ArchivedLogs:Operation SPIDER RESCUE

Operation SPIDER RESCUE
Dramatis Personae Ivan, Peter, Tatters, Shelby, Rasa, Sebastian, Shane
In Absentia	2013-03-17 The x-kids go sewer-diving to save Peter. TATTERS SAVES THE DAY (again). Happens after A Thing, in MY tunnels?.
Location <MOR> Below New York
Beneath the sewers. Close to where the 'event' occurred. The access tunnel the teenagers find themselves moving down toward reeks of urine, stale alcohol, and -- of course -- sewage. And something else -- something that's actually far stronger than any other scent, but only if you've got the sort of nose attuned to it. The stench of /blood/. But not right and proper blood. This blood tastes... off. 'Preserved'. Somehow chemically wrong. Like blood that's been /treated/ and /homogenized/ and /pasteurized/ to the point where it's become the sort of thing you'd expect to find on a supermarket shelf right between 'artificial eggs' and 'artificial orange juice'. There's still strips of police tape wound around the entrance to the abandoned platform where the 'vampire' had allegedly taken his 'victims'; they glow in the beam of the flashlight, warding the curious away. Not that the curious haven't already come here -- there's signs of recent inhabitation. Within the past day or so, in fact; that bottle of liquor over there still looks pretty fresh, and there's graffiti on the wall that says 'VAMPIRE LAIR IZ HEER' with a helpful arrow pointing toward the platform's entrance. There's a *soup* of smells, really, but none as strong as the smell of blood. And then, as the erstwhile, adventurous teenagers begin moving forward... they hear it. Somewhere in the distance. Somewhere under their feet -- emerging from a small access tunnel that plunges deeper into the darkness. The sound of a dull, rumbling *explosion*. Followed by the scent of singed flesh -- and the unusual odor of boric acid. If there is one thing sharks are good at smelling, it's blood. Unfortunately, though, sharks are actually good at smelling /lots of things/, which means coming down into the sewers is an even more unpleasant venture for the twins than it would /anyway/ be. Sebastian is already stifling his gag reflex as they head in, and his gills press flat down against the side of his neck. "Mmmmngh." That's the first thing he says. "{Shane I think I'm gonna puke.}" That's in Vietnamese, uncomfortable as he lets his eyes adjust to the dim. Sniff. Sniffsniff. He looks one particular direction, but then looks to Shane for confirmation. "-- This bloodmonster thing is /dead/, right?" Shelby has solved some of the stink problem for herself by producing a wad of MickyD's napkins from her backpack, tearing strips off to stuff up her nose. This gives her voice a more nasal quality and does not make her less annoying. Her flashlight beam is bobbing around, casting over the floor, the walls, the beer bottle... "I hope to Christ so," she comments, eyes huge in her face at what she's seeing. The rumble and thud of that distant explosion does /not/ help with nerves, either. Before the sound has even faded, she is edging closer to Sebastian, napkins in one hand, flashlight in the other. Shane isn't looking a good deal more pleased with the situation. Sure, there's the overwhelmingly horrible smell to contend with; there's also, though, sewage getting on his previously polished shoes. His crisp grey slacks. His /vest/. He grimaces, /scowling/ into the dark. "Puke," he says, in English, "it's not like it'd smell any /worse/. C'mon." STOMP. He's stomping his way off. "This is fucked up," he announces to the others, as he starts off down the trail of blood -- and then stops at that rumble. He -- actually perks, at the smells that follow it. Mmm, flesh. Oh no right, friendhunting. Bad! Flesh! "Well, shit." That's all. He's stomping again. "We might all die." When Rasa finished her initial puking (away from the others), ze came back without a nose. Ze does not need it. It is okay for the time being. The mouth breathing still poses a problem though and ze has turned a very unappetizing color of green and brown. "Can we at least try not to die," comes hir small voice, echoing off the enclosing walls. Ze strides forward on, following Shane, leading Ivan still, perhaps. Maybe. He might have left hir when ze got sick. There is another unusual sound. The sound of tiny little segmented bodies and legs and feelers and oh god, there is an entire /wave/ of them. Ivan has been trailing a little ways behind the group he has somehow managed to prompt to search for Peter (likely by request). /Hundreds/ of cockroaches, big and small, happily skitter along over the wall and ceiling behind him. Occasionally one drops down with a -plonk-. His clothes are soaked due to an unfortunate accident with a small body of what he hopes was mostly water and a