Inside 60

[Fenric]

[DART Safehouse]

Tsukiko briefly vanishes, then is replaced with an inky black fox the size of a German Shepard sporting nine fluffy black tails.

There, now the anti-magic will just pick this form as "real". Annoying... I haven't actually bitten anyone in six thousand years. I don't recall the taste of blood being particularly pleasant.

Let us get this done with.

And invisibility! Even large, her padded paws are utterly silent as she walks carefully to keep her claws from clicking.

[Rebonack]

[DART Safehouse]

"I'm not a shadow anymore..." Bella mutters.

It's true. She isn't!

Anywho.

Our heroes reach the safehouse without too much difficulty. Though now they're faced with the classic stumbling block to invisibility.

A closed door.

A pox upon closed doors!

Bella stands up on her hind hooves to peer in through one of the windows and into the living room. "I see two plain clothes agents," she says quietly. "They keep Wisteria in a room at the back of the house. If we come in through several locations at once, we should be able to take them all by surprise."

~Sounds good to me. You and Lady Zookiko head around back. The priest gal and me will take these goons,~ Sunder says. Now they have a plan! ~One minute, start counting, then we go in.~

Bella gives a nod that no one can see and hurries off to the back of the house. Tsukiko should have no trouble following the hoofprints she leaves behind in the grass.

[Red Zone Apartment Complex]

It almost makes you wonder why anyone lives in these death traps, doesn't it?

Awful urban planning aside, Nyx finally finishes barfing black goop everywhere and two new gloomlings arise! A crystal pony and an earth pony. The two recently re-created stallions look rather dazed. Which is understandable, really. They just got eaten and vomited back out again. "Umm... what just happened?" the gloomy earth pony asks.

Nyx holds up a hoof in a 'wait a seconds' sort of way as she continues huffing, trying to catch her breath. Once she finally manages to regain her composure she says, "I just did to you guys what wights do to living people. So welcome to Team Nightmaere! Woo, go us!" She claps her front hooves together in a show of team spirit!

Tenebra laughs at the scene and waves a triumphant hoof in the air. Gooooo Team Nightmaere!

"So it looks like something big is going down here," Nyx continues. "What's up?"

The two recently re-sired gloomlings share a glance before the earth pony speaks up again. "I was down here with my friend on a first level dungeon crawl when this huge mob of wights came sweeping through. They just totally flattened us, next thing we knew we were wights and we were helping dig out the ceiling there," he says, pointing at the hole just in case Nyx had missed it. "They told us to stay down here and keep watch while they went up there and ate everyone."

Well.

That sounds terrible.

Nyx and Tenebra exchange a look. "How long ago was this?"

"I don't know, maybe half an hour?" the earth pony replies.

"Fuuuuuuuudgesicles," Nyx... not really swears. "This is a big deal. You should fly off and find someone to warn about what's going on."

Tenebra wrinkles her nose. "Why me? I still want to make some spawn of my own and you already have two."

"Because they're under my command, they'll follow my orders better than yours," Nyx counters.

"We play rock paper scissors for it," Tenebra suggests. "Whoever loses goes for help."

"Fine."

"Fine."

The two mares narrow their eyes at each other. The gloomy earth pony opens his mouth and raises one hoof to interject.

"Rock-"
"Paper-"
"Scissors!" "Scissors!"

...they both still have hooves instead of hands.

"This was a stupid idea."

[Recaiden]

[DART Safehouse]

Tavlii nods and starts counting.
60...59...58...57....56...........3...2...1, open door, go in, shoot the first thing visible using the plasma rifle until it stops operating.

These are the things she will try.

[Terumitsu]

Sophia tiredly climbers into the car, smiling.
Thanks. Never tried it, I'm afraid.
Exhausted and famished, honestly. Apologies, but I might have played it safe and stopped before I overdid it. I'm not sure. It's kinda subconscious.
She replies with an apologetic tone as she follows ot of the car.

