Racing the Storm

Serris · **Reply #80 on:** May 09, 2014, 01:11:21 PM

Soren rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Well, if you put it that way, then I guess I'm in."

He then turned to Tony. "She's doing inpatient treatment at the Corollis Clinic. She's not allowed to have visitors for the first 72 hours." The Human winced as his body's aches began to act up from Anne's beating when he told her that she needed to go to rehab. Luckily, the rebound effect from the drugs in her system quickly wore off and he was able to get her to voluntarily check herself into the clinic.

Pterano · **Reply #81 on:** May 09, 2014, 02:33:13 PM

"Good... thanks guys... I'll make this up to you somehow... I don't know how yet but... I'll think of something. I promise." Vergil told them sincerely. "Sorry again, Soren. But it means a lot that you're going to have my back." the gecko stated, nodding solemnly.

Tony sighed at Soren's announcement. "Dammit... you know what? I don't care. I'm gonna go see her before tomorrow. She has to know that she has people who care about her before we just up and leave. It's like Soren said... she'll think we abandoned her, and that's not right. Regulations be damned... I'm a Stracci, they'll let me in." he said, pushing his chair back and standing with some determination.

"Ahem... before you uh... do that..." Vergil broke in. "What time are we meeting at Zaloga tomorrow?"

"Oh... right. Uh... my appointment's at 1:00, so be there a half hour early I'd say so we can go over plans." Tony stated.

Vergil nodded. "I'll probably call you guys tonight with ideas. Speaking of tonight..." he looked at Triste now. "You wouldn't mind getting those schematics and clearance to me tonight... would you?" he asked her, once again hopefully. "It's just... I'm gonna need to time to prepare, and look over everything. I'm good at coming up with things on the fly... for some reason..." Vergil explained. "So if you could do that, that would be great. This is my address..." He dug around in his pocket, and finally produced a small chit with his address on it as he held it out for her.

"I think we're all agreed, then. Zaloga at 1:00 tomorrow. I will see everyone then!" Tony replied, giving them a nod. "Heh... seems we're always coming together to save the world, eh?" he asked with a grin, and gave the group a wave before paying for his scotch and starting to head back out to his car.

Serris · **Reply #82 on:** May 09, 2014, 03:30:53 PM

(CafÈ Verona)

Soren turned to Vergil. "Okay. Let's finish this off once and for all."

He then turned to everyone else. "So do we need to get any other supplies and stuff?"

---------

(Corollis Clinic)

Anne sat in a dull room. All around her were various patients at the clinic. A steady electronic ticking was heard as the clock counted the time.

She reached up and touched her horn. It was spongy but otherwise unchanged. Upon arrival, they had sprayed it with a special metallized bioplastic-based foam. The foam's purpose was twofold: to prevent the horn's use as a stabbing weapon and to silence her electronic telepathy so she couldn't order drugs or other contraband.

She shuffled her hooves nervously. There was no clatter of steel horseshoes on tile. She had been given rubber horseshoes that were glued on.

Her ears lay back. "So what do you want?"

The counselor, a young Axis Deer buck looked at the mare. "How about you introduce yourself?"

Pterano · **Reply #83 on:** May 09, 2014, 04:00:13 PM

Vergil shook his head. "Maybe some supplies but nothing serious right now... let's wait to find out where we go next, since from what I recall, the waypoints reveal parts of the map, and it becomes clearer the more you find. So once we get the first one, we'll have an idea where to go next." At least they should, he didn't add. Vergil knew this was the first waypoint Rex had found so in theory, it had led him to the one after that. Even if it didn't, Vergil knew where they could go next, as he'd found another waypoint at the archives yesterday.

"Once we know our next destination, we can plan accordingly with supplies. And definitely jump back here from time to time too... you know, just to check on things and recharge." Vergil suggested.

Tony had arrived at the clinic shortly after leaving Cafe Verona, and had managed to browbeat the staff into letting him through. What were they gonna do? Refuse the son of a powerful crime boss entry? After finding her location, the ferret went straight to the section of the clinic where the mare was being treated.