curious lack of balance, earlier. His attention has been on nothing but the darkness since he climbed down here, searching every corner for one of two things: Peter, or more bugs. Though he's starting to look a little glassy-eyed as time goes on. Worry? The vast amount of minions? Who's to say. To his credit, he does not look particularly sick. But then he's never been easy to read. The sound of that distant explosion ricochets across the walls of the platform, down the length and width of the sewer; it causes dust to shift over the teenagers' heads -- but otherwise seems to pose no significant threat to the structural integrity of the passage itself. Should interested noses inquire as to the /source/ of burnt flesh -- and boric acid -- they will be swiftly pointed toward a narrow little access passage that spikes off from the platform and descends into what must be the belly of the sewer system proper... A few seconds after the sound of that distant explosion fades -- there's the slightest, almost /inaudible/ sound of giggling. High-pitched. Shrill. Then? Nothing. Sebastian stops. It's not the explosion or the dust or the smell of burnt flesh (which, admittedly, might be making him a little hungry if not for the /sewage), it's the giggling. His hands reach out reflexively, one grabbing Shane's shoulder, the other Shelby's elbow. It's not a /panicked/ grabbing, not a scared one, it's instinctive-protective. Only after this Things He Loves check does he edge forward -- in /front/ of them -- to frown at that access hatch. "... we might die," he agrees with Shane. "Um, but we have to get Peter." He says this like he's /reminding/ himself. Right. Get Peter. Don't turn and leave. "But we'll try not to die what uh /was/ that do bloodmonsters giggle?" Frown. "... and explode? Um Ivan can your bugs /see/ things for you?" Shelby is more than happy to let Sebastian go first--except not really because Shane said /die/--but it means she's not at the rear of the columns where the bugs are. Notice how she hasn't looked back since they got down here in spite of starting to feel like this is a BAD IDEA. She may or may simply stop breathing when that giggle is heard. "...guys." Both her voice and her flashlight beam are shaking as she aims the latter at the passage that goes ohshit down. Shane might not have a good SPIDEY SENSE or maybe he just likes the adrenaline rush becuase the giggling doesn't slow him down, it makes him /more/ curious. Sebastian's hand on his shoulder stops him quick enough he wobbles for just a second with precarious balance at the sudden slamming-on of brakes, though. Perhaps his brother has him WELL TRAINED with his bitey ways; the glances he gives the access passage and then Sebastian is almost like a request for /permission/. "Iiii don't think bloodmonsters explode, but, dude, /someone's/ burning there. It might be Peter!" Sniff. Sniffsniff. "Hey, um, Ivan? Does -- Peter do a lot of drugs?" "Peter wouldn't do drugs. He's too good. He's very much a good person." Rasa speaks up from behind. Ze does not seem affected by evil gigglings, right now. Ze is simply moving slowly behind. Ivan freezes up when the late result of the explosions hits overhead, stopping in his tracks to gaze upward and follow the wave of dust raining down. Eventually, other things start raining down, too-- a good portion of the cockroaches behind him - some of them clinging onto each other in desperation - plummet. The bugboy blinks, the giggle and strange smells prompt him to wince and shrink back far enough to have one or two of those roaches fall right on top of him. By the time he looks back to the group to answer questions, one of the things is sitting casually on his cheek while the rest pulses chaotically behind him. "It-- it is difficult but I can try." He answers, staying quiet when Rasa answers the other question for him. His brows knit together as he focuses, and a second later /all/ of his bugs have come down. He is suddenly standing knee-deep a writhing, leggy wingy mass of fat insects crawling all over each other to move past him and directly - without warning- toward that passage. Past the rest of the group, coincidentally. Beware the stray bugs. There's always a few rebels. The dust settles. And the massive *wave* of insects swell out, chittering and chattering and gnattering (and some of them -- maybe just one or two! -- crawling over Shelby's shoe OH HI WE HEARD YOU LIKE BUGS). As they do so, Ivan will probably get a flood of hazey, useless details -- things like 'oh wow this tunnel is dark and warm and moist and I like it' or 'mmm, six week old turkey sandwich', or even 'oh man I /totally/ wanna lay eggs in HER thorax'. But amidst the rumble of confused, chaotic insect thoughts, a few in particular might catch into his mind: The thought of 'BIG PERSON CARRYING OTHER