fate of all Downers...



Our little band of fun, The Daughters of Paper, were attending a weekly get-together between Downers where they exchange information, drugs, and other viceful items to 'help' each-other out. It was business as usual, until they came.

"Happy New Year!" A man yelled in declaration, and then an explosion blew the wall to the meeting place open. This was no normal detonation, a copper plated bomb had been used and it bathed half the room in molten metal. In one moment, at-least twenty twenty downers met their fate. They were beyond help as they writhed in agony as their skin sizzled and peeled from their bodies. Men geared up in the latest technology triumphantly marched through the hole in the wall without fear, all of their faces obscured by various Halloween masks, "Welcome to culling!" They began to open fire without hesitation, mercy, or consideration. Maybe the Downers would be able to do something other than run if some accursed technology was not hyper-accelerating withdrawal in nearby Downers. Some girls with addictions to methamphetamine collapsed to the ground, and began to pick at their own arms. Others with addictions to opiates began to experience violent seizures. Thankfully, the Daughters of Paper only experienced a glancing blow from the device, yet enough to make them begin to feel withdrawal.

They were forced to flee the building into the frigid, below zero, Super Detroit winter. A light snow-fall had begun, but was steadily picking up, and would possibly escalate into a full-blown blizzard. They did not make it even thirty seconds before those dark-figures, shades, began to cloud their vision. The Daughters of Paper fleeing as a group suddenly had the ground open up beneath them, swallowing them whole.

Now they were in absolute darkness, in some sort of steel chamber, withdrawal beginning to set in, and with the dark shades floating around them. The ground beneath them felt metallic, and the air smelled strongly of iron. It was warm inside here, and if they were quiet for a moment, clawing on metal could be heard.

 

[LoliCowboy]

Esme crouched in the dark, heart racing. Dammit, she thought. Dammit, dammit dammit! She listened to the scraping noise as best she could with her aching ears, shivering. Impressions of light danced behind her eyelids, ghostly echoes of the explosions. Thank god her vice wasn't a drug. She thought of the girls she'd seen going through horrible withdrawals. As it stood, she just felt... twitchy. Her mind cleared slightly. That was it. This was a game. She just had to treat it like a game, and she could cheat it. How long had she been doing this for? The cheating? Surely she could find some flaw, some integral weakness in their situation. She gritted her teeth.

This was how they survived. They cheated.

All through their time at the orphanage they had cheated to get the odds and ends they needed, or simply wanted. Extra dessert, trinkets, even spare pillows for their beds. Lahiti played the games, Esme pulled the strings. Even after they were adopted out, they had worked together, masterminding a gambling operation that had kept them alive on the streets. They had survived the orphanage, survived everything after. Survived that damned juvenile detention center. Together. She was the brains of it, she was sure. Especially after what had happened. After what Lahiti did, after their father -

No. Now was not the time.

"Lala!" She whispered harshly, as loudly as she dared. "If you're here, tell me exactly how likely it is that we make it out of here." She paused, drawing on an internal well of strength. "I'll do what I can to even the odds." She sunk her nails into her arms. I am not. Scared. Not scared. There's no time. What a way to start the new year. So much hope, quashed in an instant. She chuckled grimly. What else did she expect? They were downers, for fuck's sake. Down on their luck from the beginning, doomed to failure.

Thankfully, luck was their specialty.

 

[ElenaIsCool]

Kate Nanya

Condition: Fucking confused
Location: No idea
Status: Activated Bandit's eye



It was a normal shitty day in the SupBase. Kate woke up to the sound of Zoe Zombie's wake up call, got dressed, had something to munch on, and got ready to leave. She had left Kaneez and Whina in control while she attended the weekly meeting, her ribbons tied on the sister's wrists was proof of that. When she got back, they would celebrate the second anniversary of their gang, with partying and such.

The weekly meeting between the downers was going on as usual. The smell of smoke filled the air, some drugs were exchanged, light chatter and the occasional shoving here and there. The time to 'help out' other fellow downers with their vices. Unfortunately, Kate's vice can't be 'helped' just like that. No object given to her could give her the thrill of mugging someone. She had to do it by herself and she preferred it that way. Kate had managed to pickpocket many Downers before a sound rang her ears

"Happy New Year!"

After that, an explosion. The damn thing disrupted the meeting and made her drop most of her new 'catch'. Running outside to face the cold, Kate was glad she always kept a coat on, but her relief was short-lived when those dark things, Shades, appeared, closer than ever, then she felt like being swallowed whole with the rest of the Daughters Of Paper.

When she came to her senses, the darkness still remained although it was warmer and some annoying sound of metal scratching(?) could be heard

Kate heard Esme ask her sister something, she couldn't care less what it was. The raven decided to activate her Bandit's Eye ability to see the objects around the and their location, while putting uo her eye patch to show a glowing, scarred red eye.

Spoiler: Kaneez and Whina

Kaneez




Whina

 

[Kitt]

| Kaoru Ikeda |

Initially, Kaoru wasn't entirely too upset at the chaos that had erupted around her. The scent of burning flesh was simply tantalizing, and she subconsciously licked her lips. All she had to do was slink away, hide until the "culling" was over. Mmm~! This will be so much fun! All of that meat! Nngh... just the idea is... ahh~! She clung to herself, digging her nails into her own skin in order to calm herself down. Not yet, Kaoruuu.. You have to hide first! She and the rest of the girls dashed outside into the abhorrently cold weather, and were almost immediately swallowed up by the ground.

