[hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/dTXVCXa.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/cjO9IUh.png[/img] [b][code]The DENS Base - The Forgiven Compound.[/code][/b][/center][hr] A harrowing death cry filled the air, almost drowning out Maximilian's own battle cry as he cocked his fist back and swung it forward. He punched the creature that was the thorn in his side center of mass and the explosion of force generated from his abstraction sent the thing flying forward in itty bitty bits and pieces. It oozed the glowing orange pus as it went flying through the wall... and suddenly the orange ooze turned into a regular old dull blood. Maximilian panted, wiping a bead of sweat off his head as he stared at the creature. It was human-[i]shaped[/i] but not actually [i]human[/i]. It had two arms, two legs, and a head...except it looked off. It was unnaturally long, its arms and legs were so long and thin it looked as if the thing would collapse in on itself when it takes one step. It definitely didn't look like it would survive in a straight-up fight with Maximilian but yet... it did. It had black skin as if it was burnt, but underneath the skin was a glowing light - the essence of [i]whatever[i] empowered it. When one got to its head, they would note that it was significantly less human. It had no lower jaw, its eyes were sunken and its nose was missing. It was some type of horrid eldritch humanoid abomination. He panted again. "... What in the nine hells was that thing!?" Trevor shouted from behind Max and he glanced over his shoulder to see Trevor standing with a revolver in hand... and holding Agent Page up with his shoulder. That wound on her midsection that monster gave her oozed blood over the white bandages that she applied to herself. "I don't know, it's dead now," Maximilian said as he turned around to face them. "You two need to get out of here." "Nah, no," Trevor said, "I see that lil' look in your eyes, and I can tell you're gonna try to go find that creepy chick." Trevor shook his head. "You heard the Director," Trevor said, "We gotta git. Now's not the time to be playing the hero." "... If you're gonna go," Helena groaned out as the Flock assembled around her. "Just go, Max. I know it's a waste of time trying to convince you of anything." With a nod of his head, Maximilian sprinted down the hallway towards Lyss and the Coven. [hr] Penny shouted and whipped herself back with a gust of wind as the rubble glowed an eerie orange light and then vanished. A feeling of panic brought on by memories of the past surged and shrunk as the form that emerged when the light faded wasn't an unspeakable cosmic horror wrapped in twisting tendrils but Lyss. Penny sighed with relief upon seeing that the girl was okay and looked beyond her to search for Saul. Her vision refocused as her abstraction activated. There was no movement beyond Lyss, but neither was there a lifeless body of an asshole cult leader. Penny turned to question Lyss. Her eyes widened as her open mouth went slack, the question dying unasked as Penny caught a glimpse of the orange glow in Lyss's eyes moments before a legion of the undead emerged from the ground. [color=goldenrod]"Lyss, what the fuck do you think you're doing!?"[/color] screamed Penny. Her words were drowned out by the sound of the horde stampeding towards their little task force. Penny had no time to move towards Madison or Maya before a swarm was already threatening her, the putrid smell of rotting flesh overpowering her senses as claws formed of bones swiped out at her. Penny dipped to the left of the strike as a chunk of ceiling she had blasted away from the disappeared pile came rocketing towards her. It smashed against the back of the minion's skull as it was joined by a dozen other chunks of stone and an uncountable amount of coins that swirled around Penny. The sigil glowed brightly at the base of Penny's neck as she counted to manipulate the items around her to spin in a deadly whirlwind that served as a barrier against Lyss's army. Bones and muscle joined the spinning vortex as the undead tried to break through only to get smashed and shredded until instinct or command brought them to stop a few feet back from the barrier. She sniffed and tasted blood. She knew that she wouldn't be able to keep this up forever, but Penny had managed to buy herself some time to get a sense of what was happening. She frantically looked around—for the others, for Lyss, for an exit, anything. "Lyss!" Madison screamed again as she landed on the ground on one knee. Penny had already shredded the undead minions and used them to create a barrier. However, Madison was [i]hoping[/i] that Penny wasn't going to flip the switch and turn to kill Lyss. She gave them an opening to get their bearings and figure out what the hell is going on. "We gotta go!" Cindy shouted as she gestured for them to come along. "Not without Lyss!" Madison shouted back before she faced the undead horde. She needed to get to Lyss... then she thought about it: the ring. If they got the ring off her finger then maybe she would stop? Maybe. Madison figured that they had to try [i]something[/i]. Anything. Madison shouted to Penny. "Penny! Make me an opening!" [color=goldenrod]"Right!"