[Junkyard Junktion]

"No, that's understandable. Causing yourself harm when I want to run several tests would result in both of us having less than enjoyable results from this." she said, setting down the vehicle next to the bunker-esque constructions on the far end of the yard. "In any case, I've decided to add more potatoes to the recipie than you might otherwise be used to if you had been familiar. It's a good plant, nutritionally speaking. Or.. At least in terms of potassium as starches are not known to be reliably healthy for an extended period of time." she said, knowing full well that was restricted to those who were purely biological. Or.. At least those who were purely biological and wanted to remain within a specific range of body shape.

Popping open the glovebox, which appeared to be more of a miniature refridgerator than just a container for loose items, Riss pulled out two cans of chilled fruit juice and offered one to the shifter... Though this particular act of diplomacy might well be lost on Sophia given how little she likely knew of Riss or muses in general. "Here. Good vitamins in this. Hope you like mango." she said before getting out and leading the way to the building... Which would then be to something that looked like a mostly clean kitchen area where, unless the shifter had anything to talk about to pass the time, there would be a moment of quiet and recovery until she was served the curry in question with steamed rice on the side. It might be a bit spicy for her tastes but, then again, it might not. It would certainly make her feel warmer despite the rather pleasant weather, though.

[Fenric]

[DART Safehouse]

Tsukiko follows along behind Bella as silently as she can, fully intending to be a Korean-style fox the moment the door opens.

5... 4... 3... 2...

[Rebonack]

[DART Safehouse]

Time to go!

At the front, Sunder opts to just smash clean through the wall. Going through a wall is way more dramatic than using the door. One DART agent goes down screaming under a hail of plasma fire while the second is reaching for his dart pistol only to get entangled in a writhing nest of hooked gloom tendrils. Arms, necks, and mouth are all grabbed and constricted as motes of incandescent white light begins flowing up the tendrils and into Sunder. The agent wriggles against the nightmaere's grip, but this isn't a battle he can really win.

At the back door, Bella shoulder checks the barrier and sends it flying off its hinges. She charges straight at one of the two surprised looking agents in the kitchen, pivots on her front hooves, and smashes her hind hooves into his solar-plexus with a sickening crack. The force of the blow sends him rocketing across the room and into the wall, a trail of dark mist hanging in the air behind him.

The other agent pulls out his pistol and aims it at Bella!

[Looking For Help and Probably Interaction!]

It took a while for Nyx and Tenebra to find a game they could use to decide who was going for help and who was staying, and in the end it is Nyx who's flying low over the streets of Inside in search of someone to warn about the dreaded wight infestation! Because wights are pretty terrible.

[Red Zone Apartment Complex]

Which leaves Tenebra and the two recently sired gloomlings behind at the wight-infested complex. Tenebra carries the two new ponies up into the basement. They can't really climb the walls very easily with hooves, after all.

[Arkhosia]

[Junkyard Junktion]

"No, that's understandable. Causing yourself harm when I want to run several tests would result in both of us having less than enjoyable results from this." she said, setting down the vehicle next to the bunker-esque constructions on the far end of the yard. "In any case, I've decided to add more potatoes to the recipie than you might otherwise be used to if you had been familiar. It's a good plant, nutritionally speaking. Or.. At least in terms of potassium as starches are not known to be reliably healthy for an extended period of time." she said, knowing full well that was restricted to those who were purely biological. Or.. At least those who were purely biological and wanted to remain within a specific range of body shape.

Popping open the glovebox, which appeared to be more of a miniature refridgerator than just a container for loose items, Riss pulled out two cans of chilled fruit juice and offered one to the shifter... Though this particular act of diplomacy might well be lost on Sophia given how little she likely knew of Riss or muses in general. "Here. Good vitamins in this. Hope you like mango." she said before getting out and leading the way to the building... Which would then be to something that looked like a mostly clean kitchen area where, unless the shifter had anything to talk about to pass the time, there would be a moment of quiet and recovery until she was served the curry in question with steamed rice on the side. It might be a bit spicy for her tastes but, then again, it might not. It would certainly make her feel warmer despite the rather pleasant weather, though.