Ah.. This doesn't seem like it'll be very much fun.

Kaoru landed on her feet, sharp pain shooting up from her ankles from the rough landing. "Owww... that huuuurt..." She rose slowly, rubbing her sore tailbone from her unfortunate squat landing. The silence of their new location made Kaoru acutely aware of the scent of blood in the air, which made her aware of how... hungry she was. Another lick of her lips. Esme began whispering to her sister, calling out for her. Kaoru smiled, remembering her own sister. It would be neat to have her here too... her vice would probably be something lame, though. Like video games or something. So useless~! She was tasty though... mmm... so hungry... It was all she could think about, and she reached for the knife holstered in her garter. Making a slice across her scar-ridden forearm, she eagerly lapped up her own blood, and let out a shudder of pleasure.

"Hey, hey, hey~!! Any injuries? Any wounds? Bleeding? Anyone bleeding? ...Does anyone want to bleed? I'm hungry, hungry, hungry~!!"

​

 

[InsaneAsylum]

LahitiCurrently looking for Esme.​

Trying to find Esme in all the madness was horrifying. Between all the ear piercing gunshots, screams, frozen winds, and eventual pitch blackness made it impossible to track Esme down. She let her out of her eye-sight for one second and this happened. It felt like only seconds ago that she and her sister were celebrating together after having survived for so long. It was all about to end in a flash. They let their guard down for a little too long, and now they were paying for it. Lala never liked hanging around the other downers because they just seemed like trouble and danger. The pickpocket girl knew to avoid her because Lala checked the probabaility of the girl stealing from Esme often. The person-eater girl was scary, because she was always talking about eating people. Lala asked Esme if just killing her was a good idea but Esme punished her for saying things like that in front of everyone. The rest weren't too terrible in Lala's eyes, but she didn't like them to any positive degree.

"E-Esme?" Lahiti called out in the darkness.

"Esme!" She stumbled forward, her hands held out as she tried to find her sister. Lala's legs hurt from the fall. She landed roughly and she couldn't put all her weight on her right leg.

'Esme?!" Protecting Lala like this wouldn't be easy. She might burden her now.

"E-E-Esme!" Maybe she already left her behind, knowing she statistically wouldn't handle the fall well. Lala's mind was spinning, and she nearly fell to the ground. She tried to see probabilities around her, but she couldn't see anything beyond a couple of the chances of her own movements failing.

Suddenly Esme's voice called out in the darkness, asking for the probability they make it out of the dark place.

"ESME!" Lala cheered out excitedly. She hurried toward the sound of her voice, a wide smile on her face.

"Oh uh... I'm sorry. I can't.... I can't uhm......" Lala couldn't see that probability at the moment. "Those people messed me up so I can't see that many probabilities... I'm really sorry! I'll be more careful next time! Next time we'll be ready and kill all of them instead how about that! I'll do it for you too! J-just... I'm sorry..." Lala's voice burst with ferocity for a moment before returning to a feeble submissive tone as she begged Esme for forgiveness. Failing at a time like this was unacceptable. She still reached her hands out, hoping to rest her hands on Esme to confirm that she was indeed there.

 

[Sacrosanctis]

Helen eyed the room-full of Downers dispassionately. Her boredom made it particularly difficult to keep her lips arched into a small smile, her eyelids, brows, and cheekbones all carefully positioned from her natural poker face. It was easy enough not to stand out in the crowd of junkies; they seemed to form their own social cliques, bartering for different tools and talking among each other. As for her, there weren't any items she could obtain that would satisfy her vice, so she preferred to keep quiet until she could have her own fun later.

Recent events had created a note of fear throughout Detroit, and its people used New Year's Day as a temporary reprieve from their anxiety. Helen didn't even begin to understand their relief; as far as she was concerned, making resolutions was pointless when one could simply follow through on necessary actions immediately, and any existing threats wouldn't happen to disappear because they were in a festive mood. That day was a day like any other.

That's what Helen was thinking just as the meeting room was abruptly bathed in molten metal. She relaxed the muscles in her face as she eyed the visitors, and a wave of contentment washed over her as her nose was filled with the scent of burning flesh and several desperate cries rang through the air. In the first few moments, she did not feel endangered at all, and even felt that the invaders had given her a generous gift. The brilliantly agonized death cries of some of the Downers in the room was the icing on the cake, and the fact that the attacking men seemed to have no special abilities filled her with anticipation. Their foolish assault would cease at the hands of the dozens of girls with the powers of Downers, and as long as they had the sense to abduct them, Helen would soon have her way with them.

The men called out as they triumphantly marched through the hole in the wall, filling many targets with bullets. Helen had already put herself into a sprinting position, ready to spring towards the masked men and quell their numbers before trying to capture a torture victim. She forced herself to stop as she strained to use her power and realized that the Downers closest to the men were all running away. Her excitement quickly vanished and was replaced with annoyance as she realized that withdrawal was settling in at an advanced rate. She retreated from the building alongside her fellow Daughters of Paper, puffs of breath visibly forming in the frigid air as her feet clapped against the ground at a steady rate. She rarely let her guard down, which made it extremely difficult to surprise her, but even her heart skipped a beat as one of her footfalls seemed to crash straight through the solid earth. Her vision swirled as the world descended into absolute darkness, and she braced for impact with the cold, hard ground as she twisted her body sideways.

