Racing the Storm

[bushwacked]

Axel gurgled on the stretcher he was stretched out on, waving his arms in front of his face and muttering something unintelligible. The side of his head was starting to swell impressively from where the lemur had put the defibrillator to good use. Snickering to himself, Axel rolled over onto his stomach, and as his foot twitched he lapsed into what was either a deep sleep or a mild coma.

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

Outside in the hallway, as the Captain rushed from the infirmary, he bumped into a small boy, dressed immaculately as one of the cruise ship's attendants, who was balancing a large bottle of champagne and two glasses on a metal tray. A small sticky note was pasted to the bottle with Cabin 159 written on it. The boy staggered from the impact, the champagne bottle wobbling precariously. "I'm very sorry sir! So sorry!" he stammered in a voice that wouldn't melt butter, bowing profusely as he backed away. The Captain hurried away, and as he turned out of sight the boy stopped bowing and glowered after him. "You fucking prick."

Turning, Rio flicked his head back to straighten the little cap that was placed over his neatly combed hair then continued up the corridor, turning right and eventually stopping outside a door with the number 159 on it. He started to raise his fist to wrap on the door... then stopped, eying the alcohol. Blinking, Rio looked up and down the corridor. Nobody. "Fuck it," he said, shrugging, then made his way further up to a door marked Storage Closet. Nudging it open, Rio heaved the champagne off and tossed the tray in. Peeling the foil from the top of the bottle, he stepped through and started to pull the cork out as the door swung shut behind him.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"This isn't how I trained you, Nairda!" the special agent reprimanded harshly.

"But-but...Kojurro I don't..." The young ensign shivered in the drafty midnight wind of a desolate canyon two miles out from boot camp.

"Remember what I taught you." The agent threw a shovel at him. "I chopped her up, now you have to bury her. Your parents would be so disappointed if they knew you never learned how to be a team player!"

"oh god, oh god oh god....." Nairda stammered--

Abruptly Nairda was awakened from his stuporous dreams by a pounding in his head and on the cabin door.

Where was he? As he slowly came to, he answered his own question: the cabin Emilena rented for him. Specifically, laying on the bed reeking of paint.

"Open this door up right now!" someone yelled. "In ten seconds we're kicking it down!"

Nairda stumbled to his feet. His tongue burnt with an acrid aftertaste he recognized as biproxytol. Emilena must have drugged him. But why?

As he opened the door, abnormal air movement between his legs and a heaviness on his chest informed him that he was dressed in women's clothes with a stuffed bra. In any other situation, this might have aroused him somewhat, but the captain busting in, shaking him by the collar, and shouting "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO YOU SON OF A BITCH‽" dampened his loins somewhat.

"I...er...huh?" Nairda stared blankly.

"You heard me asshole," glared the captain. "What in the world inspired you to go wreck one of our finest establishments with your little prank. Who the hell are you anyway?"

Lieutenant Foley wrinkled his nose as he entered the cabin. "Yikes! I don't know if he's higher on paint fumes or drugs."

"Do you know what that stint cost us?" the captain shouted, shaking Nairda like a Cornish game hen. "Answer me you bastard!"

Nairda stammered the first thing that popped into his head. "Oh god oh god oh god oh god..."

Foley searched the room and came up with docking credentials. "Nairda Kibagami. Part of the Workpaid Immigration Program. Looks to be homeless with no assets. You know the type."

"You worthless bitch!" snapped the captain at the crumpled figure still clasp in his iron grip. "You're not even worth suing! How the hell did you get past our vetting process?"

"I--I--I..." Nairda stammered, wide-eyed. "I--I--I..."

"You what?" muttered the captain through gritted teeth, and stopped shaking him long enough to hear a reply.

"I--I'd just wanted to give her a tip..."

"I don't think you're getting anything intelligent from him," Foley remarked, as Nairda began hyperventilating. "Shall I escort him to the brig?"

The captain glared at him, wild-eyed. "You think the brig is good enough for this...this dog? NO. I'm wiping his worthless carcass off the face of this Earth!" With that he began dragging Nairda down the hall towards the deck. Foley followed, quickly sounding objections, and the security team followed excitedly.

After a few minutes of silence, Flora peeked out from under the bed. Crawling her nude body over to the door, she flipped it shut and then crept to the shower to wash the black paint off her upper body and legs.