BIG PERSON', followed by 'MMM BURNT FLESH *DELICIOUS*'. There's also -- just /barely/ detectable above that whiff of burnt flesh and boric acid -- the slightest flavor of fresh blood wafting up from that tunnel. And getting... closer...! And soon from that direction comes a muffled shout, of "UGH GODDAMNIT." And then a pause, and then a query, of equal volume and equal annoyance. "WOULD SOMEBODY LIKE TO EXPLAIN WHY THIS CORRIDOR IS STUFFED FRIGGEN FULL OF BUGS?" Pause. "BECAUSE IT WASN'T YESTERDAY. ALSO I AM IN A FRIGGEN /HURRY./" There are not bugs on her shoes. There are /not/ bugs on her shoes. The bloodmonster could reanimate /at this very minute/ and Shelby would not notice because of her phobia. She had been fine while the they remained behind her but the moment that skittering is felt, she presses the heels of her palms against her eyes, claps her mouth shut, and proceeds to hum. If she can block everything out, then maybe she can forget that there are not bugs on her shoes. La la la, not in a sewer, there are no bugs, there are no monsters! Sebastian drops Shane's shoulder only when it becomes clear Shane is obediently NOT going to run off down the creepy giggling exploding passage on his own. "You sure?" he asks Rasa, a little concerned, dropping his gaze to watch the swarm of bugs go by. He shiiiifts a few steps to the side, swallowing a little -- he /likes/ bugs but that is a /lot of bugs/. He focuses instead on Rasa. "Cuz, um, I don't know, it /smells/ like he does -- something. That blood is wrong." His head tilts at the sound of the voice. It does... not sound like creepygiggling. "-- Um -- Ivan? Who's that, er, can your bugs /stop/ them?" Shelby's humming draws him a little closer, his hand reaching again to her elbow. "Not intentionally," Rasa amends, looking furtively toward the corridor. "Guys, we can't just not see what is down there. We have to go. We aren't going to find Peter blocking every person down here from going places. Perhaps there are always explosions down here and everyone makes noises. Let us just... keep moving. For Peter." Ze continues to move forward and will pass Sebastian soon. "Holyfuckingshit," Shane breathes out, at the swarm of bugs. "-- Can you make them all, like, fucking turn into one /giant/ bugperson and bug around. Eat people. Buzz at shit. Can it eat whoever that is /right now/?" He's not really looking down the tunnel anymore so much as sniffing at the wall. He frowns when Rasa moves forward, and NUDGES at Sebastian, prompting him forward, too. And then moving into the tunnel, whether Sebastian keeps his lead or NOT. "Why /wouldn't/ it be stuffed with bugs?" he calls back to the VOICE, "is this like a /bug-free/ zone are you some kind of bug /bigot/? It's a bug /convention/ don't piss on their parade." There's little chance anyone actually KNOWS how experienced Ivan is with this manner of information gathering, but from the looks of him, he can't have done it often. His expression of pure focus shifts gradually to one of blank staring as the wave of information continues to flood in, and he starts to sway slowly to one side. But the roach army marches, on over every surface they come across, albeit with slightly less direction once all of them make the migration downward. Sebastian's question seems to help remind Ivan to steady himself just short of falling over, but he's already leaning steadily in /the other direction/ a second later. Clear commands are needed, and Ivan looks increasingly more not-there, fixed gaze and all, as the cockroaches below are given a clear and simple command; BIG PERSON CARRYING OTHER BIG PERSON? SIC 'EM. "LISTEN, SMARTASS." The voice calls back, harsh and angry and /mostly/ human-sounding. "I HAVE A SICK FUCKING KID HERE AND YOUR PRACTICAL FUCKING JOKE IS BETWEEN ME AND THE HOSPITAL S-ARRRRGGGH--" And then there's a sound of fumbling, and a high pitched mechanical whine, and then the corridor explodes with cheerful, multicolored fireworks. The touch to her elbow leads Shelby to crack open her eyes and look around. Bugs? Gone. Shouting? Where did that come from? She has just enough time to blink before shit begins to explode. "Oh /hell/ no," she says succinctly, before beating a hasty retreat to stand behind Ivan--leaving Sebastian to play hero with his brother. They're good at that, right? /She/ is good at cowering and /maybe/ pressing a hand to Ivan's arm so he doesn't topple over. Sebastian does move forward at the prompting. Maybe he is good at that! Because with the shouting he speeds up, ahead of Shane and Rasa after the bugs into the darkness. "Nobody's /joking/," he calls back, "we're looking for a friend and maybe a bloodmonster ate him? Or he might be burning to death umm who are you you smell familiar." He stops short at the fireworks, though, shielding his eyes abruptly. "-- are