[/color] shouted Penny, happy to see that Madison hadn't been overwhelmed. Lyss staggered backward a step or two. Even under The Messiah's curse, her fallen sisters could harness their abstractions? She couldn't believe it. Were they willingly attacking her? A third of her army fell to the hands of Penny. Lyss watched in horror as they were ripped to shreds and circled her. What could she do to counter that? What if Penny chose to use her abstraction on Lyss herself? Lyss looked towards Madison who stood facing her defense. If she used the Jaws, even like this, the bones would surely take a stronger form under The Messiah's power. Lyss's army would be shredded in minutes against these two. She needed stronger soldiers, or enough of them to wear down her sister's defenses. How many of her friends had fallen to the entity's influence already? How many were facing the same fate? Lyss was beginning to panic. [color=D3D3D3] "Maximillian? Are you there? He got them. All of them. I don't know what to do-I... I don't know if I can fight them like this."[/color] Lyss desperately spoke into her comms. To her sisters, it most likely sounded like she was speaking in tongues. There was no answer, though. Lyss worried that she would have to face him as well. Mustering up more energy to fight her friends, Lyss pressed her palms to the ground again. More soldiers crawled their way through the broken floor of the altar room. A few brutally large emerged as well. Two-headed towards Penny in the hopes that they could bash their way through the barrier before being ripped apart. Three-headed for Madison. Unfortunately for Lyss's affection towards her, Madison's bones would not hold against their strength for long. The rest of the army surrounded Lyss. They would be the first to take any hits as her personal body shields. Penny had begun to press forward slowly as the whirl of bones and coins swirled in front of her. It violently slashed back and forth like a wiper blade against the storm of the undead, the skeletons being battered into fragments and added to the debris smashing around in front of Penny. Her skull felt like it was getting cracked open with a battering ram, but she knew she could press forward as she continued to decimate the horde that had begun to defensively retreat around Lyss. Madison likely had room to maneuver now, but it was difficult to tell with her blurring vision—as it was difficult to see the two looming figures thundering towards her through the mess in front of her. Her barrier slammed against the first one, femurs and state quarters jamming through the loose flesh and rattling around in the ribcage. It was enough to slow it, and likely if there had only been one of the big boys Penny could've easily shredded it. Unfortunately for her, the second one hadn't been caused by double vision. The second one slipped past Penny's barrier with its fist cocked back. Penny attempted to pull everything she was in control of closer to her, but most of it was still stuck in the first bastard. The fist flew forward as she dropped her abstraction to try and blast herself back with a gust of wind. She wasn't fast enough. Her neck snapped backward as a gush of blood exploded from her nose as the giant haymaker decked her right in the face. Her scream was accompanied by the blowing of the wind that lifted her and, coupled with the force of the blow, sent her flying back several yards. She was still aware enough to cradle her head as she fell, her elbow absorbing the blow with a loud crack as another flare of pain fired through her whole body. For a moment the world went dark and silent, and then the sound of fighting returned to her. Penny blindly kicked against the ground to scoot herself away from the lumbering undead as she tried to ignore the pain and buy herself a second to retaliate. A part of Madison wanted to tell Penny not to push herself too far, but they needed to save Lyss regardless of the cost. Honestly, Madison put Penny on second priority while she tried to close the distance between herself and Lyss. Penny gave her an opening at the very least and Madison was gonna take it. She dropped down to her knee, took in a deep breath, and then charged through Lyss's army to take her head-on. Lyss watched as her golems collided with Penny's field of flesh and bones. It looked like it was working. The thought was more bitter than sweet. It meant that she was getting closer to killing one of her friends. Even if that friend was possessed by an ancient power. Lyss watched with a grimace as one of the golems broke through and made a direct hit across Penny's face. This distraction