Helen stood slowly as she assessed the situation. She did some small stretches, measuring the amount of damage her body took with the fall. She looked up towards the crumbling dirt and snow that drifted into the cavern they'd dropped into; the light from above was barely visible, and it was clear that they had dropped quite far. She let her eyes adjust to the darkness as she looked towards her teammates, counting the amount of people that were with her. For a moment, her eyes flickered in each direction, but she allowed her alarm to fade when the shadows dancing in her peripheral vision didn't seem to pose a threat.

Helen hadn't realized how starved she was for schadenfreude. Normally, she had no reason to give her allies trouble, but she couldn't resist the temptation to rapidly intercept Lahiti, slipping between her and Esme and grasping her hand with a literal iron grip. She squeezed enough to cause the timid girl pain, and she smiled sweetly while speaking with a cheery voice.

"Aww, do you feel bad for failing to protect your dear sister? Well, it serves you right! You are a failure, after all. How does it feel, being useless? I couldn't imagine having a sister that's worse than trash!"

Just spouting as many insults as she could while causing the girl pain felt therapeutic. To Helen, squeezing Lahiti's hand was the same as though another person were being given a tight hug. If the girl reacted in pain and guilt, it would make her feel mentally soothed in turn.

 

[Servant]

​

Back during the meeting with the other Downers Riley had chosen to offer her services to those who could afford it, after all proper medical care was a rare sight around those parts. The night appeared to be a fruitful one, until during the final check-up when an ear-piercing explosion broke through the silence and resulted on her patient's face to be covered in molten steel, her screams of agony muffled as the liquid burned its way through to her skull. They don't teach you how to deal with that in medical school, I'll tell you that much. Riley payed little mind to her aggressors and as the shots began lighting up the room she was able to exit building. As she rendezvoused with her fellow Daughters of Paper to attempt their escape Riley knew something was different...Was it the exposure to the frozen winds of winter? No, it was a long lost feeling that she yearned to forget: Withdrawal. Before she could properly process what was going on the ground beneath the group suddenly gave in, plummeting the girls into the depths of Detroit.

Due to the unexpected nature of the event Riley wasn't able to properly react to the fall and thus her landing was less than gracious, and by that I mean her torso and face took the blunt of the damage. With the air being knocked out of her lungs and a trail of blood making its way from her nostrils onto the floor all Riley could do was add to the groans that filled the air. With the little clarity that had built up after seconds of "resting" on the floor Riley was able to activate Hippocrates' Blessing, her eye becoming a dim source of light on otherwise complete and utter darkness. As she observed everyone's bone and muscle structures Riley remembered that due to the effects of withdrawal any wounds her companions may have had would not be highlighted, an audible and sharp "Fuck." escaping her lips upon reaching this realization.

Riley only began incorporating herself once she felt around her own torso to ensure everything remained in place and no further damage would be caused by her sudden movements. Everything seemed fine, save for her blood gushing nose, though that could wait for the time being. One final view of the situation with Hippocrates' Blessing before turning it off made Riley come to the conclusion that they all seemed alive, though injuries were a definite probability.

Three large large plasters, four small ones. Two gauze sponges. A single used roll of crepe bandages, good enough to properly wrap three limbs. A bottle of distilled water, 327mL left. A single pack of frozen gel that was already leaking. A partially used tablet of heavy-duty painkillers, five pills remained. A pair of used scissors. Through the complete darkness that had engulfed the group Riley was still able to discern these as the remaining medical supplies as she rummaged through her bag, most of which had been used up during the meeting. A gelid chill ran up Riley's back as she desperately kept looking for more supplies to simply no avail. Distraught by the realization of the predicament they were in Riley simply held her head and briefly drifted away from Esme's and Lahiti's pleads for each other, Kaoru's crazed requests for blood and Helen's amusing yet worthless taunts.

"Oh gracious God that sees all...Could it be that you've abandoned your faithful lamb? The one that has followed your mission of salvation with the upmost care? Have I failed you my oh so gracious God?...No. That's impossible. But of course, I see it so clearly. I understand now oh so gracious God, I truly do. This is a test, isn't it? A test to ensure I can keep up with my mission even through the most dire of situations. My oh so gracious God, I knew you wouldn't leave me behind like that, rest assured that these parasites that leech off your blessing to them will remain safe."

With her faith restored Riley briefly giggled to herself before addressing her fellow Daughters of Paper, her demeanor being affected by withdrawal:
"Should any of you lowly mongrels require medical assistance I advice, nay, order you to step forth. Your savior is still here."
​

​

 

[SadistPoet]

Underground

All of the Downers by this point would be not able to use their abilities to an efficient level. Withdrawal either inhibited a Downer's ability to use their abilities, or outright canceled it. None-the less, the girls were little more than a bunch of run-of the mill junkies and freaks at the moment. The darkness continued to persist for a few moment until suddenly several lights flicked to life showing the true size of the chamber they were in. It was at-least three-hundred feet upwards with light dying out before any roof could be seen. This made it clear that the girls had not fell into here by any traditional means. They were located on one platform with several different catwalks connecting them to an interweaving network of other platforms. The thing that would shock the girls the most was the object contained within the center with several catwalks surrounding it.

