[center][h3]Nero[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Argent Tower, Dead Zone[/center]

Untouched by exhaustion, Blazermate permitted herself no delay in heeding the police captain's suggestion. She summoned Dell to start the new construct building, and this time, thanks to his dispenser, he had the resourced he needed to upgrade it fully. With Donnie and his disinfectant abilities on hand, the teleporter was soon operational. With a little corralling from Howard, Jill, Ghalt, and Leon, the survivors formed an orderly line and began to evacuate. One by one they stepped on the platform and disappeared in a shower of sparks. Only a few of the heroes knew where it led, but the others all figured that anywhere would be better than here. Dreaming of rest, plenty, sun and safety, they stepped into the unknown. 

Of course, the fighters hung back to ensure the civilians got to safety, though with the cacophony of howls, moans, and explosions still outside, it did not seem like the Tower would be breached. A few of the better-off civilians stayed back as well, including the portly dragon. “Don' wanna risk breakin' that thing bah steppin' on it,” he explained in a thick Louisiana accent. “'Least, 'til the uthas git t'safety.” That left him, along with the others, the liberty to look around the lobby of the Argent Tower. Expansive, futuristic, and well-furnished, it managed to be utilitarian and sophisticated at the same time. Perhaps most impressive of all the lobby's features were the four great tanks arranged symmetrically, serving as the bottom of pillars that stretched upward toward the ceiling.

Inside each was a remarkable creature, either dead or kept in stasis to serve as decoration. First among them, in the tank closest to where the teleporter went up, was a four-eyed, large-headed [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/risk-of-rain/images/6/67/Acrid%28RoR2%29_profile.png/revision/latest?cb=20191220075334]saurian with vivid dark red scales[/url]. Going clockwise, the next tank contained a bizarre, white, apostraphe-shaped [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/kidicarus/images/c/c2/Zaurumart.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20170507035528]alien[/url] with drifting tentacles and a floating yellow orb. The next housed a three-legged [url=https://media.pocketgamer.com/artwork/na-ldoc/spore.png]beast[/url] with a long tail, a second mouth on its end. In the last resided the most beautiful specimen, a majestic [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/kirby/images/4/46/KTD_Queen_Sectonia_artwork.png/revision/latest?cb=20181130014151&path-prefix=en]insect[/url] with wings like wrought gold.

As the crowd of survivors thinned, Nero approached Ms. Fortune. The moment she arrived she'd plopped down with her back against a desk, breathing heavily. While the devil hunter ran at the front of the crowd, she'd helped to guard the left flank, nearest to the infested market and the buildings beyond that. That meant constant fighting, and from the looks of her it had taken quite a toll. Gashes, burns, slices, tears, and bite marks covered her, and she had been bleeding heavily. Whatever it was that kept her alive despite being dismembered clearly allowed her to feel pain and take more damage. Blazermate healed her wounds, but they healed oddly, and it appeared that she'd lost a lot of blood. “You don't look so hot,” he told her.

Fortune looked at him blearily, then puffed up her cheeks in a pout. “Aww. I'll have you know I'm a real head-turner in Little Innsmouth,” she joked weakly.

With a roll of his eyes, Nero stooped. “C'mon, let's get you through the teleporter. Won't do anyone any good to have you fall apart on us.”

The unintentional joke made her chuckle. “Heheh, you're funnier than you look. But I can't.” Her face got serious. “I need...to find the Skull Heart. Beneath the tree...in the library. For my friends...” She tried to rise, but instead ended up falling apart into a heap, unconscious. Her head rolled across the floor briefly before a black boot gently stopped it.

“Goodness. How...visceral,” the accented stranger said, reaching down to pick up Fortune's head. He held it up, peering at the girl's exhausted features from the inscrutable inside of his coat's black hood. “Poor girl,” he murmured. “After all she went through to defend us.” Nero walked up to him and the stranger gladly passed the head over. “Keep her safe, and give her a chance to rest,” he told the devil hunter. “If she means the place I think, she'll be headed for the root a way south of here.” He extended a gloved finger to point at the southern wall. “There's something strong there. To the north, too. As long as they remain planted, the demon tree is locked up tight.” 

Nero treated him to a long, narrow look. “...Thanks for the tip. Knew that already, though.” The crowd near the teleporter had thinned, and soon the fighters could head through as well. After a moment of silence Nero turned away, activating his Buster Arm to sweep up all the pieces of Ms. Fortune. He rummaged around behind the desks for a while, eventually turning up a carrier bag, which he deposited the pieces into. When he placed it on the teleporter a minute later, she went through without a hitch. When Nero looked around for the coated civilian, he could not find him, so with a shrug he went through the teleporter himself soon after.

He emerged into blinding sunlight, almost falling over. Nero rubbed his eyes with the knuckles on his left hand, then looked out across the Land of Adventure. Idyllic fields and countryside, green trees, blue sky, white clouds. All around were the other civilians who'd escaped from the Dead Zone, some celebrating, some collapsed in fatigue and relief, some just sitting back and taking it in. Nero took a deep breath of fresh air, and allowed himself a smile. The nightmare was over.

For now.