From where darkness is born. (Vigilante Squad)

Well death seemed like a certain now, as running to the hospital in about five minutes was not something that he could do. using Luke's care felt like a good idea but he...had never hotwired a car ever before, so that was something that he could not do. There wasn't much he could do, just wait for the inevitable, and oh how terrifying that inevitable was. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone and perused through the contacts until he found the right one. Pressing the phone to his ear, he waited until he heard a ring on the other end of the phone. "H...h..h....hello Matt?" His voice was shaking, obviously they could hear the fear within it. "No time for pleasantries really....I guess you could say I don't have a lot of time left." A few minutes left actually, it was almost as if he could feel it, death creeping on him.

"I..have been poisoned, hydrogen cyanide to be exact. I have about...three and a half minutes left maybe." He said with a weak chuckle, wiping away a small bea of sweat that was beginning to pour down his forehead. "I just....dying alone didn't feel so good ya know." Honestly he wasn't sure what to do now, but death seemed really close.

After a few minutes, Drifter started to actually listen to his surroundings. There were faint sounds in the distance, curious sounds..... He was about to go off and explore the place, to see just what the hell was going on, but then he stopped. A wave of realization washed over him, he had done this before, been here before. He remembered it all now, he had seen this in his dreams. He had poisoned Pat just like he had just now done......and he didn't make it in time. He killed one of his only real friends, all in an effort to get revenge on someone who ALMOST did. Pat was still outside, and Luke peaking at his phone to see Pat's cell hadn't left the parking lot only confirmed this. Fucking great. He stormed out, running as fast as he could and getting out his pocket kit. He had one for just this sort of time, he just never thought he would have to use it.

Pat looked pale, half dead. What was he thinking? Of course Pat wouldn't fucking make it, not with his panic level. He immediately attempted to rip the phone from his weak friends hand, just as he heard him say something about dying alone. Always with the self pity.........but at least it was warranted this time.

"I got it under control, Matt. I have a Cyanokit......so, yeah, bye." Luke said, hanging the phone up as he really didn't have time to get bitched at. He had a poisoned friend to save. He did as the kit directed, giving Pat a series of injections until he was finished. He sighed heavily, sitting back and staring at the situation. Pat would remain weak for awhile, which was a good thing in the end....... But if poison wouldn't stop this guy a little bit of wobbly legs wouldn't do it either.

"Sorry about that, even though it probably means nothing at this point. I just hope you hate me enough not to follow me now." Luke said as he once a-fucking-gain walked into the goddamn church, moving into it until he found the basement door and stairs, which he slowly and carefully walked down.

(Semi-detailed descriptions depicting strange and weird gore. you've been warned)

"Pat? Okay. Pat. Pat. Pat you need to stop talking. Listen to me. Luke wouldn't poison you if he didn't have an antidote on him just in case. He loves you man. He's just a little fucked up in the head. Just look at him. Besides what if he poked himself with a needle? You think he's not going to be safe? Just- Pat just put Luke on the phone." Matt said after a moment, hopefully explaining things to Pat clearly enough. Though it wasn't long before Luke picked up the phone. He quickly told Matt he had everything under control to which it might surprise Luke to have heard. "I know you do. Be careful-" but Luke hung up on him, causing him to sigh in both a slight form of depression and irritation. Of course they'd hang up on him. Of course they wouldn't listen to him.

 "Fight me you little bitch...." He said before his eyes narrowed in a grave seriousness before he tossed the phone off to the side and onto the bed-side tray.

--------

    Lukas was on his way into the basement, the primary thing he'd first notice would be a horrific stench. The stench was of the highest caliber. The sheer thing knowledge that this was in the air was repulsive. The odor was akin to nothing one had ever smelled before, though the stench of death and decay was quite prevalent. The smell was similar to vomit soaking inside rotting meat. The dark and dank basement was warm, only adding to the noxious fumes. The dim lighting left for nothing other than faint outlines to be seen. Though after stepping off the cement stairs Luke would hear a crunch, looking down he would see several bones, many skeletons all around, disassembled with gnawn markings on them.  Of course these bones didn't belong to any grown human. They looked like they belonged to something smaller. Of course looking in the large basement one could see a large wall of rusted bars, akin to that of a prison cell, with it's own sliding door that was remotely activated. Anyone could tell that by the sheer level of tech on it. On the other side of it was the remains of a child, bite marks torn from it as a it's one eye remainedin place, it's jaw torn off and its stomach ripped open, intestines half gone.