Within the center of the chamber, tall enough, and large enough to easily dwarf some of the tallest buildings in existence was a hulking creature. It appeared to be humanoid and bipedal in nature. Its entire body was covered in black armored-plates that coated it with a mild resemblance to a 15th century Knight. If one was not looking upwards, it would appear this hulking bio-mechanical behemoth was standing perfectly still. If one allowed their eyes to travel upwards, they would meet its gaze. Two glowing red orbs of light for eyes stared back down to the party of junkies. The behemoths mouth opened to speak, but instead of mimicking the humans voice mouth - it instead remained agape to transmit noise.

"T h ose f r o m m is fortune
d o no t f e a r me -
I a m on l y in t erested in t h ose
m o r e for tunate."

It almost sounded as if the behemoths voice was never meant to be heard by human ears. Yet, it had some sort of feminine quality to its tone. Amidst all of the psychic noise it appeared to have some sort of definite human quality to its voice.

"A sce nd t o th e sur fa ce
A nd b e spared -
N e w pur pos e a waits."

A pheromone was released from the behemoth that sated all of the girls addictions. They were no longer suffering from withdrawals.

"D ie i n th i s to m b
A n d
be com e f o od
to s at iate
me."

The catwalks running across the area all appeared to head to different entrances. One was glowing with light, one was pitch darkness, and another appeared to be a swirling spatial distortion of sorts.

 

[LoliCowboy]

"Don't touch my sister you-" Esme began to say, but stopped as the lights came on. She gasped, the hulking figure in the center of the room now illuminated. What the hell, she mouthed to herself. This couldn't be real. She had seen some unnatural shit, but this... This took the cake alright. She looked to lock eyes with Lala as the creature spoke. She shuddered. Live or die. Those options, she supposed, were fairly standard for her type. The Downers. This was just a little more intense. A lot more intense. She subconsciously reached for Lala's free hand.

Her gaze roved from her sister to the three entrances before them. Light, darkness, and something else. Unworldly. They obviously had to press on. They just had to figure out how.

She felt something inside her fading; that twitch, that monster starved for satiation. She hadn't realized, amidst the chaos, how much it twisted at her guts until it was gone. And in its absence, that familiar buzzing in her mind, that knowledge that she could do more. "Lala," she said, louder this time. "I need to know where to go. What the chances are of us getting out for all of these... things. Directions." She squeezed her hand, lowering her voice. "You feel it, don't you? We are strong again. A team. And you won't fail me again, will you love?" She smiled sweetly, but it was laced with something else. Like a sugary coating on the rim of a poisoned drink. "You certainly wouldn't let me down, would you?"

She knew her sister wouldn't. She loved her too much. Such a bitter, cruel thing that love. It kept her back broken, wound so tightly she was around Esme's finger. Perhaps, Esme thought, she should feel bad for manipulating her the way that she did. And then, then there was that reminder of everything lost. This girl, this person that she called family, was the reason she didn't have one. The reason their father was dead.

So, no. She would not fail her again.

 

[dazzling]

Ciara Milne
Cold still bit at Ciara's arms. Or rather, her bare arms were a battlefield between frost and flecks of molten metal. She was tempted to feel bad but any time the thought crossed her mind the lingering scent of burning flesh in her nostrils was restored anew, bringing back fresh pictures of the people who happened to be a bit too close. But there was something she could mope about; The insatiable itching climbing up and down her arms like a colony of ants. The painful tingling telling her to run. The sensation that her eyes were about to pop out of her head if she didn't find what she was looking for.

Bits of snow pecked at her arms and started to intermingle with the small pieces of shrapnel. The line between burning and freezing became harder and harder to distinguish until it was all just a blur of pain and discomfort with her beating footsteps running on in the background. She could see flashes of color next to her. Was that someone? Were those people? I have to keep my eyes ahead.

When the ground lurched towards her and black clouded her vision, Cy thought she fell. The voices and movements around her swirled in a buzzing haze. She was swimming through static, her feet far above the cold metal ground and drifting through crawling shreds of black and white. But the blurry dream fell was swept away to reveal more dark and clear, familiar voices. Ciara whipped towards the clearest one, but her view was met with metal and as it traveled up two eerily glowing red circles.

The voice that filled her ears made her want to gauge her eyeballs out. It hurt. Grabbing her ears, she gritted her teeth and pinned her gaze to the floating red. "No, no, no, no," She whispered, but before she could continue a breath of fresh air was shot into her lungs. It felt like the world was painted anew, with everything thrown into HD. The words hanging in the air turned into names in her mind and they brought a sense of comfort.

Cold light flooded her eyes and she found a trio of paths in front of them. Her hands knitted together in front of her and her eyes darted around the room. The intense series of emotions she had just been thrown through left her in a sort of shock, a tantalizing tingling climbing up and down her limbs. Ciara looked down at herself, almost expecting to feel the ground swaying under her. She looked back up and glanced around, her eyes stinging from the harsh light. "So, what little predicament do we find ourselves in now?"