was enough to make Lyss forget about the other golem's advance towards Madison. Lyss turned her head just in time to see Madison blow right past them as if they weren't there. Lyss's heart skipped a beat. Madison was barreling through the undead at an alarming rate. It was the realization that she wouldn't have time to raise more soldiers that made Lyss turn and bolt for the only exit left in the room. As she ran in a diagonal direction to Madison, more soldiers rushed to stand between her and Madison. If Lyss could get through the exit in time, maybe she could summon more golems to block Madison's way. The golems that had been advancing towards Madison now turned back to rush towards Lyss. If they didn't make it to her side in time, Lyss would surely fall to her former sister's hand. Penny heard the golem coming towards her and used another blast of wind to slide herself across the floor. She could feel tiny bits of debris lacerating her skin, but minor scratches were nothing in comparison to one of those punches. It was difficult to keep her breath between the broken nose and her abstraction sucking it out of her, but by the third or fourth round of their game of chicken Penny's vision had cleared slightly. She pulled herself up and with three rapid gusts of wind had managed to jump herself a safe distance away from the creature. She saw a blurry silhouette of Madison dive after Lyss and three of the golems giving chase. Penny gave Madison a shout of warning but had problems to deal with of her own. Two of the golems were still stomping towards her. She backed up and tried to buy more time to let her vision fully recover, using the occasional blast of wind to propel herself even further away. Her vision cleared enough to notice that Lyss was running away. She couldn't wait any longer. She flipped on her abstraction, felt a hundred tiny little needles pierce her brain, and pressed on. A few more minutes. She knew she could make it a few more minutes. She attracted everything she had touched in range back towards her. The various rocks she had scraped herself against, the shrapnel stuck in the first golem carved its way through, and even the individual bits of bone of the construct's fist that had hit her peeled off towards her. She unleashed the junk in rapid-fire succession like a machine-gunner picking off a bayonet charge across no man's land, the makeshift bullets shredding the golem that had hit her, attracting back towards her, and repulsing away again to pulverize it. Penny stumble-stepped forward dusted the other golem that she had already hit and gathered their scraps up as more ammunition as she began to unload on the large, shadowy figures that were going after Madison. Madison turned her head back after hearing all the commotion oh so close to her. Lyss had summoned some undead monsters and sent them her way... and they were going to catch up to Madison one way or another. Of course, that was if she was staying on an even playing field... she flew up towards the ceiling and punched it hard as she could. A shockwave shook the entire compound as Madison grabbed a stone with as much girth as her torso, spun around, and tossed it at one of the Golems. Lyss was running as fast as she could. Her heart was pounding, faster than it ever had before. She couldn't even look back to see how close Madison was for the fear that she would be inches away. So, she kept running. A sudden crack overhead startled her. She faltered in her steps and almost tripped on her own feet. As she caught herself, she finally looked behind her to see Madison hurling a boulder right at the golem. She watched it crush the golem's head easily. It crashed to the floor and instantly turned to ash. The others would quickly meet the same fate if Madison continued. There was nothing Lyss could do about it at the moment. She needed to get as far away as possible. So, Lyss turned her back to the two golems left and kept running. She was close to the exit now. A long, stone hallway that most likely leads further into the compound. As she neared the exit she pressed her finger to her earpiece. [color=D3D3D3] "This is Lyss Burns! Is anyone there? Saul has escaped. We need to evacuate!"[/color] "Lyss, wait!" Madison screamed, but she had to eliminate the other golems before she even had a chance to go after her. It looked like the crush their fuckin' heads with a rock idea worked fine so, naturally, Madison did it again. She punched the ceiling another time and threw the stone at the Golem's head and crushed it. Then she remembered something. "Penny!" Madison said, "Are you okay?!" [color=goldenrod]"I will be!"[/color] shouted Penny as a twister of trash tore into the final golem lagging behind Madison. [color=goldenrod]"Just keep going!"