Stopping just outside the door, the ferret's face fell upon seeing the state she was in. "Dammit..." he breathed, and pulled his cap off his head, wringing it in his paws. Yeah, he was nervous, and wasn't really ready for this, but he'd driven all the way out here, and no time like the present, right? Steeling himself, he stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"Uh... sorry, doc, but I needed to see her before I leave town... hope you understand." Tony said, and without waiting for a response, he moved forward, eyes traveling to Anne. "Hey..." He gave her a small wave. "So... I wanted to see how you were doing... jesus... I heard the news and was worried. You almost killed yourself!" the ferret started, his face melting into anguish without him really realizing it. "What were you thinking? I didn't want to see you splattered all over a road! I know you might not think so but..." it was a long pause... much longer than the ferret wanted. "But people care about you, you know? I care about you." he said softly before he could stop himself. He closed his eyes in frustration, but figured he may as well finish. "This isn't what I want to constantly think about every day... whether or not you're going to live to see tomorrow. You've gotta stop, Anne. Not just for your sake... but you know... the people who care..." Tony trailed off here, not wanting to present too much at once. He finally reopened his eyes, trying to will his face to un-contort itself from the knot he was sure it must've twisted into while saying that.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #84 on:** May 09, 2014, 04:30:46 PM

On the second floor around a hallway, three white doors sat nestled between an off-white carpet and adobe wall. Lily quietly pushed open the first door to see a young boy, maybe 12, with light skin and dark hair in a cereal bowl cut.

"Hello!" she beamed. The child just looked at her.

"This is Christian. You don't remember Christian?" asked Denny.

"I...of course I do," Lily lied. She knelt down in front of her son. "How have you been? I haven't seen you in so long, I missed you so much!"

The child just continued staring blankly at her.

"Say hello, Christian," Denny demanded firmly.

"Hello," Christian said to Denny.

Lily's eyes clouded, and she put a hand on Christian's shoulder. "Oh god..." she whispered, eyes growing wide. "He's in...such pain..." She sensed... actually something even worse than pain. It was absence. The lack of having ever felt anything at all. Just feeling it brought tears to her eyes.

"He's mentally retarded," Denny explained. "I should have warned you."

Lily turned suspiciously, ready to tell him that she'd met mentally ill and this felt different, but gasped in surprise when he noticed two young girls peeking at her from the doorway. One was a young teenager, dark-skinned with Denny's hair, and the younger one must have been 7 or 8, with Lily's eyes and complexion.

"Oh, hello! Forgive me, you both...startled me..." Lily rubbed her forehead and reflexively winced. Both of them were giving her the same emotionless stare as Christian. Lily's senses ached, numbed by the congealing sense of repression weighing heavy on the room.

"Aylin and Hannah. Also retarded," Denny said simply. "Ejlert was the smart one. I always figured when he was born he stole all the intellect you had to give, leaving none to go around for these three."

Lily stood up suddenly, looking aghast at her husband. "How could you say such a thing?" Her next line was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass downstairs. "Oh no, Rio..." Lily took one last look at her children, ashamed to admit to herself she was almost grateful for a chance to get away and prepare herself mentally for a more extended conversation. "I'll be right back, I just need to check on a friend..."

She darted from the room. Denny stayed behind, giving Lily's backside a calculating look as it disappeared. With hardly a glance at his children, he crossed to a broom closet and withdrew a heavyset black rifle.

bushwacked · **Reply #85 on:** May 09, 2014, 06:48:29 PM

Triste took the card that Vergil gave her, looked it over, then nodded. "Shouldn't be a problem." Slipping it into her pocket, she pushed her chair away from the table and stood up. "I'll see you later tonight then. It was... good meeting the rest of you. Hopefully, this'll all go smoothly." With a final glance around the table, Triste turned and left the cafe.

Axel watched her leave, then turned a bemused expression to Vergil. "I just love the positive outlook she's got. It's, ah... it's just great." He stood up too and rubbed a hand through his hair. "I should get going as well. I'll let Lily know what we talked about." He gave the group a sickly smile. "Can't wait for tomorrow. Yay... See you all then, I guess." Raising a hand in farewell, Axel made his way through the cafe and emerged onto the street.

He thought about heading back home... but the idea of leaving Lily to deal with her problem alone didn't sit well with him. He knew her husband would be helping her, but surely it would be okay if he just hung around in the area to make sure she was okay... Or is that just jealousy speaking? Axel shook his head, then hailed a taxi that was passing. "Carriage Hills," he said as he climbed in.

-----------------------------------------

Rio looked up anxiously as Lily started to come down the stairs, then grabbed her wrist and started desperately trying to pull her back along the corridor. "We have to get out of here now!" he urged, his voice a low whisper. "This guy is a fucking psycho! He's got this death basement with cages and tables and... and chairs!" Rio babbled as he kept trying to pull her. "Holy shit, you actually married this fuck?"