 

[Servant]

​

"A sce nd t o th e sur fa ce
A nd b e spared -
N e w pur pos e a waits."

The fatal warning that laid beyond these words fell upon deaf ears as Riley inhaled the pheromone. She was subsequently assaulted by the fascinating and vivid imagery of a girl's skin peeling off her body due to molten steel, revealing the sturdy skeletal insides, a perfect recreation of the scene that had taken place during the downer meeting. She felt reborn. Despite these aiding actions though no signs of gratefulness were displayed by the young downer and instead a wicked expression was painted across Riley's face as she stared down the massive behemoth that stood before herself and her patients, studying every corner of the being's intricate bodily structure with her sight. Such a spectacular specimen would surely house organs of equal proportions, would it not? Riley could feel her knees weakening at the mere thought of unleashing the secrets that awaited for her inside the massive creature. Not only that, she also fantasized about researching whatever it had released into the air that had satiated her withdrawal in order to harvest it and further assist her patients. Instinctively, Riley took a single step forward towards the beast before the familiar taste of iron reached her mouth, her nose was still bleeding deeply. Giving the behemoth one final look Riley wiped the blood off her face and once she realized the bleeding had eased she turned towards the now lit up images of her patients, her focus being planted on Ciara as she began talking.

"So, what little predicament do we find ourselves in now?"

"Ah, extraordinary perception Miss Milne, and here I thought you'd display a lack of awareness similar to that of our beloved companions." Riley spoke softly as she subtly motioned towards the sisters. Before continuing she pinched her own cheeks with all the strength she could muster. "It'd seem my initial theories of a concussion causing a false reality as I lay unconscious on the ground are false and this is, as the youth say, the real deal. Delightful, is it not?" Riley redirected her attention towards the three doors, pondering on the choice and the monster's words briefly before addressing the group as a whole. "Need I not remind you, my dearest patients, of the reason why we ended up in this predicament. Returning to the surface will only result in a bullet planting itself firmly inside of our heads and as a professional I can assure you the only medical benefits that brings is that of a swift cure to the stupidity some of you oh so fervently display, though I am sure Miss Ikeda and Miss Lorenz will enjoy the brief moments of witnessing our brains scattering across the ground before their untimely demise. In other words, I beseech you to make the right choice, for the grace of God allows me to only aid you only so much. As for myself, the dark entrance appears to be the most enticing option." ​

​

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Lahiti​

Esme's words reached deep into Lala's heart, rejuvenating her will to live as Lala embraced her sister in a big bear hug. "Yes yes! We are a strong team! I will not fail you ever again! Now, let me see about these doors. Or maybe we can kill the big monster thing talking to us... or... uh..." Lala noticed she had a zero percent chance of being able to destroy whatever it was above her. Even with the high powered revolver she possessed, it seemed it meant nothing to it. Surely if they needed to Esme could change the chances and make this thing die... right?

Lala hadn't paid the giant statue person much attention before now. She was far too busy wallowing in her worries about Esme hating her. Now she realized she was quite afraid of it. It was something she didn't believe she could protect Esme from. Lala trembled with fear as she hugged Esme, before remembered what she had been ordered to do. She spun around Esme, now wrapping her arms around the green haired girl's stomach from behind. Lala looked over Esme's shoulder at each door.

"Uhm... so for the dark scary door we have a 4% chance of surviving. For the bright shiny door we have a 1% chance to survive, and for the weird uh... space door, we have a 2 % chance to survive." Lala stated all of this quite calmly, before suddenly realizing just how low the chances were. "Esme Esme! Let's go through the light one! If we make it through alive it'll so won-der-ful!" Lala squeezed Esme's belly and nuzzled her chin into Esme's neck. "We can do we can do it! You can make it so we win! We can always win! You are the best thing ever and that's why I love you! But wait, we aren't going to bring the rest of them with us... right? I don't want them slowing us down..." Lala whispered the last bit, staring daggers at the girl who had been crushing her hand moments ago. "Maybe if we just shoot them now we can save us the trouble for la-" Lala's whispering was cut off by something speeding past the corner of her eye. She quickly let go of Esme and drew her revolver. However, she didn't see anything anymore. "Are there spiders down here? I'll keep all the spiders away from you Esme!"

 

[Sacrosanctis]

Helen dropped her smile and looked into the other girls' faces, squinting as she read their expressions. Something inside her felt warm when she saw their intimidated reactions, and she released Lahiti's hands to look towards whatever got their attention. She measured up the behemoth, trying to figure out if the hints of flesh that protruded from its metallic body indicated signs of life. As she locked eyes with the colossal beast, she began to feel uneasy, wondering if it was hostile or not. She instinctively blared her teeth as the thing seemed to speak, transmitting an inhuman message directly into her mind without moving its mouth. It was unnerving.

She relaxed her tense muscles in reaction to the pheromones, her face returning to its neutral state. There was no feeling more uncomfortable than withdrawal, and Helen was relieved that she no longer had to suffer from it. She didn't care much for what the damn thing was, so long as it continued to satiate her sadistic impulses. With her mood restored, Helen felt comfortable returning to her "normal" behavior, perking up and giving Riley a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about it! The men on the surface probably got bored and are long gone by now. Also, going through the dark entrance sounds like a lovely idea."