Right, and that'd be a problem. After all, the variable of condition would be altered. Thank you, by the way.
Sophia replies, devouring the food.
I remember back in the boot camp days, there was a girl named sasha. She was a rather quirky girl, and it seemed like she was perpetually hungry. She earned the nickname potato girl due to this, in fact. On the first day of boot camp, our Drill Sergeant hazed us in a line up. When he came to Sasha, she was eating a potato. He inquired why she was eating a potato, to which sasha replied that it was in the mess hall, lonely, so she was sheltering it in her stomach. When the drill sergeant asked why a potato, she replied, being frin the country and a bit clueless, replied with utterly naive kindheartedness that she was surprised that the drill Sargeant didn't know why people ate potatoes, and offered to share half with him. She was more distraught that she had to miss dinner than that she had to run towards the sun until it set.
Sophia shares as she eats.
Thank you for the refreshments by the way. Sorry for forgetting to thank you, I forget my manners sometimes.
She thanks, looking a bit embarrassed about this.

[Shadowcaller]

[Devil's Charm Hospital]'

Clara smiles and says, "Mmmm...I feel amazing. Better than I ever have before." As she says this, she tries to look into the doctor's mind, curious as to what he thinks about her.

Chadwick's Temple

"Some sort of bird? Can Radu make a body the way you did?" Arty asks, still thoroughly confused.

[Devil's Charm Hospital]

He's mostly worried about her and is concerned about her treatment. But he can't say no to her requests. He looks to be about to say something when the whole building starts to rumble, all of the equipment nearly falling to the floor. "What-"

Then as suddenly as it started, it's gone. "What in the multiverse was that?"

Chadwick's Temple

"Blast it!" Chadwick exclaims. "That must have been the demon. It also explains how it entered the temple in the first place. These dolls aren't made though, they're crafted by special smiths. It's rare that demons have access to them though."

[Deathkeeper]

Chadwick's Temple

Arty looks back out at the bird, and then back to Chadwick.
"Well, it's not like we were planning on doing much besides driving him out anyway. How about we remove his presence from the place? You might want to help her. I don't know if the demon's presence in her caused any damage to her body or more spiritual aspects." he says, hopefully getting out of this area and into the temple proper soon.

[Rebonack]

[Red Zone Apartment Complex]

Basement

"Okay, before we go any further, I'm Tenebra," the gloomy batpony says. "My friend Nyx was the one who sired you. We all work for-"

"Our Mistress, Sunder," the earth pony replies, then blinks. "Huh. Is it weird that I know that?"

Tenebra grins back with a mouth full of fangs. "Not really. So who are you two? You'll just have a name sort of pop into your head. At least that's what happened to me and my other friends after Sunder saved us from being shadows."

The earth pony wrinkles his nose. "I'm... Stalwart Hoof. Huh..." he says, glancing back as an image of a pair of crossed hammers appears on his rump. "I was a first level paladin of Pelor before the wight swarm got me." He frowns slightly at that. "Pelor probably isn't very happy about me getting turned into an undead. Or... unliving. Or whatever I count as now?"

Stalwart's question is met with a laugh. "No, probably not. But I guess if he really cared that much he would have done something about it, right?" While the earth pony considers that question, Tenebra turns her attention to the other stallion. "What about you?"

"Smokey Quartz," he replies, speaking the name as if sampling its flavor. "I'm Smokey Quartz. I was a psion. A friend of Stalwart's. We were going to be great adventurers together. Famous," he gives a snort and a flick of his tail. "That didn't work out so well."

"Well, you two have got another shot at it. We're going to try to find anyone in here who's still alive and get them to safety," Tenebra says. "And we either dust or turn any wights we fight. Just remember, there's a limit of two each. Otherwise they'll be created outside of our Mistress' control. They won't know the rules and they might go feral and hurt someone. Understood?"

The other two gloomlings nod.

"Alright. Let's go save some people."

[Ionbound]

[Devil's Charm Hospital]

Clara swallows nervously and says, "Yeah...What was that? Does the Nexus get earthquakes?"