[Pterano]

The next day, the Bremen II approached Voltaic Station. Vergil knew security was insanely tight here. Everyone getting off the ship was subjected to thorough screenings and checkpoints were set up to prevent infiltration to any of the more sensitive areas of the station. There was no way they could even think about going underwater right off the bat, as the defenses down there were formidable enough to repel an outright military attack on the valuable mining facilities. Judaken kept a tight watch over its mining operation, and jealously guarded it with what some said was the most sophisticated security system on the planet, second only to the security at Judaken's corporate headquarters.

He hadn't yet heard about what had happened to his comrades last night, nor was that his priority this morning either. Already, announcements were being made throughout the ship about proper security procedures for disembarkation. Knowing he'd have to surrender his weapons upon entering the resort, the gecko tried to remember how deep the ocean was here. He googled Air France Flight 447 on his smartphone, noting the depth of its debris field to be at over 13,000 feet down... so over two miles. Lacking such deep sea equipment necessary to reach those depths, he figured there was only one way to get down there. What he didn't know was that security was extra tight today, as the ship had reported last night's incident to the station.

Exiting his room with his rolling bag and donning a pair of shades, the gecko headed for Triste's cabin. The sooner he got off this ship, the better. In order for his plan to work, he'd have to execute it swiftly. A quick get-in, get the waypoint, and get out. Thanks to a government search executed by Fugate last night at his request, the gecko now knew something about the station that no one else did, or at least, something that anyone who wasn't on Judaken's payroll would know. It was key to his plan: a real trump card, so to speak for accessing the waypoint.

Stopping outside the spider gecko's room, visions of last night flashed before his eyes as he rapped on her door.


Unfortunately for Marion, the security systems on the Falchion were more in-depth than they were on the dropship. As the cruiser needed to maintain pressurization throughout its flight, an alarm immediately alerted the bridge that someone had cut through an outer bulkhead door and was now present inside the ship. "We've got an intruder!" the ship's captain announced. "Airlock 18! Detachment 19, report to that sector immediately and secure her!"

"Who's the unfortunate imbecile who decided to infiltrate my ship?" Varanus asked, striding forward here.

"Unknown currently, sir, but we'll find out soon enough." the captain assured him.

Varanus grinned. He was looking forward to torturing whoever this was and finding out who she was before he killed her. Detachment 19, a special security force on board the ship, began making their way towards Airlock 18 as the captain lowered a secondary bulkhead door in place to secure the breach and maintain pressurized flight.

[bushwacked]

Triste jerked awake at a sharp knocking noise. Sitting up, she groggily realised she'd fallen asleep slumped over the desk, the side of her head aching from where it had been pressing into the wood. Glancing to the side, she blinked in the sunlight pouring through the window and saw the ship was approaching Voltaic.

Cursing quietly, Triste pushed herself to her feet and headed for the en-suite bathroom, quickly splashing water over her face. "I'll be right there, just... just give me a moment," she called out, drying herself off with a towel. Leaving the bathroom, she hurriedly pulled on some new clothes, purposefully avoiding looking at her torn shirt. Crossing the room, Triste tugged the door open, blinking when she saw Vergil standing on the other side.

"Oh... Vergil. Hi," she said, forcing a smile on her face. "Sorry, I just... Ah, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Just give me a few minutes to pack, and I'll be ready." Backing away, she gestured as she headed for the wardrobe. "You can wait in here if there's something you wanted to talk about," Triste said over her shoulder.

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

Axel groaned, stirring on the stretcher. Sitting up slowly, his face turned an alarming shade of green at the sick sensation in his belly, his stomach feeling as though it was doing back flips. Blinking and wiping drool from the corner of his mouth, he looked around and tried to understand where he was. What was this? Some kind of... infirmary? What happened last night? He could remember drinking, drinking... and drinking some more, then heading out to the restaurant with the others. After that, the only thing he could recall was a strange mixture of happiness and shame.

His attempts at recollection ended abruptly when his bleary eyes settled on the other shapes in the room. Grunting, Axel rolled off the stretcher and staggered across unsteadily to where Soren and Lily lay. "Eugh... Soren? Honey?" he tried, gently shaking their shoulders. "I think... I think we ate something bad last night..."

[Pterano]

"Hm." Vergil chuckled lightly, accepting her offer to step inside. "Too busy thinking of last night?" he asked, joking. "But no, there's nothing I really wanted to discuss. I've got my plan for getting to the waypoint thanks to a report Fugate sent me last night. It should be fairly straight-forward, and far less risky than trying to just go in there and crashing the party. Their defenses are far too formidable for that. So I've got a simple yet perhaps elegant solution to our problems." the white gecko stated.