She listened to Lahiti's report on their chances of success through each escape route. She changed her sweet smile to an apologetic one as the girl glared at her. "I'm so sorry about what I said to you, that was really rude of me." Of course, Helen didn't feel sorry at all, but she shifted her tone and body language to make it sound like she was being genuine. She gave the girl a curious look when she suddenly drew her revolver. "Did you notice the flashes of darkness that are moving around us? They probably are rats or spiders. I don't like bugs at all, but don't you think rats can be kind of cute? Anyway, you shouldn't waste bullets on something trivial like that." She flashed a small smile before enveloping her right hand in shifting metal. She was satisfied to see that her power was in good order, turning from sludge to the solidified form of a sword. "I'm more concerned about those abysmally low percentages. Do you guys think that something is going to attack us?" Helen briefly envisioned the screams of terror that would echo throughout the enormous chamber if any of the girls were to be suddenly killed. The thought was amusing.

 

[dazzling]

Ciara Milne
Ciara's face was in a twisted pout, her eyebrows furrowed together and lips plumped and parted. She was very aware of this rather unnatural reaction-- It was just her instinct to make a cute little face even when a strange girl was talking to her in a dark room with swirling bad things that would probably kill them in the case they tried to even get near them. Cute face or not, the truth remained that the only thing Cy understood from Riley's monologue was her name. "Thank you, Ri-" She paused, thinking back to the formal fashion Riley had addressed her in. "Miss Hoffman." A small smile crossed her face and she knotted her hands in front of her.

Lahiti started talking, and the percentages she listed out made Cy's little smile flop right upside-down. Ciara hadn't known her to be wrong. Esme was really there only chance now. 4% wasn't good, and 4% with a group of people was even worse. When the master-predictor turned to her sister and began whispering while glaring less-than-warmly towards the rest of the group, Cy was quick to fill in the blanks. Her ears were sharpened from all those days of following little Brandon around and~ Well, she was pretty sure she hadn't heard the word revolver wrong.

So Ciara smiled and sided with Helen, who was quickly making amendments with the girl. "Ohhh, of course! See, Helen wouldn't hurt you! We're all sisters!" With this falsely positive statement her voice went up several keys, even cracking at the end, which made her grimace. How did Helen do it? Exhaling rather forcefully through her nostrils, she took a step away from Helen and looked down. Ciara let her voice revert to its normal, lower key, before speaking up again in a much more laid back tone. "Yeah, this one is tough. We'll need you of course, Esme, and probably should be prepared for a nice little surprise hiding in whichever highly-fatal path we choose to take. Hey, maybe it'll be gift wrapped!" Even at this small attempt at humour her voice betrayed her with a very discernible false tone.

She was less than comfortable in tense situations. After all, for her when it got tense she either felt so good and high that she could just wiggle her way out of it or she just ran. Now she had the only to choice to run-- But of course into a dark door with a dismally low chance of survival. The pheromones had at least helped make her feel like her skin wasn't making its way off her body, but her arm still sizzled with shrapnel and flecks of cold snow. Rubbing the arm as she thought about it Ciara gazed into the several paths. Honestly, she found none of them particularly appealing, nevermind the very possible chance of a most likely violent and gruesome death.

 

[ElenaIsCool]

Kate Nanya
Location: Underground maybe?


It wasn’t working, her Bandit’s eye wasn’t showing a thing. Kate felt herself growl. Withdrawal, she remembered. The reason she was feeling greedy. Riley was the closest. Maybe she had something on her like a syringe or something. She just wanted to take everything and keep it for herself.
Then the lights flickered on and Kate found herself staring at a giant behemoth thing with glowing red orbs. While fear began crawling on her back, one word crossed her mind

‘Holy Shit’

It’s ‘mouth’ moved and hung open and a voice rang in the raven’s ears. It was too loud, and was definitely not for delicate kid ears like hers. Kate rubbed her temples to try and reduce the pain. She really didn’t need a headache right then. The voice continued to talk and all of a sudden, she felt better, with her left eye having it’s glow restored to seeing the objects in the room, which weren’t interesting or many, sadly.

Kate sighed happily, putting her eyepatch back to the left eye before looking at the three paths they had to chose from. Black was on her top list, and the swirling portal thing came second.

"Need I not remind you, my dearest patients, of the reason why we ended up in this predicament. Returning to the surface will only result in a bullet planting itself firmly inside of our heads and as a professional I can assure you the only medical benefits that brings is that of a swift cure to the stupidity some of you oh so fervently display, though I am sure Miss Ikeda and Miss Lorenz will enjoy the brief moments of witnessing our brains scattering across the ground before their untimely demise. In other words, I beseech you to make the right choice, for the grace of God allows me to only aid you only so much. As for myself, the dark entrance appears to be the most enticing option."

To Riley’s monologue, Kate responded with the middle finger. Screw God, he probably had more problems than to deal with them. Riley should’ve been a poet. She’d di a wonderful job. People had a sick sense of art. She finally and artistically proclaimed that she was headed to the black entrance.