[Deathkeeper]

Apartment Complex

Meanwhile, in room 506B...

Normal people are sleeping! Morgan is pretty much sleeping. She's on her lousy old futon whose best feature is being almost the same color as when it was new, barely conscious as the equally lousy old TV plays old movies. She's in simple green pajama pants and a T-shirt, her shoulder-length brown hair looking just a little messy from being almost slept on. There's not much on in terms of light besides the TV. Not like she can afford a higher electric bill. Gotta be a little conscious of those sorts of things, right?

Commercials end, and the screen goes back to playing scenes of giant monsters punching each other with their silly rubber fists. Sure would be a shame if something actually scary happened to ruin the cheesy semi-conscious fun...

[Aric Kale]

Red Zone Apartment Complex

The Necromancer feels the presence of so many wights...it was time to claim some for her army...

She, for this dark sorcerer is a female, raises her iron staff and calls for her necrotic energy to draw however many wights she can.

Creatures of the night! Come and be my children! Under me, you shall wreck havoc upon the living world, and smite both the living and undead who would oppose us!

With these words, she slams the rod into the ground, cracking the ground around her.

The woman herself cannot be seen, apart from shadows concealed by a tattered and flowing cloak, and a hand darker than pitch, with nails of silver...

As some of the wights draw closer, her excitement grows. Yes...yes...come to me...

[Rebonack]

[Apartment Complex]

Morgan

Morgan's half-cognoscente awful movie marathon is interrupted by a loud *THUMP!* from the room below hers. Easily loud enough to rouse even the drowsiest of television watches from their stupor. This is followed by some scuffling, then silence.

Huh.

Wonder what that was about?

Spooky Necromancer

As Nyx is climbing out of a manhole to take to the sky and find someone who can do something about all these awful wights she feels the pull of necrotic power tugging at her mind. Thankfully she's unliving, not undead, otherwise she would have been ripped out of Sunder's herd and slaved to the spooky necromancer. When she was still a ghoul she had been slaved a few times to similar spooky necromancers, so the feeling is certainly something she recalls in detail.

Maybe this person is behind the wight attacks?

The gloomy thestral narrows her eyes at the vile magus as half a dozen or so wights begin crawling through the lower story windows of the complex. Yeah. That probably isn't a good sign. She probably isn't a match for... whoever that is. But she's confident she can escape in a hurry if things go sour. "Hey!" she yells at the necromancer. "You had better not be behind this wight attack!"

The gloomling... looks undead. And yet not. The body and fur of the equine creature are both very much alive. And undead. At the same time, somehow? Her eyes appear as empty sockets filled with thick darkness, orbs of icy blue light burning within the gloom. Her mane and tail appear almost insubstantial, and yet still solid. Her bat-like wings are spread threateningly. Or maybe as a quick means of escape should the need arise.

[Deathkeeper]

Apartment Complex- Room 506b

Morgan awakes with a start, but isn't groggy enough to not recognize the sound of scuffling.
Aw geez, did someone get drunk again.
"Freaking hell. Second I score something big I'm buying a nice place in a blue zone." mutters the 23-year-old, going over to the drawer and making sure that her gun is still where she left it. If someone had the bright idea to raid the place in the middle of the night she's not going to be taken unawares! Satisfied with that, she leaves the heavy .357 revolver on the table and goes back to the futon.

[Aric Kale]

Apartment Complex - Necromancer

Nyx will be able to tell that the arm is pure evil, and whatever is through or inside the cloak isn't any better.
Seven of the wights form a double line in front of her, with one standing in front of the others. It turns to Nyx and speaks with its mistresses' voice.

Creature...I do not recognize your kind...

As for your impertinent query, I did not call for these wights, but I will take full advantage of them. Join me and slay those who are left...and consider joining my ranks...I can tell that you felt my pull...you are strong to resist me... The voice is crooning and altogether unfitting to exit that wight's mouth.

I will warn you but once. Harm any of my wights, and I will consume you...