"Anyway, I want to debark as soon as possible. Sorry if I caught you at a bad time." he apologized, noting her rushing about. "I thought you'd be up by now in all honesty. But it's all right. Remember... we can't take any weapons in so... best store them now, as they'll only be confiscated on the way in." he reminded her.

[Serris]

(Voltaic Station Infirmary)

Soren groaned as he heard Axel's voice coming though his drug fueled haze. As his vision cleared, he found himself in a room smelling of disinfectant.

"Motherfucking hell, what happened?" he asked. He tried to move his arms, only to find that they were strapped to the bed. That immediately cleared his mind. "The fuck is this!?"

At his shout, a Fruit Bat nurse ran into the room. "Mr. Almaya," he said. "Please calm down."

Soren bit his lip to keep from screaming at the man. He took a breath and slowly exhaled. "Okay," he said. "But I want to know why I am strapped to a bed and in the fucking hospital!"

The nurse was unfazed. "You were suffering acute psychosis from an overdose of fenazomide hydrochloride. Luckily, your body seems to have cleared the drug from your system."

"All I had was some green cocktail to drink."

The nurse nodded. "That cocktail tested positive for fenazomide hydrochloride."

Soren's eye twitched. "Can I leave now? I came to Voltaic Station for a vacation, not a hospital stay."

The nurse brought up the Human's medical chart. "Everything checks out. I'll go get Doctor LeBlanc." The nurse then exited the room.

Soren then turned to Axel. "I have a feeling this goes beyond a case of bad food poisoning. And right now, I want some answers, namely who spiked our drinks."

(OOC - fenazomide hydrochloride is the name of the hallucinogen that Emilena spiked their drinks with. It's normally used as an anesthetic for Avians and Reptiles but it causes serious hallucinations in mammals.)

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

(Falchion)

Marion swore as a secondary bulkhead closed off the area that she had cut through. They knew she was aboard! And she had no desire to meet up with the armed guards.

Sheathing her plasma cutter, she took a few steps and her feet morphed into their hoofed "running configuration" as she bolted down the stainless steel hallways.

Heart racing, she eventually came to a y-junction. The sign to the left read "Reactor Silo". A stairwell heading up was the right fork. A sign next to the stairwell read "Crew Quarters".

She made her decision, she began to rapidly climb the stairs. Whereupon she ran into one of the reactor technicians. Time seemed to slow down as she tried to finagle her way out of this situation. Unfortunately for her, there was no way she could do so. The man's hand was on the collar of his uniform, so she assumed he was speaking into a lapel mike. Left with no other option, Marion slammed her metal fist into the man's head. Flesh and bone proved no match for solid metal driven by powerful electroactive memory metal muscles. The man's head practically exploded under the powerful impact.

"That was close," she muttered as she wiped the gore off her augments. She looked down; there was some blood on her flying frame and suit but she could clean that up later.

Leaving the nearly headless corpse in the stairwell, she continued upstairs.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"They threw him overboard?" exclaimed Emilena. She and the other gang members were having one last meeting before the time came to disembark.

Foley nodded. "Like a sack of potatoes. Captain even registered it in the official log; it turns out that those papers we signed gives the cruise liner pretty healthy leeway to do as they please with problematic members of the Workpaid program."

Flora fidgeted. "That could have been me sleeping with the fishes if the plan hadn't worked perfectly..."

Emilena thought. "For all his faults, Nairda has a strong survival sense. Once we dock, we should find our way down to the shores and try to rent passage out."

"'Strong survival sense?'" interjected Foley. "He was thrown into the middle of the ocean! While high on biproxytol! That's beyond 'survival sense'!"

"Yeah, if his survival sense was that good he would have stopped hanging around us long ago," noted Flora.

She was interrupted by a knocking on the door. "Are you almost packed?" an irate cleaner snapped. "I need to be done with this hallway in under ten minutes!"

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

Lily slowly awoke feeling incredibly nauseous. "Urgghhh..." As her head slowly cleared, she remembered the past night and the drug-induced existential crisis it had wreaked on her.

A nurse came running. "Don't get up just yet," she cautioned. "You've got some pretty potent cocktails running through your IV right now, you'll throw up everywhere."