[/color] [hr] Navigating the mazelike labyrinth was difficult for Maximilian. He was tempted to punch his way down, but he didn't want to injure anyone he didn't care about. At this point, he was fine with taking out the cult because they gave him the heebie-jeebies. He needed to get to Lyss and the others before something bad happens. Fortunately, he was fast enough to jet his way around the compound, [i]unfortunately[/i], it didn't matter much because he wasn't sure if he was even going the right way. However, his earpiece buzzed with Lyss's voice [i]finally[/i]: he wasn't sure what was even going on beyond Lyss attacking them for [i]some[/i] reason. Maybe this was his ray of hope to reason with her, and he immediately came to a stop as he pressed his earpiece. "Lyss, I can hear you," Maximilian started, "I believe you've been put under some type of spell because you're [i]attacking[/i] your friends!" Lyss had just made it to the entrance of the hall when her heart leaped in her chest. It was Maximillian's voice loud and clear in her head. He was [i]alive[/i]. Yet what he said made her stop in her tracks. She looked back at the twisted version of her friends with incredulity. Could this all be some sick trick of the mind? Was she being played? [color=D3D3D3]"What do you mean?"[/color] She said back. Could Max's voice be an illusion too? [color=D3D3D3]"Their eyes are orange. They're oozing that shit that the Messiah's monsters have."[/color] Lyss brought her hands up to her head and squeezed them. When she spoke again her voice revealed her distress.[color=D3D3D3]"I don't know what's real anymore."[/color] For several seconds, Maximilian was silent, because he was utterly speechless. "Listen..." He started, "There's something strange going on here - even for [i]our[/i] standards -, I can't put my finger on it." He didn't know how to phrase this correctly... it was like his brain and his mouth was out of synch. He took in a deep breath as he continued, "You need to [i]trust[/i] me... you need to call off your undead and we all need to get the hell out of here. Something is going on here that even [i]I[/i] can't put my finger on." Lyss listened to Maximillian closely. It felt like he was her only lifeline. Once he finished, she took a deep breath and lowered her hands. One stretched out to place her palm against the stone wall. Madison was still hurling rocks at her golems. Penny's whirlwind of flesh was still ripping the undead apart. If this really was just mind games, it meant that she was hurting the only ones who were still there for her. If it wasn't, and she sent her soldiers back into purgatory, she was going to perish at their hands. The stone against her palm was cold and rough. It grounded her. She took one last breath before standing tall. Slowly, she walked back into the room with her hands held up by her head. [color=D3D3D3]"I'm going to call them off. If they're really gone, then-"[/color] She couldn't bring herself to say it. She would comfortably greet death by any other means, but to be sent to him by one of her sister's hands was different. [color=D3D3D3]"Just hurry, okay?"[/color] Lyss swallowed before black sigils appeared in her palms. The soldiers slowly began to stop in place before collapsing to the ground entirely. Their bodies returned to ash the moment they hit the ground. So did the pieces of flesh in Penny's hurricane. The sigils faded in her hands, and all that was left was Lyss and her two sisters. She kept her hands up. They were shaking now. Some mix of fear and shame. [color=D3D3D3]"M-Madison? ... Penny?"[/color] She felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest. [color=D3D3D3]"Is this really just a trick?"[/color] Madison almost laughed in relief... despite that ever-present worry that this was too good to be true. She attempted to deactivate the Jaws.... but he was still trying to keep the barrier on. After some fighting with her dinosaur, as Maya would put it, she deactivated the barrier. She raised her own hands as she smiled, a tear almost running down her face. "Girl," Madison said, "It's us, it really is." [color=goldenrod]"Couldn't have asked that first, could ya?"[/color] said Penny with a huff, her voice strange and muffled by the hand that cupped her broken nose as she approached the two. She took advantage of the respite and found herself a comfortable spot on the cold, hard ground where she could enjoy her migraine and regret her lack of self-imposed limits. [color=goldenrod]"I'm glad your head cleared. What even happened?"