"W-we didn't say anything! We promise!" A voice called out, obviously scared and showing signs of trauma. Also not able to see whomever it was that entered.

  Of all the signs in the basement that was perhaps the most alarming, was the actual clattering of chains and the display of several children chained together arms up attached to a water-pipe and then chained to one and other at the feet. They were the source of the voice it seems. There were a total of four boys, one with shaggy brown hair and a fair completion, one with bronzed skin and an electric blue fringe, a young boy no older than seven with spiked black hair, and a rather sickly, barely conscious boy that simply looked like he was going to die. Of course before long there was a loud crashing noise as another kid had landed on the ground, this time on the other side of the cage. The kid was obviously crying as it shifted around , trying to get up on their broken arm before a door behind the "cage" opened and a bright light was cast as a shambling man stumbled out. Of course this shambling thing finally was seen in the appropriate light and it was quite literally a zombie. Some of the kids shouted for the other kid by name, telling him to run. But there was no avail. The shambling creature just literally fell forward on top of the little human and pulled at them, folding up biting down as it cradled it's meal in its rotting arms.

  The young child screamed for a moment as the Zombie bit down into it's throat and pulled, ripping out a thick purple-maroon tube like thing that could only be reasoned to be one of the jugular's. With a snap the jugular snapped and the creature chomped and gnawed on it like a vicious wolf to jerky. The jugular vein continued to pour and the little  human creature cried out, though the zombie was not deterred by such noises. In fact it's response was to bury it's fingers into the abdomen of the kicking and futily struggling little ten year old and slowly pull apart it's ribs. The screams were mached only by the cracking of the ribs and the fracturing of the spine while blood splashed out, the small child looking like a liquid filled candy to the creature as blodo spattered acrost it's face like an abstract sheet of art. With the ribs entirely split opened the Zombie buried it's face within the large, open wound and the cried fell silent as life faded from the small victim. The more the best fed, the more violent it's assault on the recently deceased became. Eventually snapping the ribs entirely off and feasting on the remains while the other children whimpered and watched, many of them even crying over the display.

 Meanwhile on the upper level Patrick was recovering from his poisons, only to meet a very unfortunate kick to the ribs and a kick to the groin before a gun was pulled and pointed at his head. In a moment the assailant ran to the basement door and closed it, locking it from behind Luke and pressing the button above the door, causing the entire basement to light up and the door to open. The children all cringed as their eyes had obviously not seen light for quite some time, though when the cage opened the zombie stopped tearing into the remnants of it's small victim and it's head slowly turned as it began to stand up and shamble.

 Patrick on the other hand was now at gun point from a man with a gruff and greying beard, his skin tone not quite usual of a Caucasian male, rather more of a Hispanic origin. The man was also in what appeared to be a priests get up, the entire attire to the white collar.

  "Don't worry. I don't believe in killing. It's just something to help you sleep." The man said before firing off the gun, hoping to shoot the recovering man with a temporary tranquilizer, rendering him unconscious.

So this was how things were going to end. Not exactly how he would have wanted it but then again things were as they were, not like he could unpoison himself. Making his last moments worthwhile was the only thing he could do, but the minutes he had didn't feel  nearly long enough for him. His body was beginning to feel weak, enough so that standing upright was a chore within itself, and then there was Matt's voice in his ear as he said his name multiple times. They wanted Luke on the phone but he had no idea where the guy even was, so that made things even harder than they should have been. his eyes darted around, catching sight of Luke as they emerged from the building towards him in a hurried fashion. "oh look, there he is. Saves me the time of looking for him." He noted with a voice that sounded as if his words were spoken slightly sleepily, with a slight tinge of slur to them.

The phone was jerked from a yielding hand as they said things were under control and then the phone was hung up. Were he not so tired from the dying portion, well he would have visibly emoted his annoyance but all he could do was let Luke administer whatever it was they had. Seemed like something that would help, and within moments it probably would do just that. With the weight of dying lifted from his shoulders, Pat leaned against the nearest wall as he let out a deep sigh. "Luke if I weren't so tired right now, I would probably break your nose." He noted with a slight roll of the eyes, sliding down against the wall until he was in nothing more than a crouch. Things all seemed to be going better, with Luke doing their suicidal mission but someone appeared from nowhere to annoy him.

This came in the form of a kick to the ribs knocking all of the air out of him, and then a painful kick to the groin killing a lot of future children that would never be born anyway. Pat groaned audibly, a few tears rising to his eyes as he held his hands over his groin which lanced his body with pain. "Seriously.....right in the nuts." He growled best he could now slightly laying on the ground, looking up to the gun directed at him. Before he could do anything else, the tranq had already hit him somewhere around the shoulder/neck region as it did its job and he was out.