Lily groaned and relaxed her muscles. "Where are my friends?" she asked.

"The boys are giving the doctors a hard time in their own room. Both should be fine. The girls were hit far worse than y'all, and have been sent to the Voltaic ER immediately for rehab. Hope they got some nice medical insurance," she remarked wryly.

"Medical...oh god, we have to pay for this, don't we?" Lily shut her eyes, cheeks burning. "What's the penalty for failure to pay Medical bills in this country?"

"You don't wanna do that," the nurse added hastily. "Just warning ya. Also, you've been perscribed these." she handed her a small white box. "Cessation patches. You're gonna be feeling some severe biproxytol withdrawal for...could be the rest of your life to be honest, and these really take the sting off. They're a bit pricy but I suspect you'll soon find it worth it."

Lily groaned again. Her mouth felt like parchment. How could this get any worse?

[bushwacked]

“Fenazomide Hydrochloride?” Axel frowned slightly. “I don’t know… the aftertaste seems more like 2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromophenethylamine to me. Ah... don’t ask how I know that,” he added shiftily. “And who’d want to spike our drinks?” Axel considered, running through the list of potential enemies they'd made. “Who on this ship right now would want to spike our drinks?” After a moment, he shrugged and held a hand down to Soren. “Well… we’re not gonna figure it out down here. Let’s see if we can find the others.”

The nurse quietly re-entered the room and cleared her throat. “I almost forgot, here’re your medical bills.”

Axel took the slip of paper she handed across, and blinked down at the number printed on it. “Ah, I… I can pay by card, right?” he rasped, his throat suddenly dry. “I just, ah…” Axel patted the side of his jeans. His pockets felt alarmingly empty. “No… no, come on…”

“Are you looking for your wallet?” the nurse asked. “Sorry to tell you this but up on the way here, you started struggling and… well, your wallet kind of flew out. It fell overboard. There was nothing we could do.”

“Son of a bitch!”

She smiled helpfully and turned to leave again. “Well, I’ll let you two get on.”

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

“We’ll be out in a minute!” Rio barked. His voice was slightly garbled from the cigar clamped between his teeth which he’d found whilst relaxing in the storage closet last night. “Take a hike, fucktard!”

“… You’re a fucktard,” came a despondent reply from behind the door.

Inhaling, Rio plucked out the cigar with two fingers and puffed out a cloud of smoke. “If only we’d put some kind of tracker, or bug on him,” he noted, tapping off the end and kicking the ash away from him. Looking up at Foley, Rio grinned. “It’s a pity they didn’t throw your fat ass overboard. You could’ve floated in, no problem.”

There was another knock on the door. “Rio! Room 159 never got their champagne, they’re making a complaint! What the hell did you do with it?!” a different voice called through. “And I gave you money to get me something from the vending machine, where’s my Nutrageous bar?”

Blanching, Rio stubbed out the cigar and quickly zipped up his bag, hoisting it over a shoulder. “See you guys up on deck,” he told the others as he pushed open the small port-hole window and wriggled through, climbing up and out of sight.

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

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with your ego,” Triste said over her shoulder as she threw her belongings into her bag. Zipping it closed, she turned and heaved it from the bed then reached for her knife. “Don’t worry, I'll stash this away before we go in.” Taking one last look around the cabin to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, Triste nodded to herself and crossed to the door, pulling her bag behind her.

“So, there’s a plan this time,” she said, standing aside so Vergil could step out and closing the door behind them. As they walked down the corridor, she glanced out one of the windows, taking in the heavy security outside. “Looks like we’ll need it… having these guys come down on us wouldn’t be too fun.”

[Pterano]

Vergil noted too the heavy security at all the gangways. Voltaic Station was a massive mining station/floating hotel. Passengers got off the ship nowhere near the industrial side of things. The hotel itself was a modern marvel, as all the suites were underwater, the hotel itself partly submerged and moored to the ocean floor via giant pylons. Above the Atlantic's surface rose 15 stories of restaurants, shopping plazas, offices, and entertainment centers. For the truly adventurous, a water slide ran from the roof all the way down to the ocean, twisting around and dropping multiple times before it deposited its rider with a splash into the sea.

While guests could move relatively freely about the hotel, the mining station was another story. Security checkpoints at every conceivable entrance had been set up, and if your DNA wasn't recognized passing through one such place, there'd be little left to identify you as a living person afterward. Of course, ample signs were posted to warn guests not to enter these areas, and the hotel was designed in such a way that no real access could be gained to the mining station except via a few corridors, all heavily monitored.