Nick22 · **Reply #86 on:** May 09, 2014, 07:32:29 PM

Rose was the first of the girls to get yup from the table ' its time to go pack up for tomorrow I guess she said to marita and Marie, who got up from their seats as the group began to break up and head their separate ways in preparation for the next day. ' once we get some stuff together, We'll go visit Anne at the rehab center Rose offered ' just to show that we care about her and that we haven't forgot about her.'
_ marita nodded as they headed out of the casfe and headed back towards their apartment to freshen up and get packed.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #87 on:** May 09, 2014, 10:25:38 PM

Lily's eyes widened. "...show me," was her only reply.

"I'll be up in a minute!" she called up the stairs. "Rio cut himself, I just need to help him clean this out!"

When Rio had reopened the bookshelf, Lily wasn't even particularly shocked to see the horrific torture equipment behind it. Shackled chairs with asphyxiation bags, cages that didn't leave room to sit down, waterboards... "Every form of torture that doesn't leave a mark..." she murmured.

She realized there was a shadow blocking the doorway. "What have you done to my children?" she snapped furiously, whipping around with her fists balled.

With a light whiff a tranquilizer dart embedded itself in her chest. Calmly, Denny made to reload but before he got the chance Lily dove forward and grabbed his foot. Concentrating, she channeled the semiconsciousness from the dart into her husband.

Denny gasped as he felt himself getting sleepy. Kicking Lily in the face reflexively, he reached into his pocket when she didn't let go and grabbed a bright red powder.

Snarling, Lily tried to drag him down with her and received a face full of chile dust. She screamed, but stayed focused and transferred the burning blindness to Denny. "I'm not the same woman you kept locked up in this room for God knows how long" she snarled, channeling animal fury. Raising her arm, she slashed deep red strips of flesh across his face and elbowed his rifle out of his hands.

Stumbling backwards onto the wooden steps, Denny tried vainly to fight back. Lily could taste his fear, his helplessness, as she pumped his own psychological weapons back into his system.

Then she was distracted by crying. Her children were at the top of the stairs, watching with wide eyes. Each of them emanated genuine fear, but not at Denny. At her.

"Children!" she exclaimed, hesitating. "Don't look! Please, it's okay--"

One of Denny's elbows smashed into her temple. With the break in her concentration came his second wind. leaning over, he sent both of them thumping down the stairs, with him on top. With a grunt, he wrapped his arms around her neck, putting in the extra effort to shield his mind from any further psionic attacks.

Gagging, Lily felt her already-inflamed vision going black.

Pterano · **Reply #88 on:** May 09, 2014, 11:59:50 PM

Later that night, Vergil was alone in his flat, rubbing the back of his neck as he peered at the computer screen in front of him. His laptop was sitting on a coffee table while he leaned forward on a couch. He was looking at Zaloga's main website, but the pictures of the building just weren't what he needed. He required more if he was going to lead an operation inside this place. Mace really looked... familiar to him, but he figured that's because he had met him before in the past. He had to have been in that waiting room, after all, but he couldn't remember if he'd made it down into the sub-levels with Rex or not.

Leaning back, he tapped the arrow key a few times, scrolling through what pictures he could find of Mace and the Zaloga headquarters. It was a nice building... that was for sure. Very landscaped outside, it was almost like a castle sitting atop waterfalls and cliffs. He'd certainly give props to the landscaper and architect, no doubt.

Serris · **Reply #89 on:** May 10, 2014, 12:07:05 AM

Anne smiled. She got up and embraced Tony in a hug. "I know," she said. "I knew that the twenty some odd years of drug use will eventually catch up to me. But I just kept ignoring it. Mainly because, I really didn't have anyone who cared or to care about."

She sniffled as he ears splayed in embarassment. "But now, I've got you, Soren, Axel and the others..."

(OOC - Anne will eventually break her habit of drug use...and then continue to use marijuana. Though she'll only use what she grows. Personally, I'm of the belief that marijuana is the least harmful of drugs, but this is not the place to talk about it.)

Pterano · **Reply #90 on:** May 10, 2014, 12:18:36 AM

Tony was a bit surprised at the sudden forwardness of it all... but he had to admit, he rather liked it. He hugged her back after a moment's hesitation, and smiled. "Hey... I'm glad you know that then. I wouldn't have come here if I didn't care, after all." He patted her on the back. "And I wanted to see you before..." he trailed off here, pulling back, but not releasing her just yet.