[Rebonack]

[Apartment Complex]

Tenebra and Friends

The three gloomlings shudder when the wave of necrotic power washes over them, feeling the deathly pull at their will. However, due to their strangely hybrid existence the magic isn't able to sink deep enough into their minds to rob them of themselves.

"What was that?" Stalwart hisses, glaring off in the direction the tug had come from.

"Some kind of compulsion?" Smokey ventures. "It felt strong."

"Might have been someone trying to control the wights," Tenebra says, shoving open the basement access door and heading up the stairs to the ground floor. The lobby of the apartment complex is... pretty rough looking. But that's more because the place is in the Red Zone than it is due to the wights. In fact... one would think there would be more evidence of breaking and entering so the wights can get after people in their apartments...

"Hey," Stalwart calls. "Look." He nods at the open door to... the manager's office. "They must have caught them and got the set of master keys."

Well. That's terrible.

[Spooky Necromancer]

Well. That's really creepy.

Nyx unconsciously takes a step back.

Whatever that thing is, it's well above her pay grade. The gloomy thestral doesn't even bother to reply, wheeling around and giving her wings a snap to take off into the night sky at a truly phenomenal pace. She needs to find someone who can help. Someone strong! Maybe she should go get the Mistress? Or tell the Union about what's going on? Or maybe find a legion of undead-slaying paladins or something.

Hopefully they wouldn't slay her, too. Paladins can get kind of smite-happy sometimes.

[Morgan]

At about the time Morgan sits down there's another thump, this time accompanied by a muffled cry of alarm. And not from the same room, this time around. In fact... if she strains her ears she might be able to hear a pretty sizable disturbance on the next floor down. Or... maybe lots of small disturbances? Hopefully this isn't some police raid looking for drug nests. If it is, Morgan might have to put her hands in the yellow circles and inform them that she's a meat popsicle.

[Aric Kale]

Apartment Complex - Necromancer

The cloaked figure is unconcerned by one unliving thestral, intriguing though it may be.

She uses her summoning once more, though now she is using it as a net. Any wights or undead who approach will be swarmed by her children as she grants them a small portion of her power, allowing them to outclass their brethren.

The more wights that fall, the stronger she becomes.

[Deathkeeper]

Apartment Complex- Morgan

Aw geez, this is a raid, isn't it?
This is totally a raid.
"I am so out of here."
Morgan sighs and fetches the gun, taking swift and precise strides into her bedroom. Time to take what she can and bail. For once, she's happy that she doesn't carry anything remotely valuable that she can't carry on her person.
Removed: one set of pajamas (cotton).
Donned: One thick shirt (tan), one vest (with pockets!), cargo pants (also with pockets, also tan!), one belt with revolver holster (brown leather), one brown, broad-rimmed hat, and thick hiking boots (sturdy as all hell).
Morgan shoves her gun into the holster, what few tools and valuables she has into a satchel, and heads for the door. She pauses slightly to stick a heavy-duty flashlight onto her belt (it's dark when it's night time!) but otherwise heads straight for the door, hoping to lock it up and bail before any crap comes her way. Maybe the fire escape is still good?

[Lady Serpentine]

[Red Zone
Bewighted Apartments - Middle Floors - 410B
Wee Hours of the Morning]

On the floor below Morgan, someone else hears the same *THUMP!*! Specifically, a thin girl who's... Engaged in much the same sort of activity, actually. Though that's not too surprising, given the hour. What else are you going to do in the middle of the night around here? Low volume TV is pretty much the only thing one person can do besides read, and she just doesn't have the money to buy books; the TV at least came with this place. Not movies, though, mostly; she's watching old comedy shows and such.

Where she differs is that, while she isn't drowsy as such, she is certainly very distracted - and considering her appearance, that's not in the least surprising; she's emaciated and sickly, her hair dull and hanging lankly. Though had anyone been watching her (which is fairly unlikely) they'd have seen that before she laid down on her couch, she looked like any other girl in her mid-twenties, or at least any other girl of that age who lives in the Red Zone and can afford to rent even the cheap apartments here.