As Vergil got in line, no less than six scanners had been set up for this gangway of the ship, and the gecko was able to move up rapidly enough. "No fun at all..." Vergil agreed with Triste softly. As he was waved forward to a scanner, the security officer presented him with the usual question. "Reservation please." Digging around in his pocket, the gecko pulled out his confirmation number and held it out for the officer to scan.

"I'm afraid there's a problem with my reservation." Vergil said simply as he stepped into the scanner with his bag, which immediately detected his energy blade. Opening the zipper up and tugging out his weapon, he held it out for confiscation. Holding his arms above his head as the scan continued, the officer gave him a quizzical look. "See it turns out I'd like to cancel my stay here... or at the very least, shorten it. I'm changing my plans. As a matter of fact, I came here to help you out with your sub-aquatic problem." Stepping out of the scanner now and taking his bag with him, the officer seemed beyond puzzled.

"Huh? What problem?"

"You wouldn't even know about it... you don't handle that division. Contact your chief of security. Tell him I'd like to speak to him. Tell him I'm here to clear up the issue the station's been having; he'll know what I'm talking about." Vergil said simply, as if it were the most normal thing in the world to discuss.

"What in god's name are you..."

"Are you going to contact him, or should I?" Vergil asked, looking directly at the officer from behind his shades. "Just tell him exactly what I told you. Well go on." the gecko pressed.

Shaking his head and turning sideways to him, the officer radioed in. "Uhh yeah we got a crazy down here asking to see the chief. Claims he can solve the station's 'sub-aquatic issue', whatever the hell that means." A pause, then a look over to Vergil. "You have credentials?"

Vergil pushed his sunglasses down a bit and gave him a "Really?" look. "This isn't exactly the type of job you have credentials for." he responded sarcastically.

"He says it's not that kind of job. He insists the chief will know what he's talking about. All right... hold on." He informed Vergil, waving Triste to move into the scanner. As the process started, the guard seemed surprised by something, and he looked over at Vergil now. "Turns out you just got an appointment with the chief. Drop your shit in your room and we'll escort you to him."

A smile began to spread across Vergil's features. "Thank you." he responded simply.


"She's heading up towards the crew quarters." the ship's captain reported. "Seal off the area! Ensure she can't escape!"

The countermeasures were put in place, with heavy bulkhead doors starting to slam shut throughout the crew quarters' areas. "Heading up, eh? Well why don't I start heading down to meet her?" Varanus asked. He still didn't feel as if he could vigorously enter into combat, but what could a pathetic augment do against the likes of him?

Turning from the bridge, he moved rapidly to one of the lifts, cramming himself inside and hitting the button to descend to the crew deck.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"Just be careful about what you've got on you!" Emilena hissed hurriedly as Rio disappeared. "They check everything at the security doors!"

"Yeah, how we sneaking past those?" asked Foley, grumbling slightly as he regarded his excessive amounts of fat. "I was hoping to butter up the captain so he let me skip those, but I wasn't buttery enough. Somehow."

"Hard to believe!" giggled Flora, missing Foley's self-deprecation completely. "You know, cause you're so fat!"

"That was the--" Foley started, but Emilena silenced them both by opening the door to the hallway. "Sorry for the delay," she said dismissively to the cleaner, and led the way off the boat.

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

Lily tried to get to her feet again. she did indeed feel a burning desire for what she could only guess is more drugs, but it wasn't as bad as the nurse claimed. Perhaps her psionic self-healing is alleviating that. Well, thank god.

"I'd like to go see my husband," she stated firmly, staggering to the door and ignoring a proffered wheelchair. "Will you take me or must I find him myself?"

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

At the security checkpoint, every member of the Workpaid program was aggressively patted down.

"What's this?" one guard asked Flora gruffly, roughly grasping her crotch.

Flora moaned huskily and blushed. "Mmmm. I call it my 'Venus Flytrap'..."

Suspiciously, the guard took her in the back rooms and it was almost an hour before they let her out again.

"For god's sake, what happened back there?" asked Emilena, as Flora finally emerged into the post-security waiting area, clothing rumpled and with a satisfied smile plastered on her face.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she stuck her tongue out.

"Hrmmm. I'm going to go try and find Rio." Emilena marched away to customs.