[/color] Cindy walked up with her rifle in hand, with Maya at her side as she shook her head then said, "I don't know how ya'll manage to do it... but we need to get-" Maya screamed when a tendril penetrated her midsection from behind... Madison whipped her head around as she activated the Jaws to see a strange figure in a white hood. Aiming their arm at the group... except their hand had transformed into a long, fleshy, tendril that had orange specs of embers floating around it. They retracted the tendril that had a blade at the end and then put their hands together. "Maya!?" "... Ah, it seems there were factors I didn't take into account," The Messiah said. "... That sounds familiar," Madison muttered to herself. Lyss's temporary relief was squashed the moment she heard Maya's cry. She turned to face her and felt her heart jump as she saw the familiar white robe again. Her face contorted in anger and her fists clenched by her side. Yet her body began to tremble. He was still here. Of course, he was. How stupid could she be to think the entity wouldn't stick around to watch his work? First, he isolated her from her friends. Then he manipulated her to fight against them. She managed to snap herself out of it, thankfully, but he could easily put any of them under his thumb again. It was an understatement to say that she hated his guts, but now she also feared him. Enough to make it difficult to move in his presence. She couldn't let her fear overcome her. Lyss stepped towards the being, her eyes blazing with black fire. [color=D3D3D3]"Get away from my friends, you bastard!"[/color] She shouted. [color=D3D3D3]"Your attempt to tear us apart has failed. You may be able to put one of us under your spells, but you won't stand a chance against all of us together."[/color] Lyss knelt next to Madison's side and pressed her hands to the ground. A group of undead emerged from the ground behind Maya and Cindy to stand between them and the Messiah. They wouldn't do much against the entity, but they could act as a protection barrier long enough to get Maya to safety. Cindy grabbed onto Maya by the underside of her shoulders and dragged her away from some ways away from the Messiah. She saw the blood oozing from her body and had to act fast, but fortunately, nobody got seriously hurt during the engagement. She pulled out her first aid kit and slid off Maya's armor then shirt to get at the wound. She quickly began wrapping gauze dressing around the wound. A wide-eyed and horrified Penny had staggered up from the ground as the glowing orange tendril speared Maya. She quietly muttered in denial under her breath as she tried to find her footing and fight back the fear brought upon by seeing it again. Her head snapped back and forth as she prayed that maybe she was under a spell-like Lyss had been. It wasn't the case; the others saw it too. Penny felt the chill run through her and then exploded into a raging inferno of anger. [color=goldenrod][b]"YOU SON OF A BITCH! HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?"[/b][/color] screamed Penny, wincing in pain as she tried to pull all the scraps she had scattered across the arena back to her. Pushed too hard. Things started to fade away. Fuck no. She was still alive. Keep pushing anyway. Penny blinked and the world had returned and the asshole Speaker was still there in it. She breathed in deep, steeled herself, and folded her arms over her chest. She pinched a penny between her thumb and her forefinger, keeping it hidden from sight. "Mother is capable of great things." The Messiah was nonplussed by the wall of undead in between themself and the Coven. However, there was obviously something up their sleeve. [color=goldenrod]"Forget it."[/color] Penny glanced over towards Maya, thankful to see that Lyss had already formed a guard around her. Hopefully, Cindy knew how to stabilize her. [color=goldenrod]Get on with your monologue about how you decided to form a new religion because a couple of college kids killed your last lame god. I know you really love speaking."[/color]Penny was ready to whip the coin down the Messiah's throat the second that bastard went to open his mouth. [color=goldenrod]" Just hurry up so we can go ahead and kick your ass."[/color] Madison's jaw was open... before an idea popped into her head. The Messiah shrugged, as they pulled their hood down revealing their facial features... which were distinctly childish, much like a prepubescent child with a distinctly Greecian nose. "What's the point?" They asked. Penny shot the coin out of her hand. Her aim was true, but she felt her connection to the penny vanish as it disappeared. The Messiah acted as if nothing even touched it as they continued, "You're gonna die anyway... Lawson." At this point, the Messiah lost form... transforming into an orb of different glowing orange and jagged wires. They swung, cleaving their way through Alyssa's undead barrier. When they struck, whatever they touched seemed to fade completely out of existence. Three of the tendrils shot towards Penny. Madison jumped backward as she shouted, "He's stalling! He has something up his sleeve." Lyss gasped as the tendrils wiped her soldiers completely off the map in one swipe. She dove to the side to avoid one and winced as her shoulder connected with the ground. As she rolled to a stop close to Madison she looked up at her sister. [color=D3D3D3]"I think he has friends coming. Or maybe he's going to bring this whole compound down on top of us."