“Nah girl, take the white one. I’m sure it leads to Heaven”

Lahiti then became a clingy servant to her sister, yet again and even ready to waste some bullets on the big bad rats and spiders that threatened her oh so dear sister. It made her gag. Helen went on to mention rats were cute. Said the girl that probably eats them. No, that was Kaoru.

“Rats are okay, as long as they don’t take what’s mine. Also, I call dibs on making this shithole a base! Right after that.. thing is taken out of here”

Kate ssid, motioning to the giant behemoth . She looked back at the entrances and tries to register any objects with Bandit’s eye again, now that she felt thrilled and satiated

​

 

[Kitt]

| Kaoru Ikeda |

"You guys are no fun..."

While the withdrawals had ended for all of them, Kaoru was still interested in getting a snack or two. At Riley's quick jab at her, she giggled. "You're right, but I'm not personally interested in dying today. Wouldn't be too mad if you did, though! Wait, yeah I would. No more free food. So you have to stay alive. Helen, too. She's fun. The rest of you can die, I guess, you don't really benefit me in any way. Wait! Ciara is cool, too--" Her ramblings were cut off by Lahiti, who began listing off the probability of survival for all of the doors. 4%, 1%, and 2%. Those odds weren't so fun to work with, and Kaoru frowned, listening to the small quibbles the other girls were having, and then the false apologies. Helen's was pretty good, Ciara's was much weaker. She'd have to work on that if she wanted to keep hanging around this group of liars.

"So, so, so. So so so so so! I don't think I want to die with you all. I like the pretty door, but I GUESS the black one will work!" A spider scuttered in the corner of her eye, and she grinned. I wonder how spider tastes? Maybe I should go hunting, just for fun. Smoothing her dress out and running a hand through her hair, golden eyes glinted in what little light was present. "Heeeey~! I migggghhtttt... step away for a moment. The spiders and rats are all fun and good to look at, but I think we should actually deal with them before we keep going, okay~?" Sheathing her knife, Kaoru removed the studded bat that was slung across her back. She twirled it around for a bit, before slamming the base onto the ground, maintaining her grip.

"Well, girls? What are we going to do? If we don't take out a few of these vermin, they'll catch up to us in whatever pathway we take. Then we're really fucked~! So pick something! Perish in the doorway because of your carelessness and idiocy, or improve those odds and start killing shit! Or are you all too worthless and weak to take out a few spiders~? If that's the case, then maybe you should just do us all a favor and die right now. Give me a shout and I'll set that riiiiight up for you, okay~? Okay, okay, okay, okay~!?"​

 

[SadistPoet]

Underground Tomb

Kate utilized her bandit eye to better see through each of the doors. The spatial distortion and brightly lit door yielded no possible information about what could be on the other-side, but the room sheathed in darkness allowed her bandit eye to be of some use. She would spot a lone metallic humanoid-like figure in the center of the room. It appeared to be affixed to some sort of inclined-table. Several metallic straps held its arms, legs, and chest down on the inclined-table. Lining the walls of the dark room were racks of long-objects that seemed to be weapons, but the distance and darkness made it hard to discern their exact nature. It would be Kate's decision of whether or not she informed her companions of this information, but it seemed like they all were already headed towards the room from popular vote.

If the girls were to take one last look back at the towering behemoth it would be watching them intently. It appeared to be entirely aware of all their actions, and all the words they speak. Why was such a huge thing contained underground? More importantly, what did it want with them? It spoke of a new purpose for them on the surface, but what kind of purpose? Did it have friends waiting for them? Or was this all one big trick? Regardless, just waiting around would get them nowhere, so they pushed onward into the dark room.

The girls entering the dark room would have no-source of light if they did not have any ability to help them see in the dark. Once they all entered into the room the door behind them would seal sheathing them in absolute darkness. Silence would wash over the room for a moment before trashing noises could be heard from the center of the room. Kate would be able to see it was the metallic humanoid thing thrashing about on the table. It appeared to have been awoken by the girls entering the room.

Maybe there was a light-switch somewhere along the wall? Or perhaps one of the items along the wall would serve as some sort of use?

In the darkness, the thrashing ceased and a low metallic voice croaked out from the center of the table, "S e r va nts o f a s h - f r e e m e." It spoke in the same broken and odd manner that the huge behemoth from earlier utilized. Was this thing of a similar type? Same model, or species? Whatever it was - it wanted to be freed.

 

[ElenaIsCool]

Kate Nanya

Location: Dark Room

Kate’s Bandit’s Eye couldn’t show her anything on either the ‘Gateway to Heaven’ or the spiral portal thing but she could see a machine-like person on the black entrance. Kate narrowed her eyes



“Hey..Uh, bitches, there’s some robot-machine person on the black entrance. Just wanted to warn y’all. Also, stick with me, that is if you can’t see in the dark or don’t. I don’t give a fuck”



Kate, gun in hand, stepped into the room, her Bandit’s Eye making her able to see the objects and people in the dark. The preteen made her way through the room until she found the machine person from before, strapped to a table. Kate chuckled at the sight, even though it made her uneasy.



“Damn..Helen, did you do this?”