Flora and Foley sat quietly for a few moments.

"...so really, what happened back there?" asked Foley.

Flora shrugged. "Strip and full-body cavity search. Then they had a bunch of questions about how I look like I do."

"Oh." Foley paused, hoping she'd elaborate. "...So, how did you come to look like that, anyway?"

Flora smiled. "Wouldn't you like to know..."

[Serris]

(Falchion)

Marion swore as bulkheads began to seal the area off. She looked at them; they appeared to be too thick to cut with her plasma cutter.

She then looked at the ceiling. It was good ten feet off the ground but it was too narrow in this area for her to fly. Not to mention, there was a high risk she could end up severing a fuel line ó and with the hot plasma in close proximity, a fire was sure to result.

"Well shit," she muttered. She sprinted towards the other door only for a bulkhead to seal it off.

She shook her head. "Fuck this!" Her left arm's piton gun deployed and she shot the metal spike into the ceiling. Reeling herself up, Marion deployed her grappling spikes and clung to the ceiling.

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

(Voltaic Station Infirmary)

Doctor LeBlanc, a dour-looking Sand Viper, slithered into the medical bay with his tablet tucked under his arm. He bought up Axel's medical chart and nodded.

"Well, Mr. Whent, it seems that the hallucinogen has been removed and you no longer show symptoms. Now if you'll please read and sign these forms, we can get you released." Doctor LeBlanc slithered up onto a nearby chair to hand the Rat the tablet so he could read and sign the discharge form.

[bushwacked]

Ashen faced, Axel took the tablet and scanned the writing on it numbly. The information leaked straight out of his brain as soon as it went in, his mind per-occupied with trying to process the streak of bad luck he'd been having. Ears drooping, he signed his name and handed it back to LeBlanc with a disheartened "Thanks."

"The others who were brought in with us... they're around here, aren't they?" Axel asked as he started to make his way towards the door. "I need to see Lily... Ah, I mean my wife." Turning around, he locked eyes with Soren as he started backing through the doorway into the corridor beyond. "I'll see you outside?" Axel said, assuming Soren would be good to go as well.

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

Stepping up to the scanner, Triste pulled out her knife and held it out handle-first for one of the officers. "Make sure you don't lose it," she said drily as a thick, beefy man took it from her, the corner of his mouth seeming to tighten as lights overhead gleamed on the razor sharp edge. As she raised her arms, the scanner making a faint hum as it set to work, she caught the story Vergil was spinning.

Keeping her expression neutral, she stepped forwards as the scan was completed, hefting her bag behind her. Taking position beside Vergil, she gave a brisk nod at the officer he'd spoken too. "I'm his aide," she said, seeing a smile stretch over his face in the corner of her eye.

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

At customs, Rio was standing before a smaller scanning machine, through which his bag had just passed. An tall officer sitting just to the side frowned as the scan revealed something, then leaned forwards and snatched Rio's bag off the rack. "And what is this?" he demanded in a thick Russian accent, unzipping the side and drawing out a small, pink teddy-bear.

"Mr. Snuggleshoes, my best friend," Rio said as the guard shook the toy in front of his face, little arms and legs flailing.

"There is something inside of this... Mr. Snuggleshoes," the man sneered.

Rio blinked. "Er... love and dreams, and all that shi... I mean, stuff?" he tried as the officer turned the bear over in his hands and plucked a Swiss Army knife from his pocket.

"No, I think not, little boy," the officer said, flicking out the blade attachment. His fingers brushed against a small button on the bear's foot. "I love you!" the bear warbled in a sickly sweet voice. The knife darted down, cruelly ending the bear's crooning as it sliced up across the chest, fluffy white stuffing spilling out. Rio gaped, appalled. Then, all of a sudden, something brown poked out, and the officer whistled enthusiastically. "Aha... as I thought." He plucked out the cigar that had been shoved inside. "I do not know how you got this, little boy, or why you try to smuggle in. But this is very dangerous. Hazard of fire. Hmn... and very expensive." He held it up, and sniffed it. "And good." Looking around, the officer tucked it into his shirt pocket. "I take as... evidence." He tossed the butchered remains on the bear onto of the bag and jerked his thumb. "Now go!"

"Hey, that's not -"

The officer squinted. "Where is mommy?"

