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[GodofGamingRWBY]

Erika

"THAT is why I'm saying we need to figure it out, Arkady" Erika replied without missing a beat, before making a rather questioning look at Remi... Or, Mimi, as Arkady now called her, both for the new name and for the term 'incubator' being used again. Stephen had described himself as one, specifically as 'strep throat', but she had originally just brushed it off as a fancy title he made up himself. But once Mimi began explaining what was really going on, a lot of tonight began to clear up. She didn't take much time reading the files, but what she saw was enough.

When she signed up for this job, she expected action. Being part of something that was practically illegal with the possibility of encountering hostile people and killing one or two of them came with that. But she had not expected to deal with... The inhuman. But right now, it wasn't even something that Erika could dispute when it explained so much. Mimi's training with a sniper rifle, Robin easily snatching her phone the first few seconds they met... And how she managed to take the warehouse keys from Stephen.

She... Only wished she knew about this before Mike was killed.

"We'll be better prepared if he comes after us, which considering he seems keen on killing all of us, he will" Erika stated, holding up Mike's gun, "In the end, he's as human as the rest of us, at least in terms of what he can take" One shot. That's all they needed. He likely knew that, and so did they. Once they got rid of his element of surprise, they had a chance... Together, "Come on, we're wasting time" she said after a brief pause, bringing up Mike's gun to aim down its sights, "Eyes up, ears out."

[Takosher]

Giena

Standing outside the camera room on his own, Giena was wide open to attack. But his vigil had yet to be disturbed, not even his foe chose to disturb the loneliness of his watch. Every once in a while he could swear he heard movement coming from the maze, but nothing ever emerged.

Erika and Arkady

At Arkady's direction,  Erika's lead, and with Dodger's guidance, the group headed towards where the flare had landed. They hadn't gone far when they began to notice something odd. Tendrils of a strange, mold-like purple substance reached out across some of the crates. It wasn't stationary either, it was slowly creeping outwards, attempting to cover more as it went.

"Hey, uh, guys. Am I seeing that right?" Dodger said nervously, "Whatever that stuff is, the flare landed on the other side of it. I can try to take you around, but it will probably reach the flare first if I do."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Erika

"I'm... Seeing it too Central. Move us around, we'll pick up our pace" Erika responded quickly before turning to Mimi with a questioning look, "Know anything about this... Stuff?" she asked, gesturing towards the purple substance. It was disgusting, and obviously alive, considering the fact that it was moving, but if anyone here knew something about it, then it would be Mimi.

Presumably, at least.

[Takosher]

Erika and Arkady

Mimi shook her head as Dodger gave them instructions on how to backtrack and go around. "I have absolutely no idea, I've never seen anything like it." she said, worry apparent in her tone. She didn't like this. She may not have known who Stephen was at first, but she had a decent idea of the sort of power she'd be up against before she took on this mission. Whatever this was, it was a total unknown. She could only hope it was some strange experiment stored in the warehouse, and not another incubator.

Giena

After a further while of solitude, the darkness finally stirred and Stephen stepped out. "Giena, right?" he said, smiling coyly, "I need to get into that room, if you please."

[IntSys]

Arkady

An appalling sight, yet it was one that yielded an interesting question. What had the higher-ups been putting in this warehouse? The tentacle madness unfolding before them was likely only part of the mystery. One could only wonder if it was the right choice to leave the unknown... creature, unchecked. What kind of chemistry would it have with Stephen's powers?

Unsettling.

Arkady considered Mimi's powers. If her bullets could increase sensitivity towards light, maybe they could cause the creature to retreat back into its crate, avoiding the glow of the flare.

"Just a suggestion. Mimi, if you fire a bullet into that thing, we might be able to force it to retreat back into its container to avoid the light."

[Takosher]

Erika and Arkady

"I don't..." Mimi's answer to Arkady was confusion, it was apparent the pressure was getting to her. There wasn't another straightforward and mildly annoyed correction for him, just uncertainty, "Does that stuff even have eyes?"