you burning to death?" Sniff sniff sniff. ... except more sniffing might be /looking/ for singed flesh but it turns up /sewage/. Right, sewage. Forgot about that. Sebastian shudders with a sudden heave, knuckles pressing to his lips to stifle this reflex. Rasa cringes back reflexively at the explosions, arms raised to protect hir face even though they might not be near enough to hurt. Ze hisses in annoyance, keeping back for the time being, but trailing after Sebastian when he moves. Shane lifts his hand, too, initially protecting eyes from bright light. "Hey, fuck /you/, asshole," he calls back, even as he follows quickly after Sebastian, "if you just blew up our friend I'm going to fucking eat you." The moment the words 'sick kid' actually manage to get through the bug-filled place that is Ivan's mind, it is already too late. Another explosion later, and he is promptly freed from the majority of his minions' tiny little minds as they either get knocked out, or just plain torn apart and burned. The surviving bugs down there? They sit for a moment, dazed, before scattering into any dark corner they can find. Released from Ivan. Who... does much the same for a moment, standing dazed and confused. When he finally shoots a look at Shelby, it's pretty clear that he didn't even see her there until now. He pulls an expression that is somewhere in between sad and surprised, before his eyebrows lower in determination instead. After reaching for Shelby's hand to /pull/ her with him, albeit gently if she does allow it, he starts toward the rest of the group. A little shaky, but GOING. What the hell happened. Through the corridor strides Tatterhood, lit by a few lingering multicolored sparks, her hoodie singed and bloody and torn by claw marks, with a pack on her back, a pouch at her side, a weight-pole in her hand and a teenager in much worse shape slung across her shoulder. She advances forwards with an impassive, grim expression, her sneakers cruncing through singed carapace and the remnants of the cockroach army fleeing before her. (Or hiding in the folds and nooks of her clothing. She doesn't seem to notice.) "MY NAME, IS...oh hey, it's you guys." She stops, blinking as she recognizes many of the faces before her, her expression of fury turning to bemusement. Her next words are much less shouty, but no less insistent. "Hey, can you guys, like, take this kid upstairs for me? I found him down here, he's not in good shape." Pausing to lean her weapon against the wall, she unslings Peter and hands him off to whoever steps forwards, then raises her chin and cracks her knuckles deafeningly and pulls out the thundercroak again. "HEY GIGGLES, COME'ERE I WANNA SHOW YOU SOME MORE FIREWORKS." Peter is, by the looks of it, alive. But semi-conscious. His mask is gone; he's clad in his red hoodie (thoroughly soaked), blue jeans (also soaked) -- both of which have several nicks, tears, and slashes -- and his left shoulder is bleeding with claw-marks. His hoodie is slightly charred on one side; his cheeks are sallow and he appears to be remarkably pale. At the sight of others, he makes a mumbled, half-delerious sound--as he is unslung and handed off to *someone*: "Guys," he croaks, blinking owlishly. "Guys. Guys. There are /monsters/ down here." Shelby does not resist being pulled forward but she does lag half a step behind. It's good that Ivan is shaky--she's not much better! Whatever is shouting, she wants /no part/ of it, especially once the twins are done with it and omg Rasa, look at her go, and augh and and and...oh wait. "Hey, shit, it's that chick," she comments from behind Ivan's shoulder, digging her heels in on a full stop when the figure is seen in the tunnel. It's only after /that/ that she notices Peter and the shape he's in, prompting a high-pitched and girly noise. "Holy /fuck/...oh shit oh shit, I got a first aid kit get him here," she urges those in the front, bugs forgotten as she drops to her knees, unslings her pack and begins to dig through it. "Ohgoshno -- is he okay are /you/ okay /Peter/," Sebastian says, once Peter speaks, "we're here to save you but I think Tatters already /did/." He seems a little sheepish at that, but he /does/ take Peter from Tatters, not seeming particularly burdened by the weight. "We should, um, maybe go back up though, I don't know if -- I mean first aid in the sewers we might just bandage sewer /into/ his cuts. -- Tatters don't die!" He calls off after the Sewer Knight. "You look like shit," Shane tells Peter. His eyes have opened huge and wide and distressed but he quickly shifts this to a frown. He gives an upward chin-jerk to Tatters that is like: thanks, brah. NONCHALANT. But then he's frowning at Peter again, irritable-gruff to cover the worry. "Monsters, what the fuck, dude, you need to cut this superheroing alone shit, we