"Ah, she's..." Turning, Rio gave a small start when he saw Emilena heading through the crowd. "There, she's... she's over there." He swung back, quickly picking up his bag as he pointed out the vulpine. "I'm adopted."

[Nick22]

marita came to slowly, finding herself strapped to a bed. She felt  like a weight was pressed on her chest and her mouth fe;t like iot had been stuffed with cottopn balls.. ' ah'' she muttered as a girafee nurse came in' good you're awake Miss Jones, Miss Rose and and Miss Marie are still not fully conscious yet. the three of you were exposed to very concentrated doses of biproxytol, fortunately thanks to our treatments your bodies have now flushed them out. our tests showed that your had some resistance to the drug..
-
 I used biproxytol when i was younger.. its.. not something I'm proud of "Marita admitted. " Well it saved your life, as that level of dose would have been fatal for someone who wasnt used to it. marie over there is lucky we got her the antidote in time. she was redlining.

[Serris]

The process was repeated with Soren. Fuming, he signed the discharge form.

He got out of bed and headed out to the entrance of the infirmary. Pouring himself some water from a water cooler, he sat down and slowly sipped it to calm his churning stomach.

He then turned to Axel. "I don't know about you but I want some fucking answers."

[Pterano]

Vergil headed to his room... or more correctly, their room, since Vergil had booked himself and Triste into the same room, both on a whim and to maintain their cover. The suite was sumptuous, with an upper loft and a lower level with a kitchen, sofas, big-screen TV, and lounge area that looked out onto the expansive window that offered a stunning view of life under the sea. While all hotel rooms were under the water, not all had views of the ocean of course.

Their bed was up in the loft, which was accessed via a small spiral staircase that led up; it too looked out to the majestic vista. Fish of all kinds swam by the blue waters, which were made bluer by lighting along the hotel's sides.

Propping his suitcase up on one of those hotel holders, Vergil unzipped it and retrieved his credentials, stowing them away in a pocket as he nodded at the view. "Lovely suite, isn't it darling?" he asked Triste, as if they were a vacationing or honeymooning couple. They were listed under false names of course, making their stay here rather anonymous. Still... their stay wouldn't be that long, if Vergil could help it. Perhaps just one night, and that would be all.

Outside their door, a security officer waited patiently. "Ahem." He cleared his throat. "I'm Jenkins... one of the senior security staff here at Voltaic. I'll be taking you to Chief Grierson's office. You'll need special steps to pass through security though. You'll be vaporized by our sensors if you pass through them without your DNA being put into the system, so... if you don't mind..." he held out a small needle now to take a sample from each of them.

"Not at all." Vergil replied, spinning around now. "Darling that thing you can do with your skin... is that embedded in?" he asked curiously he held out his finger for Jenkins to prick, which he promptly did so, the gecko's hand recoiling a bit from the sensation.

"Sorry... should've warned you it stings a little." Jenkins apologized.


The lift carrying Varanus reached the level Marion was on, and the big monitor stepped out, beginning to stomp purposefully through the corridors. "Fee, fi, fo, fum! I smell the blood of a bloomin' coward!" he crowed. "Come out, come out... wherever you are... I know you're on this level..." With a loud hum, his blade was activated, and he began stalking towards her position, which was currently around the corner from where he was. "You may as well give yourself up now! If you talk... I'll make your death painless! Of that, I promise you!" he declared, snarling as he began rounding the corner...

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Lily noticed Axel in the hallway with relief. "Axel!" she ran up and hugged him. "Are you all right?" She glanced at him. He had bloodshot eyes as well. "You were drugged too...how are you feeling now? Where's the girls?" she asked.

She noticed Soren too. "Are you all right, Soren? Do you have any idea who did this to us?"

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

"Rio, what have you gotten yourself into now?" sighed Emilena. "He's with me, sir," she hastily told the officer.

"This is your son, then?" he inquired.

"He..." Emilena paused. "...yes. My son."

"Why is he not with you?" the guard asked, handing the disemboweled bear back to Rio.

"He must have gone back for his sister's teddy bear! Which we'll have to buy a new one...but that's okay," Emilena added hastily.

"He said it was his teddy bear..." the guard added suspiciously.

Emilena smothered Rio in kisses. "I was so worried when I couldn't find you at customs!" she cried tearlessly. "I was afraid you'd been...raped or sold for your kidneys! I can't thank you so much for finding my darling boy safely!" she exclaimed at the guard, palming him a hundred credits. "Take this and my eternal thanks!"