How strange.


Of course, given the sounds coming from the rooms around her, it might be a good idea for her to cut this particular session a bit short. In fact, seeing as there seem to be more and more disturbances around, that's seeming like a very good idea about now. But she might as well wait out the whole min- or perhaps not, since that one sounded like it came from her next door neighbor.

So. Stop storing, get off the couch. Reach up - yes, good, that's right, hair's back to normal, now down check the ribs... Everything's in order again. Which means it's time for her to head into the kitchen, grab knife, then hurry... Where, exactly? This place isn't much, but it is the only place she has, when she thinks about it. But... It's not like she's going to abandon it forever, right?

Right. Which means that... Out the window is probably the safest bet? Maybe. She's at least going to peek out and see what there is outside!

Feruchemical reserves: Three and a half months of health.

Spoiler: On Reserves

Show

This represents the Feruchemical storage of an entire year, devoting five hours each day to storage, and twelve on weekends. While, by burning her goldmind, she can access ten times that amount of health, she doesn't know that yet, and in order to get more than twice normal healing, she would need to spend more than the same amount. For instance, to heal a wound that would ordinarily take four days to heal in one, she would need to spend more than four days of health.

Also, using it to heal wounds that would otherwise be fatal takes even more health expenditure than overspeeding healing, and how much health she can store is affected by both size and purity of the metalminds in question. The one she uses now is out of space to store more, and it's amazing that she managed to get as much as she did in there.

[Fenric]

[DART Safehouse]

Tsukiko charges in only a moment behind Bella, and the other agent likely won't get a chance to fire as a hundred pounds of angry black fox tries to plow into him and rip his throat out violently.

[Rebonack]

[Apartment Complex]

Spooky Necromancer

Nope, sorry, that isn't working anymore.

A handful of wights have already heeded the call, but now that they're under the necromancer's control none of their fellows are following in their footsteps. If she wants to do something about the remaining wights (and there are oodles of the things) she's going to have to go inside the building and stamp them out the old fashioned way.

With violence!

Or maybe with magic that destroys undead.

One of those things.

Though... it might be a good idea to watch out for those weird equine creatures. Ponies are like cockroaches after all. If you see one, there are bound to be others skulking about singing songs or planting gardens or other loathsome living activities.

Morgan

Welp, Morgan has got her gear and she's good to go! She locks her front door (lock, deadbolt, and chain!) and then to the fire escape!

The fire escape is so corroded and pitted with rust it looks like the thing would probably crumble away into dust if Morgan spits on it, let alone tries to walk on it. That's a fire hazard, mister building superintendent! You should be ashamed. And probably fined. But this is, after all, the Slums, the most depressingly impoverished Red Zone around. People have a tendency to skirt around negligible things like fire code.

Well... now what?

There comes another crash, though THIS one sounds like it came from Morgan's floor rather than the one below. Whatever is going on is getting closer!

Thin Gal

Unfortunately the fire escape situation really isn't any better on the fourth floor than it is on the fifth. If she wants out, she's going to have to go through the building itself. Which... may prove to be hazardous.

Especially since there comes a loud pounding at her door! "Police, open up!" comes a raspy voice that sounds like the owner has been smoking since they were four.

[Tenebra and Friends]

"Stick close," Tenebra says, the other two gloomlings nodding as they do just that. The trio begin investigating rooms on the first floor one at a time. Some doors look like they were opened willingly. Others were obviously forced. The first apartment they check is empty. There are a few flecks of blood on the floor, recently split, but otherwise? Nothing. The occupant was probably turned and dragged along with the other wights.

The next room is much the same.

And the next.

Though the one after that?

"Oh sweet Pelor preserve us..." Stalwart mutters.

Inside are two wights locked in the mindless rote of repetition, repeating some mundane task from life over and over again. One wight that looks like he had been a male human at some point, constantly pouring nonexistent cereal from a box into an already overflowing bowl. And a second undead, far smaller than any undead abomination should ever be, constantly placing her meager collection of toys into a little shoe box before pouring them out again.