can't rescue you /all/ the time." Tatters, what Tatters? Clearly the X-Kids did all the rescuing here. He doesn't have any opinion on the /cleanliness/ of first aiding, though he does look back the way they came with a frown. "-- monsters /still/ here? Cuz we should maybe patch him up somewhere where we're not /all/ gonna get eaten." Ivan proceeds forward cautiously, peering past others to see Tatters first, which causes him to narrow his eyes and slow down with Shelby. She just murdered almost all of his new fr-- "PETER." Ivan calls out in what could possibly qualify as a shout! He'd be a bit taken aback by it if he wasn't abandoning Shelby and rushing over to crash into both Sebastian and Peter at once, wrapping both of his soggy wet arms around mostly Peter, but Sebastian gets accidentallyhugged along with it. He opens his mouth to speak again, but what follows is a slew of quiet angryconcerned Russian babbling. "We are taking him to a hospital," Rasa agrees with Sebastian as ze moves closer to rest a gloved hand on what seems like a safe spot on Peter's body, to be comforting and all. When Ivan comes in for a hug, ze starts tugging on Ivan's shoulder, too. Then, ze starts to urge them back the way they came. "Come on, guys. Let's go. I want to go. Let's get him out of here. Please, let's go." There is more urging, but it gets quieter, hir facial skin starting to sag again. Tatters says, "Yeah, the other guy's still down here." Tatters paces around the perimeter of the chamber and peers suspiciously down the other exits, grabbing her pole once again as she passes and holding it at her side, calling back to Shane as she does so. "Won't stop giggling. Apparently sewers are frigging /hilarious./" She stops and turns back to the group and shrugs, concluding her survey and heading back towards them. "I don't /think/ he'll go after a group without his bombs, or his, uh, arm -- and I've got his bombs. But he might have more somewhere, you guys should stick together and--yeah, what sh- h-" She blinks at Rasa for a moment. "Do what that kid said. If you run into him have the twins bite his face off. I'll try and figure out where he's got to."" Peter sounds a little off. More off than usual. He also looks like he hasn't eaten in a while. Or showered. Or, uh, bathed. He also stinks all to high-heaven, although considering the surroundings it might go unnoticed -- for now. When Sebastian takes him he basically just slings an /ARM/ around him; he can walk, but probably not without help. And a lot of wobbling. "I'm -- I'm okay, just feel sick," he says. "And /yes/, monster. She--" a look back at Tatters. "--blew him up. And--IVAN!!" Peter makes a slight, muted yelping noise when Ivan seizes him up in a Sebastian-Peter-Ivan hug. Stiffening, but surrendering. Before adding, meekly: "I -- there was -- goblin -- and I think we need to go because it's not dead," Peter adds. These last words don't carry a sense of dread -- rather, they carry a sense of exhaustion. Like they've been /really/ trying to fix that. Well, Tatters has, anyway. "Y-yeah, I--" Peter looks to Rasa, then swallows and nods. "Please let's go she took off its arm but I think that just /pissed it off/." "But he might--" Except Shelby isn't going to say /the words/, that could make it come true. She hauls herself back up again and worryfaces at the huddle, leaving a fallen package of gummybears and a roll of gauze on the ground. "Sure, okay. Face-biting. Going...we can go, that's a good plan, I like that plan." Then, pulling herself together and slinging her backpack up to her shoulder again, she swivels about to aim her flashlight ahead. Right. She can do this, she can lead them back the way they came...probably. All the bugs got fireworked. Right? Right?! "HEY." Tatters calls after the group, eyebrow raised, making an Important Correction. "/I'm/ a goblin. That guy was a /creep./ There's a difference." She remains in the chamber for a few moments, pausing to do some quick looting (Ooh! Gummy bears and gauze!), then stands stock still for a moment, listening. /Then/ she sprints off down a side passage, from where she thought she heard giggling. Sebastian doesn't try to see if Peter can walk. He /does/ get squished into SuddenHug, cheeks flushing slightly as he does. He stands Very Still, too, like as the /Official Peter-Bearer/ he does not want to interfere with this moment. Only once Ivan has devolved into quiet babbling does he straighten, carefully adjusting his hold -- around Peter's back, beneath his knees -- and nod. /Firmly/. Not scared of monsters at all! Maybe the gills on his neck are kind of fluttering out of control but whatever he has Work To Do. "Biting. I can bite. But we won't /have/ to because we're going up now. Shane's right, though, Peter, you're gonna superhero you need a sidekick. Or a /team/."