Even if it did, there was so much of it, would a little light really be enough to cause it all to retreat? Mimi's mind raced as she tried to think of some way she could help, anything. She'd tried to pull them all together, but now she was the one falling apart.

And then they reached the flare.

Conveniently, it had landed in a clearing amongst the shelves and crates, giving them a wide area where nothing could sneak up on them. There was only just one problem: as Dodger had predicted, the purple mold had reached the flare first, and already covered half of the clearing and several of the surrounding crates. If they wanted to continue avoiding it, they would have to abandon the flare.

[Cheesy Honkers]

Giennadii

Seeing Steven wasn't much of a shock to Giena. The Russian man knew death was near. He felt powerless, unable to change his fate. Was it all predetermined? Was it all for naught?

Oh well.

"Иди на хуй" Giena whispered with great affection before he fired his shotgun in the general direction of Stephen. Maybe, if he was fast enough, he could jump back into the camera room.

[IntSys]

Arkady

Arkady looked back at Mimi. Either the effect really wasn't that strong or she was just rapidly losing confidence in general. In any case, she wasn't ready to do anything about it. That might end up being a problem, so a morale boost might be in order.

"Erika, how close are we to the nearest exit?" The boy moved neither forward nor backward, as if the presence of both Stephen and the unknown creature cancelled each other out.

Speaking of whom... Arkady shot a glance back into the path the group took. He began to wonder. Was Stephen even still following?

A silly question. If Arkady were in his shoes, he'd definitely go after the group, trying to retrieve the key as soon as possible to keep everyone else trapped.

... Unless, he hadn't even realized it yet?

[Takosher]

Giena

As he pulled the trigger, Giena felt an intense pain shoot across his body. It was only the for a moment, but it was enough to cause his shot to go wide and prevent him from ducking back into the camera room. It was also enough time for Stephen to close the gap between them. Rather than being lifted into the air by his neck, Giena found himself pounded in the stomach by a fist. Stephen was surprisingly strong for his size, but the hit wasn't nearly enough to take Giena out. "This is for earlier." Stephen said, stepping aside as Giena found himself unable to contain the contents of his stomach any longer.

While he was still lurching, Stephen sent Giena to the floor with a roundhouse kick to the back of the head. Giena might try to turn his shotgun on his assailant once more, but he would find that it was no longer in his hand. The sound of the gun cocking told him that Stephen had managed to take it, though he didn't know when. "See you in hell." And with that final taunt, Giena's world went dark.

Stephen

Stephen felt a good deal of pleasure from holding a weapon in his hands, it was rare that he got the opportunity to blow someone's brains out. It wouldn't be much use against her, but he held a fondness for its late owner, so he had decided to keep it anyways. He glanced down at Dodger's corpse beside him, regretting a bit that he had stuck to his usual tactics instead of shooting the guy. Dodger seemed like someone he could get along with in another life, Stephen wished he'd thought to show a bit of mercy. But now wasn't the time for regrets, he still had work to do. If he failed this particular job, not getting paid would be the least of his worries. Which is why when he looked at the cameras, his blood ran cold.

Erika and Arkady

"Guys, I hear fighting outside, so I don't think I have much time. You're close to the shipping dock, so head there if you want to get out." Dodger spent his last words relaying a path to the exit until he was suddenly cut off.

A few moments later Stephen's voice took Dodger's place, giving them the rest of the path to safety and finishing with, "Teardrops, I was sent here to assassinate the Queen."

Though confusion was all anyone could possibly feel as Stephen finished giving them an escape route, the mention of this "Queen" was enough to give Mimi complete clarity. She knew exactly what was going on and why Stephen had done the things he had done. And as she thought about it more, her clarity slowly turned to horror. The reality of the situation sunk in, and it was all she could do to prevent herself from entering a state of total panic.

"Erika, we have to go now." She said, her voice cracking as her words practically turned into a scream.