Kate glanced back at Helen with a grin, before another voice, the same as the red eyed giant monster thing, blasted into her ears.



Kate clutched her ears once again.



“Oh my Satan for all the things unholy Jesus MotherMaryfucking Christ! Think of them delicate ears some peeps have”



Kate sighed and processed what she had heard. Servants of Ash..? Who the hell was Ash?!



“Excuse me, Machine person, you got us wrong with the servant thing. We are servants of no one except for Lahiti who’s pretty much her sister’s, no wait, her slave and she’s too stupid to realize that. Also who’s Ash? Is that your friend over there?”



Kate gestured to the room they fell into, and raised a brow at the machine-person. She started to walk past them when a thought came into her mind



You can’t just leave them like that! Help them!



No, I won’t! Who knows what wahala or danger we’ll get into if we do?



Don’t you face danger everyday? Why’re you making a fuss now? Maybe they can give you some information



Hm..I suppose they can benefit us..Since they’ll owe us big time



That means you’re still kind enough to help them?



Not out of kindness! Cause it’ll benefit me- I mean, us.

Sure, whatever you say



Kate finished her internal argument and stared at the bonds. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, the raven took out her lock picking tools and knives and worked on the bonds

Fuck you Adanne

You’re welcome​

 

[LoliCowboy]

Esme stepped into the room, startling as she realized that it wasn't unoccupied. She growled as Kate spoke. "The fuck is your problem, bitch?" She asked in a low voice, and then, as the girl moved to free the whatever-the-hell-it-was, she almost shouted, "WHAT the FUCK?" She lunged forward to try to grab the other girl's wrist and stop her.

Idiot, idiot, idiot! They had no idea who or what this thing was and she wanted to set it free. Damn, she thought. I know we're a group of crazy people, but... this was crossing a line.

"Lala, darling," she said, voice tense. "How likely is this thing to hurt us? I'll lower it however much I can, but we need to THINK about this!" Her other hand darted to her thigh, upon which her own knife was strapped. She doubted she would face much opposition if this came down to a fight. Anyone in their right mind would see...

Ha. Anyone in their right mind. That was the flaw in her thinking, wasn't it? Nonetheless, she was going to try to keep herself and her sister safe. Sister. Not slave or servant. Hell, she was useful, and somewhat of a fool herself, but she was Esme's only family. The others could go, for all she cared, but she and Lala were going to make it out. No matter what that took.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Lala nodded vigorously as Esme requested another percentage. "Yes I'll think very hard about whether we should set him free! Let's see..." Lala looked towards where the voice in the dark had come from, depsite being unsettled at her lack of sight. All she could see was the percentage that whomever's voice it belonged to would harm them, as well as a few other unimportant statistics. "Oh! I see! It has a 40% chance of hurting us Esme!" Revolver still in hand, Lala aimed towards the voice, She adjusted her aim based on her percent chance of hitting that floated just above her gun until it was nearly one hundred percent. Lala didn't intend to take chances when it came to Esme's safety. If it had been her own or any of the other girls then it would be a different story. They didn't matter, only Esme mattered. Lala's arm began to shake and her finger brushed against the trigger. She should shoot it and save Esme now... right? Or was she not thinking? She was supposed to be smart now. Did Esme want to make her take a chance? Why did she want to play a game now?

As the probability of the voice hurting anyone began to lower, Lala maintained her aim. Depending on how low it dropped, and if they continued to try and free it, she'd fire. Esme told her to think things through, so she was doing her best to think the situation through and make a plan! Surely Esme would be proud of her quick thinking. Lala would be sure to ask her after she was done riddling the voice with bullets or not. However, after lowering briefly, the percentage suddenly shot up to 50! A gasp escaped Lala's mouth. Her arm began to shake and her finger brushed against the trigger. She should shoot it and save Esme now... right? Or was she not thinking? She was supposed to be smart now. Did Esme want to make her take a chance? Why did she want to play a game now?. "Esme why did you raise it? What're you doing Esme? Are we playing a game now Esme? I don't want you to get hurt Esme. Let's not raise it Esme!"

 

[Sacrosanctis]

Helen tensed as the group of girls walked into the pit of absolute darkness. She merely smiled and shook her head in response to Kate's joke. She giggled with delight as a figure that was apparently bound to a table in straps asked to be freed in its grating, scarcely intelligible voice. "This one looks like it's having fun. It would be discourteous to interrupt him, so I think it would be best to leave him be." Despite her words, she did more than simply ignore the thing. She raised her blade arm, pointing the weapon towards it and taking a cautious step forward. "If you understand what we're saying, stop your senseless squirming, or she"—she gestured towards Lala—"will put a bullet in your metal skull."

There was no way of knowing whether or not the thing was sentient. Was such technology even possible? Regardless, the best course of action would be to attempt to communicate with the mechanical threat. The fact that it wanted to be freed meant it could be willing to negotiate, and it was obvious who had the social upper hand in this situation. "We are no servants of ash, but we might release you if you cooperate. If not, then you'll die. The choice is yours." Helen wanted to have her fun; metal or not, watching the creature squirm against its restraints filled her with excitement at the possibilities. But there was no way of knowing if it could even feel physical or mental pain, and she also had no choice but to tread carefully based on the percentages that Lala had shared.