[/color] She grits her teeth as she saw the tendrils near Penny and summoned a line of soldiers to take the blow for her. They disappeared one by one as the wires smashed into them, which meant that Lyss was just wasting energy to summon them, but hopefully, the hindrance would give Penny enough time to get out of reach. [color=D3D3D3]"Does this thing have a range? If we could get out of its reach for long enough we could find a way to damage it... or to run for our lives."[/color] [color=goldenrod]"I don't know, this fucker didn't do that before! Fuck! I don't know!"[/color] shouted Penny after she blasted herself out of the way with help from Lyss's soldier sacrifice. Its amorphous form and ability to immediately eradicate what it touched was reminiscent of the Glutton, and if that was the case then it was too much for them to handle. Yet Maya didn't vanish when she'd been hit. Was the Messiah mixing illusions in with its attacks? The Messiah had reformed back into their usual form, completely nonplussed. [color=goldenrod]"Madison, grab Maya. We should go!"[/color] said Penny, blindly blasting a few shots at the Messiah even though all she was doing was wasting change. "On it!" Madison said as she grabbed the wounded Maya by the shoulders and went towards the nearest exit... seemingly unhindered by the Messiah. "Everyone but Lawson can leave," The Messiah turned both of their palms upwards as the floor began to shake. In the middle of their group came a spike made out of an orange crystal... it was jagged and brutal. It intended to break the group up, but if it killed them, that would be sufficient. [color=goldenrod]"Oh like I'd need your permission!"[/color] yelled Penny as a gust sent her away from the spike but no closer to the exit. She was physically injured and mentally exhausted, but her determination had hardly been scratched. Penny had dealt with worse and had always pulled through. This wouldn't be the end. No way was she dying in Florida. Besides, she remembered something Odessa had told her once about the Awakened. Penny stared down the Messiah with a knowing smile, a wave of calm washing over her. If it allowed the others to get away easily then she'd play the Messiah's game for the time being. She broke into a run as she circled the Messiah, moving away from the door while she opened fire with some loose change and shouted at the others, [color=goldenrod]"Just go! I'll be fine."[/color] The change collided with the Messiah yet they didn't even budge [i]slightly[/i]. Small, orange, cracks formed on their being - even on the clothes. Almost as if they were one solid crystal.... they didn't move as they stared down Lawson. As if they were waiting for the Coven to leave. "Hope ya' know what you're doing!" Madison shouted as she pulled Maya out... alongside Cindy running out the door. Lyss pushed herself back to her feet from where she'd dove to avoid the giant orange death rock. Madison was well on her way out with Maya, but Lyss was still shocked that the Messiah was letting them leave so easily. What did he want with Lawson? Was this a ploy to get her alone and turn her against them? Lyss watched Penny throw a slew of change his way, most likely to get his attention than to physically harm him. Her hands clenched into fists at her side as she felt frustration well within her. There was nothing she could do to help. She'd already done enough damage when she attacked Penny and Madison. Penny was risking her life to get them out of there safely, and Lyss's only option was to run. So, with a grim frown on her face, Lyss turned and ran for the exit after Madison and Maya. If anything she could protect them from any monsters the Messiah may have lurking in the compound. Hopefully, they would find Maximillian before he was mixed up with the Messiah's game as well. [color=D3D3D3]"Max! It was just a trick... but the Messiah reappeared after I snapped out of it."[/color] She spoke into the comms as she made it into the hallway. [color=D3D3D3]"Maya is hurt, but he's letting us leave. Get out of the building as fast as you can. Please find someone who can help Maya... it's serious."[/color] "I'm going to regroup with you all," Maximilian replied. "We can all get out of here." Lyss huffed softly, but she didn't disagree with his plan. Part of her wanted him to get as far away from this place as possible, but she was also comforted to know that he was going to stay behind to help her and her friends. He'd been a sane voice in the midst of this chaos. [color=D3D3D3] "I'll keep you updated then."[/color] She replied. Her feet began to carry her faster through the compound. A new burst of adrenaline carried her up to join Cindy with Maya and Madison in the air beside them. [color=D3D3D3] "Max is going to join up with us to escort us out."[/color] The second they left the Messiah sighed, then shrugged. "... Let's finish this, Lawson." They stuck out their hand a nightmarish barrage of tendrils came forth out of their hand.