"How sad, you don't wish to stay with me?" This new voice spoke sweet words, but it was laced with unspeakable malice. It came from across the clearing, in the same place where the purple mold seemed to originate from. The speaker was a woman dressed in all black, as though she were attending a funeral. She had a wide brimmed hat with a veil hung around it, partially obscuring her face such that only her gentle frown could be seen. Dull blonde hair fell over her shoulders, it's soft waves looking slightly matted, as though it hadn't been brushed in days.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Erika

"I don't know Ark" Erika admitted as the radio crackled to life again, the first words coming from it causing Erika's face to fall. Stephen was at the control room, with Gienna and Dodger. She didn't know how he had managed to get there so quickly, but he did. She hoped there was a chance for them to get out... But when Dodger cut off, she lost it.

"Dodger? Doger?!" Erika called out into her radio, letting the radio silence that followed answer her own fears before Stephen's voice came across the comms, detailing the rest of the directions for her and the others, before finally saying what he was here for. Specifically to assassinate some 'Queen'... Which if Erika had to give a guess, it would probably be related to the mold, if nothing else,

"Dammit" the old operator muttered as she pocketed her radio, pulling out the keys while turning away from the now practically lost flare, taking in Mimi's demand, especially her panic, "I know Mimi, we just-" she began, for her gun to snap in the direction of a new voice in a quick and precise manner. She only took an instant to process the sight she saw, the woman speaking with sweet words, yet with a clear malevolent intent behind them, black clothes, and general vicinity of where the mold was coming from. This was most definitely Queen.

It didn't take long after that for Erika to start opening fire,

"RUN!" she yelled in the midst of doing so, quickly taking several steps back as she observed the response to the hail of bullets. She wasn't expecting to kill her with it, Stephen had already proved that guns weren't entirely effective, but she wasn't going to waste time and let this woman get whatever she wanted ready. If this only slowed her down, then so be it. They just had to run.

[IntSys]

Arkady

A cruel relief washed over Arkady. A familiar threat replaced with an unfamiliar one. But at the same time, there was nothing else to worry about.

That meant, he could go with the original plan.

"Erika, pass me the lighter!" Arkady shouted. The intent was obvious. And of course, it was the best option they had. Fire likely wouldn't kill this unknown woman, but it would most certainly slow her down by creating obstacles. "Mimi, don't just run! She has eyes!" He continued yelling, stressing the keyword, as he broke into a sprint, taking the lead as Erika spewed bullets.

[Takosher]

Erika and Arkady

Erika's bullet spray struck her target without issue, and for a moment it might have seemed they had panicked for nothing. But that moment passed quickly as the bullets clattered to the floor in front of the woman, pushed out as her body effortlessly repaired itself.

Klepto was just behind Arkady running away, and ahead of everyone in screaming in terror.

Mimi, despite her fear, took hold of Arkady's words and turned to face the woman. She too aim with her rifle, and fired off a pair of shots that breezed through the viel and into the woman's eyes. Not wanting to waste any time, she turned to join the rest in running.

"How sad." the woman said, three new eyes popping into existence on her cheeks, "You're sick, and will never be healed. You've become a monster. How sad for you then, that you have to face me." One of the shipping crates that the mold had covered lifted into the air. Carried by the whims of the queen's mind, it crashed down in front of Mimi, cutting her off from the other three. Mercifully, the obstacle obscured their view of what happened next, but nothing would ever be able to purge the sound from their minds. Mimi screamed in pain as the sound of flesh and bone being torn apart echoed throughout the warehouse. And with a sickening squelch, her screams went silent.

Several chunks of what used to be Mimi were flung over the crate during her gruesome end, alongside a few pieces of her rifle and a blood-covered phone. If either Erika or Arkady had slowed their escape after the crate was dropped, they might have a chance to grab hold of the phone as they resumed running.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Erika

Fuck, she was bulletproof. At least with Stephen she could've entertained the idea that they could take him out with guns, but now it was obvious that they couldn't do the same with this woman. Regardless, she seemed to have bought a few seconds, which was all she needed to toss Arkady the lighter and start sprinting after Robin. At least, until a large crash resounded from behind her, the shockwave almost causing her to fall over before she risked a quick look over her shoulder, only to come to a stop when she took in the large container cutting them off from the woman... And Mimi.