She hustled Rio away. "You never tell anybody what just happened," she warned under her voice as they approached Foley and Flora.

"Rio!" Flora came in for a hug. "Where were you? What happened?"

[bushwacked]

His legs still feeling a little shaky, Axel staggered slightly as Lily hugged him. "Hey... I'm alright. Just don't ask me to do the limbo anytime soon," he said, smiling a little queasily as he wrapped an arm around her. "I was worried... I'm glad you're okay too," he added, not mentioning that she didn't look like a million dollars either. At her question, he shook his head. "I... I've got no idea where they are. I was hoping you'd know, they put me and Soren in our own room."

Sighing, Axel glanced between Lily and Soren and shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, ah...well... Look, I say the first thing we should do is find the girls, and Vergil and Triste, wherever they are. Whoever drugged us was on the boat, so they're probably somewhere around here. And if they were trying to, ah... harm us, we'll be safer in a group. Once we do that, at least we'll be in a better position to think what to do next." Axel blinked and looked around. "Agreed?"

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

Rio squirmed uncomfortably in Flora's embrace, trying to keep away from her lower half. "Nowhere, just by the machine... things. Some cockmunch stopped me." He slipped from her grasp and scurried next to Foley. "Good job my mom was there." Rio glanced at Emilena, smirking at how uncomfortable it had made her. "Thanks for that, by the way. Next time I make a score, I'll pay you back."

Looking around, he saw they were still a man short. "Still no Naird... There's gotta be something we can do, right? Some way to find him?" Now that he'd found a group of people who seemed like they might actually care about him, Rio was determined to do what he could to help.

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

"Yes, sweetie," Triste said, nodding as Jenkins withdrew the device from Vergil and moved towards her. "Fairly deeply, actually." She looked at the officer and gave a shrug as she held out her hand. "Just a small party trick." The needle sank into her flesh, and she winced slightly at the jolt of pain.

After a moment, the procedure was completed and the needle was lifted away. "Mr... Jenkins, is it?" Triste said, glancing down at the drop of blood welling on her finger. "I must say, I'm extremely impressed with the security at Voltaic. Most places would be satisfied with the use of armed guards. But these DNA sensors..." She flashed a small smile at Jenkins. "I wonder if you have any other tricks up your sleeve."

[Serris]

Soren nodded as he looked around. "Good idea, but I'm unarmed right now. I left my weapons in the luggage since we can't bring them on the resort."

He then turned to Lily. "I'm not sure. I don't recall hearing any other cases except our group so that rules out a malicious prank. And kind of doubt Vergil and Triste want to poison their allies."

He then watched as a Dhole with her two pups in two passed by them. The Human then rubbed his forehead. "And furthermore, why a hallucinogen instead of a poison?"

[Pterano]

"Plenty, miss, but they're all proprietary, of course." Jenkins chuckled here, leading the way as Vergil locked the door behind him with his card. "And well, we take security here very seriously, considering what we're mining about two miles down. It's some of the rarest element on the planet, and our competitors would love to get their hands on it... so we're very well protected from external and internal attack."

"Good to know your parlor trick is good to go." Vergil stated as he walked alongside Triste here. "And yes, the facilities here have so far been very impressive."

"You should see Judaken's headquarters. It's the most secure building on the planet, even more so than some of the government buildings in Corona. But you know what they say about money... you pay a man enough, and he'll walk barefoot into hell. It makes the impossible, possible." Jenkins commented as he led them down a service corridor. "No wing is without cameras, no... ah but I couldn't say more even if I wanted to." he chuckled here as they rounded a corner to a scanner. "Just step on through like so..." Jenkins demonstrated. "And you should be good to go. I uploaded your data to the computers while we were walking... so hopefully everything goes as planned, right?" He asked here, laughing at the two of them as Vergil hesitated.

"Oh come on! I'm mostly joking! You should be fine."

"Didn't Don Stracci employ something like this around the perimeter of his house?" Vergil asked uneasily. Gulping, he nodded at Triste. "I'll go first..." He stepped forward before she could protest, and closed his eyes, but nothing happened.

"See? It's accurate, it is! Nothing to worry about!" Jenkins chuckled again.

[Serris]

Marion ignored Varanus. She held her pistol steady with her free hand as her helmet took in the surroundings.

Once she had a shot at his head, she would take it. All she had to do was wait.

"Come on, round the corner!" she muttered.