"I have to go on a trip... with the others. That bastard Kalis is after something dangerous... something that has the potential to shatter the world with its power, and Vergil's been asked by the government to help stop it, since he kind of remembers how to get to what Kalis is seeking. Because this threatens everyone... I gotta go to help try and stop him... for all of us. We aren't leaving just yet though... we got something to do here first that's kind of dangerous but... I wanted to see you before that... so you knew that I did care... and that we weren't just leaving. I can visit you every day if you want, up till I leave... and when I get back... I'll visit again." He smiled once more, giving her a sincere look.

Nick22 · **Reply #91 on:** May 10, 2014, 01:29:47 AM

marita and girls reached home about 15 minutes later' marie went into her room and packed together some fruit, candy bars and pretzels. marita typed away at her computer for a couple minutes and printed off something off her computer ' normally rehabv centers are strict about visitors, but these passes will let me pose as her physician and you two will be my nurse assistant ' i'm Wilma Goldgut, Marie you're Marse Panini, and Rose you are Rinna McGury, both you and marse are interning under me ' Marita said. she brought out three laminated ids which showed the 3 girls faces.'rose came up to them, and three of them got dressed in the traditional white coats of physicians(marita had bought a large number of clothes which doubled as disguises, everything from a doctors uniform to a cop getup, to even a military vest) ' just act normal girls and let me do all the talking' marita said as they headed out.

bushwacked · **Reply #92 on:** May 10, 2014, 05:59:49 AM

Rio gaped as Lily and Denny tumbled down the stairs towards him, lurching to the side and almost coming down with them. Shooting a glance upwards, he could see some kids, around his age, just standing at the top of the stairs, crying. "Help her! What the fuck are you doing?!"

They made no attempt to move, or even acknowledge that he'd said anything.

Swearing, he turned and jumped down the stairs after them, landing next to the dazed man as he choked Lily. Punching and kicking at Denny seemed to have no effect as he tightened his grip, intent on cutting off her air supply. Desperate, Rio swung his gaze around the room and his eyes stopped on the tranquilizer rifle, lying on the penultimate step from where Lily had knocked it out of her husband's hands. Snatching it up, he spun and aimed the gun at the side of his head, pulling the trigger. It clicked, empty. Gasping, Rio could see Lily was on the verge of blacking out. Switching his grip on the rifle to the barrel, he raised the butt and swung it as hard as he could. It connected against Denny's temple with a solid clunk, knocking the man off balance and loosening his grip on Lily. Darting forwards, Rio grabbed her and tried to pull her away.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #93 on:** May 10, 2014, 03:21:23 PM

Denny cried out and took a swing at Rio. Lily blocked the fist with her arm, then used her legs to push Denny over her, sending him tumbling into the torture dungeon.

"Shut the door!" she commanded Rio, staggering to her feet. Her words were slurred and the tranquilizer was taking its course. using her hands for assistance she crawled up the the first floor. "Hannah, Christian, Aylin, come with me!" she begged. But the three children darted up the stairs. "Please!" she begged.

Downstairs, Denny was ramming the bookshelf. Rio had set the propped the tranq gun to block the bookshelf, but it wouldn't hold for long.

"Rio...we've got to...got to..." Lily could barely keep standing. Her vision and thoughts swam, and her head thudded painfully. She almost dropped to her knees when she attempted to move for the stairs.

bushwacked · **Reply #94 on:** May 10, 2014, 07:10:24 PM

"Fuck them! We've gotta get out of here, he's gonna kill us!" Rio shouted, catching up with Lily and trying to support her as best as he could with his smaller frame. The sound of slamming reverberated throughout the house, loud as cannon fire to the boy's ears as Denny tried to force his way out. The floors vibrated and pictures on the wall shook rhythmically with each impact.

Rio awkwardly pulled Lily along, back down the corridor that led to the front door. They had to pass the barricaded door to the basement, and he could see with a sinking in his stomach that the gun had almost been jolted free. "Come on! Hurry!" he urged as the entrance grew slowly closer.

----------------------------------

Axel looked out the window as the taxi made its way slowly down Carriage Hills, keeping an eye out for the house matching the one Lily had shown him on the website. "Hey... hey, stop here for a second," he muttered when the car passed the two-story house. Axel chewed his lip as the driver pulled up opposite, trying to decide what he was going to do now.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #95 on:** May 10, 2014, 07:17:47 PM

With Rio's help, Lily stumbled over to the front door and opened it by flopping her full body weight onto it. Sprawling onto the front porch, she couldn't seem to concentrate long enough to get back up.