"REMI!" Erika called out, about to run back for her before she heard the screams. God, the screams. She had lived through a war, but nothing could've come close to what she was hearing. Whatever that monster was doing... It was not pleasant, not helped by the fact that she swore she saw some... Chunks... Being thrown over the crate, both squishy and hard.

Pushing down her earlier dinner, Erika turned around and ran, keeping the directions to the exit burned into her mind as she did so. She failed Mimi, she failed Gienna, she failed Mike, she had practically failed everyone at this point. But she still had Robin and Arkady. She merely hoped she'd have enough time to find the right key for the door.

[IntSys]

Arkady

And another one down, and another one down...

The last of her tears...

Instinctively, Arkady stalled slightly to grab the miraculously intact phone. The last of what Mimi had been hiding from them. The last of the puzzle's pieces.

Finally back on track, Arkady tried his best to reevaluate all the information he had just taken in. Mimi had said that she had no idea what the mold was, yet after Stephen's call, she suddenly seemed like she had an idea of exactly how dangerous she was.

... Queen?

Luckily, he knew a thing or two about using handhelds while running. With all the finger dexterity he had built up all his life, he tried to browse the files on the phone as quickly as possible, looking for anything that echoed with the word.

[Takosher]

Erika and Arkady

Mimi's phone was still open to the previous set of incubator files, making it easy to navigate to others. The incubators were sorted by "potential threat" which was denoted by a letter grade. Notably, three grades were outliers from the typical set, J, Q, and K. It was easy enough to guess what those meant, and Arkady quickly navigated to the sole file within the Q folder.

Cancer. That was their foe. Her abilities were completely unknown, and yet she warranted a completely unique classification because of her immense power. Defeating her with so little information would be impossible, but surely there had to be some way to escape.

Miraculously, Cancer didn't seem to have followed them. Perhaps she was simply too slow to keep up, she had been wearing a rather decadent dress, after all. Or maybe she wasn't interested in them, and would chase after Stephen, she did seem to have something against other incubators.

Even more miraculously, Klepto hadn't gotten himself lost, either to the maze or the despair he was feeling. He was running alongside Erika, keeping pace and managing to hold back his panic as adrenaline fueled his rush for freedom. For just a moment, things seemed to be looking up as the three of them ran desperately for the exit.

And then the moment passed, and the sound of a rampaging beast tearing through the warehouse signaled their imminent demise.

Cancer

The container that had obscured Mimi's end was shoved aside, and Cancer stepped over the operative's mangled corpse. The right side of her dress had been torn open, partially exposing a black shorts and a half-worn sports bra hidden underneath. Seeing a glimpse of Arkady fleeing into the darkness, she reached down and tore her dress the rest of the way down, shedding it from her body entirely, and pulled the bra up to its proper position. She then removed her hat, setting it down gently atop the torn dress, and kicked off her heels. She continued taking her time, putting her long hair up in a loose bun and restraining it with a hairband she kept under her sleeves. Despite having delayed herself so much to prepare, she was unconcerned. No matter how fast they might flee, she would catch up eventually.

Satisfied that she was ready, Cancer bent over into position to start running. Her build was very delicate, were she a normal human she would have no hope to catch up. But such a thought was silly to even entertain, she was not a normal human, she was Audrey Peak, the Incubator of Cancer, the very idea of her was enough to cause terror the world over. Her legs bulged as she used her powers to construct new muscles. And then she was off, sprinting at full speed after her prey. She didn't bother to waste time following the cryptic paths of this strange, maze-like warehouse, with how dark it was she would be lost instantly if she tried. Instead, her shoulders contorted into inhuman shapes, bulging and twisting until a pair of gigantic arms had formed from them. She used these extra appendages to grab and shove and punch her way through any obstacle that might get in the way as she rampaged straight towards her targets.