When the unliving equestrians leave the apartment two more nightmaere gloomlings have joined them, a pegasus stallion with a little earth pony filly riding on his back. The former looks somewhat dazed while the latter is bouncing excitedly.

[Shadowcaller]

Chadwick's Temple

Arty looks back out at the bird, and then back to Chadwick.
"Well, it's not like we were planning on doing much besides driving him out anyway. How about we remove his presence from the place? You might want to help her. I don't know if the demon's presence in her caused any damage to her body or more spiritual aspects." he says, hopefully getting out of this area and into the temple proper soon.

[Devil's Charm Hospital]

Clara swallows nervously and says, "Yeah...What was that? Does the Nexus get earthquakes?"

Chadwick's Temple

"There is some of Radu's foul essence that still lingers in her." Chadwick replies with a glance at the woman. "But she should no longer be possessed even if it will take a long time to cleanse both her and the temple and we're all on our own here. Perhaps we could seek help from the other temples around here? They must be against demonic taint as much as we are, right? It's a great shame of a god that can't even keep demons outside his own temple however."

[Devil's Charm Hospital]

"I don't know, but that has never happened before." The doctor replies. The warforged looks at the door as screams and roars can be heard outside. They sound distant but something is definitely going on out there. People are panicking.

[Deathkeeper]

Chadwick's Temple

"I'm sure Cos' temple will help. Really Chadwick, you need to stop being so hard on yourself. You've been yourself again for only a few weeks."
he says, mentally rolling his eyes. Restoring his confidence is likely going to be harder than restoring his sanity.

Apartment Complex

Morgan frowns, placing her hand over the grip of her revolver. She takes a few steps into the hall, and considering it, draws the pistol. She advances towards the stairwell, a scowl on her face.

[Ionbound]

[Devil's Charm Hospital]

Clara swallows when she hears the screaming, and her form shifts until she looks like she did as a human, and she runs towards the commotion, using her mind-reading powers to try to figure out what's going on.

[Rebonack]

[Apartment Complex]

Morgan

The hallways of the complex could probably use a new coat of paint.

Or maybe some new wallpaper.

Or maybe they should just be gutted and burned.

To say things are awful in here is a tremendous understatement. Paper is rotten. Paint is peeling. In some places the walls have been ripped into, exposing the underlying lath and plaster. A thick growth of russet mold clings to a forsaken corner of the hall where a water pipe burst and was never fixed. No one goes near the russet mold. Not after Mister Straford inhaled too many spores, died, and had a pair of veggie-pygmies claw their way out of his corpse. One would think that lethal fungus would be enough to have the building superintendent actually do something, but you would think wrong.

The Red Zone is just that awful.

Deadly fungal growths aside, Morgan is faced with a much more immediate threat to her safety. Specifically? Miss Travis. Miss Travis is a weird old lady who lives a few doors down and has far more cats than public health regulations allow. But considering the patch of russet mold no more than one hundred feet away, that's the least of the building's issues. Normally Miss Travis is only a threat in so far as she smells like cat pee and is a generally unpleasant person.

But now?

Now her flesh is shriveled to her bone as if it had been turned into jerky and leather. Long, bony, yellow claws have grown from her fingers. Her eyes are wide with fury, locking onto Morgan as she gives a low hiss before loping toward the no doubt shocked woman with unholy haste!

[Recaiden]

[DART Safehouse]

Time to go!

At the front, Sunder opts to just smash clean through the wall. Going through a wall is way more dramatic than using the door. One DART agent goes down screaming under a hail of plasma fire while the second is reaching for his dart pistol only to get entangled in a writhing nest of hooked gloom tendrils. Arms, necks, and mouth are all grabbed and constricted as motes of incandescent white light begins flowing up the tendrils and into Sunder. The agent wriggles against the nightmaere's grip, but this isn't a battle he can really win.

At the back door, Bella shoulder checks the barrier and sends it flying off its hinges. She charges straight at one of the two surprised looking agents in the kitchen, pivots on her front hooves, and smashes her hind hooves into his solar-plexus with a sickening crack. The force of the blow sends him rocketing across the room and into the wall, a trail of dark mist hanging in the air behind him.