Behind them, a final THUD sent the rifle skittering to the side, and a partially-drugged Denny grabbed it and marched up the stairs, reloading as he did so.

bushwacked · **Reply #96 on:** May 10, 2014, 10:12:54 PM

Rio almost sprawled over along with Lily as she fell down onto the porch. Stooping, he tried to pull her up, but she was too heavy. He heard the crash as Denny finally managed to break free from the basement, and he desperately redoubled his efforts. "Shit! Get up!"

Across the street, Axel's mouth popped open when he saw Lily and Rio come tumbling from the front door. "The hell?" He hurriedly climbed from the taxi and called across. "What the hell's going on?!"

Rio's head jerked up, and his eyes grew wide in recognition. "Help us! He's coming!"

"I'm on the clock, buddy," the cab driver mumbled as he flicked through his newspaper.

"Jesus!" Axel sprinted across the road, onto the property and up to the porch. He took Lily's arm from Rio and started dragging her up to her feet. "What's going on?!" he spluttered again. Instead of answering, Rio turned and slammed the front door closed.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #97 on:** May 11, 2014, 12:05:52 AM

Lily shook her head dizzily. "Hannah...Christian...Aylin..." she couldn't concentrate enough to say more than a few names.

Denny peered through the keyhole and saw an unknown rat dragging his wife away. The presence of a taxi stopped him from trying to retaliate. Instead, he chose to cut his losses and lock his door.

For now, he'd reseal everything, ensure his children never spoke of this incident, and report an overzealous Lily-impersonator to the police. That would get him some protection for the time being, and give him time to plan for her return.

Because if there's one thing his twisted activities taught him about properly tortured people, it's that they always came back.

Pterano · **Reply #98 on:** May 11, 2014, 02:04:46 PM

Vergil was getting a bit restless, and finally stopped trying to burn a hole in his computer screen with his eyes. No matter how much he looked at pictures of Zaloga, he needed those schematics. He cursed his failure to obtain Triste's contact info before leaving Cafe Verona earlier today. Standing up and stretching his arms over his head, the gecko headed for the kitchen to make himself a sandwich. Without those schematics, this whole operation was in jeopardy.

Pulling the fridge door open with a clink of glasses and cardboard cartons on the door's shelf, Vergil proceeded to make a simple peanut-butter and jelly sandwich, which he found he liked for some reason. Perhaps he was fond of them before he'd become amnesiac.

Deciding to make good use of time, he headed back to his computer after finishing construction on the sandwich, and opened up his personnel files, which had arrived via email and a secure log-in about an hour ago. Smiling to himself, he began poring over the information while he munched, looking at his early life and some of his career with the Federation's military, noting he had been decorated for various operations under Rex Sardolemuel's command. Such an idealistic life, serving under such a famous commander... but Vergil admitted, it made him want to learn about Rex all the more, and why he'd strayed from his path to turn traitor. There was an answer there... he just knew it, and he wanted to find it.

bushwacked · **Reply #99 on:** May 11, 2014, 06:21:27 PM

Carrying Lily back across the road, Axel piled into the cab with her, then pulled Rio in after them. "Go!"

The cab driver rustled his newspaper, then slowly put it down on the seat beside him. "Anywhere you want to go, in particular?"

Rio thumped the back of the driver's seat in frustration. "Just go, fuckwad!"

--------------------

Later that night, Axel set a cup of coffee on the table in front of Lily as she sat in the kitchen, and lightly pressed a small bag of ice to the swollen lump on her temple as he took a seat next to her. "Well... swelling's going down at least..." he muttered as he inspected the marks on her face. "Jesus, I... I still can't believe..." The fingers of his free hand ground into the wooden table, and the muscles of his jaw clenched. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there..."

There was a small scuffing sound, and Axel looked around to see Rio standing awkwardly in the doorway. The rat's expression softened slightly. "Hey... thanks for helping out."

Rio gave a small shrug and looked down at his shoes. "I wasn't the one he was trying to beat the shit out of."

-------------------------------------------------

Triste reached Vergil's floor, and walked down the corridor until she came to a door with the same number as on the card he'd given her. Shrugging the backpack she wore further onto her shoulder, Triste reached out and thumped on the door briskly. About to make contact with him now.

Good. Be sure to relay his plans to us.