The other agent pulls out his pistol and aims it at Bella!

"Isn't that kind of slow, Sunder?"
They should keep moving while surprise is on their side and the structural integrity of the house isn't in any more danger! And after that impressive burst through the wall.

Tavlii heads through the doorway closest on her side of the room. There could be more agents and more people being held here.

[Deathkeeper]

Apartment Complex

Morgan's eyes go wide. She's seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers, hissing and starting are bad!
She doesn't even really think about what's going on. All her brain can process is Situation->Wrong, Danger proximity->Diminishing. So she's not thinking at all of her neighbor as she raises her gun to shoulder height, and fires exactly one shot, straight at the head. Her aim is decent.

[Rebonack]

[Apparent Complex]

Morgan

There comes a dull thunk as the bullet punches a small hole through the front of the wight's skull and a much larger hole out the back, the force of the round snapping the monster's head back and causing it to topple over. As soon as the wight hits the floor its mummified looking body begins crumbling away into dust in a fashion not altogether different from choosing poorly when it comes to picking which cup is the holy grail. Before long there's nothing left but a heap of fine ash.

At least wights don't leave a disgusting mess behind like zombies do.

Also?

If people weren't aware something was going on before, that gunshot certainly just woke them up. And alerted the rest of the wights to the fact that someone is fighting back. The sound of feet pounding up the north stairwell is getting closer! The only escape rout may be the south stairs, though Morgan had better cover her face with her hat when she runs past the patch of russet mold.

[DART Safehouse]

~Good point,~ Sunder says before giving the inky tendrils a wrenching twist. She releases the agent who slumps to the floor, his head hanging at an angle that is most certainly not indicative of good health.

Don't make spawn of living creatures.

Instead of being devoured, the corpse simply lays there on the floor, slowly growing cool.

Meanwhile!

Tsukiko leaps upon her foe and rips his throat out, reminding the shadow fox that blood has a really unpleasant flavor. The woman makes an unpleasant gurgling noise, her aim with the dart gun utterly ruined. Hmm... it doesn't sound like anyone else is moving around. Aside from the voice of a little girl calling from the other room, "What's going on? It sounds scary!"

Bella's ears immediately perk up at that voice and she begins trotting toward it. "Wisteria, honey, it's mommy. Mommy's here, we're going to go on a vacation, okay?"

Silence follows for a moment, then a reply from behind a closed door. "Uncle Ted said that if you come here I'm not supposed to go with you..."

A pained look flashes across Bella's face. She squeezes her eyes shut and knocks at the door with a hoof. "Honey, we need to go right now. Ted was a bad man and they were trying to keep you away from me. We're going to live together now, I won't have to come visit you because we'll be with each other all the time. So please, open the door Wisty."

Another pause.

Then, hesitantly. "Can we go to Rootbeer Float's ice cream shop?"

Bella gives a choking noise as she fights back tears. "Anything you like, Wisty, okay? We can go there right now, just please, open the door."

The door squeaks open, the face of a little six year old human girl peering out and giving a gasp when she sees Bella. "Mommy?"

Bella Donna nods.

"Why are you a pony, mommy?" Wisteria asks. This is a very pressing question for inquiring six year olds.

"I'll tell you about it once we get to the ice cream shop, okay?" Bella replies. "You climb up on my back and I'll give you a ride. Won't that be fun?"

Wisteria seems to think that will be fun, since she gives a squeal of delight, starts scrambling onto her mother's back, and then remembers she has several very important toys that she needs to bring if they're going away forever! The little girl scrambles back into her room and begins collecting baubles.

[Deathkeeper]

Apartment Complex

Morgan grimaces at the self-destroying body, but doesn't have time to react. She also doesn't have time to reload, which means all she can do is hear the steps coming, and turn and run. She holds her breath as she passes the mold. Thankfully the patch is small enough that she doesn't have to hold her breath for very long.