Luke slowly walked down the stone steps, and already he didn't feel right about it. He hadn't even smelled the place and he knew that something was going on down there, he felt it. After that, the stench that was enough to make practically anyone gag filled his nose, and he instantly put his mask back on and threw up his hood, allowing him to breath normally in what felt like a warm fridge full of two month old pork.

Then, as he got further down the steps, he heard chains rattling, voices pleading.... God what did he get himself into? It took every bit of his will to keep moving downward, he was afraid of what he might find....not for himself but for the people it was happening to. Once near the bottom, he watched silently, peaking over the guard railing. What he saw was a rusted out dungeon, one filled with tools and.......oh god.

".....W-what.....? Wh-WHY?!? These.....these are children. What the fuck. WHAT THE FUCK! I....i have to get them out. I have to......oh god."  Lukas thought, his mind continued to ramble on in circles at the sight of it all. He had no idea what to make of this....or what to do. But he knew he had to get the free. He would never forgive himself if he turned around.

When he saw the zombie thing attack the boy, he turned away. He couldn't watch, even the sound was enough to send tears streaming down his face. He was too afraid, too shocked to do anything. But...when he was locked in and the lights turned on, he had no choice but to face this thing. His eyes were bloodshot, and a look of pure, unadulterated hatred was on his face. He slowly walked down the rest of the stairs, his eyes locked with the creatures..

"I'm going to get you out......i promise." Lukas said to the kids, still not taking his eyes from the zombie. He stuck his gauntlets out, and then fired a fully automatic stream of bullets at the creature from each, making sure to not do it in the direction of the kids. If the zombie dodged and he came in close, Drifter would try to kick his knee joint sideways to break it. Even if it was a zombie, it would likely be immobilized by that.

The Zombie dodged. I'm kidding, since when have Zombies ever had great reflexes? I think Lukas would be more genre savvy than that. Although planning for the worst is good. It's proof that our lives are all truly only narrated by people that hate us and love to watch us suffer. Regardless, the zombie shambled forward, the spray of bullets was nothing more than a hindrance to it's movements. One after another they sprayed while Luke prayed, but the thing didn't drop. Eventually Luke was forced to kick the creature in the side of the knee joint, which traditionally would be quite effective. Unfortunately for him, however with snapping and cracking the creature's leg reset itself as it began shambling towards him once more, though with a few sniffs it's eyes drifted. Now looking more towards one of the children. The sickly, half conscious one on top of that.

"It seems as though you've met my pet. You aren't the first to assault me in my home. You will fail, just as the rest. Know that as you die your death is for the security of someone greater than your own." A voice came over an intercom, speaking to Luke, trying to distract him.

"Yes yes, Mister Villain, you're evil and I'm going to die, i fucking get it." Drifter said, backing away from the creature as he saw it reset it's broken joint. Though it wasn't after him anymore, it was actually looking at one of the kids. Luke wasn't about to let that happen, so he circled around as fast as he could, even rolling to get between the zombie and the kids. From there, he removed a large knife (pretty much a sword at this point) and canister from his pouch.

"Burn you son of a bitch." Lukas said as he tossed the canister. The slow creature would then likely find itself covered in goo, which was meant to get hot enough to literally burn through tanks. All Lukas had to do was toss a match, which he did.

If the thing managed to charge forward, Lukas would stick his machete straight out, to get some distance between it and him. If it came down to it, he would swipe at it's head and then try to push kick it backwards, likely getting burnt despite his armor.

Fire was a good decision against this foe, especially when it's regeneration was so effective. Unfortunately this particular action was a double sided sword. While it was effective in stalling the monster it seemed to give Lukas just an additional thing to worry about. His undead had become an ignited undead, casting heat and flame as it shambled about. Luke would likely end up taking a swing at the creature, it's head coming half off, attached only by a little skin. The kick would in fact likely burn Luke as the zombie fell backwards and collapsed with a thump. From there, Luke was free to do as he saw fit, though the problem of getting through the door on lock-down was an issue.

----

Patrick on the other hand would likely just be coming too at the moment, and his setting was one that wasn't the most ideal. Sure it looked like you average dining room, but the dim lights gave quite the eerie feeling, especially as shadows danced off the walls. The faint noise of drawers shuffling and papers being moved cold be heard, and eventually around the corner came the estranged priest as they carried documents of all kinds in his hand setting them on a chair by the fireplace.

"I have no idea what you people want with me, but I can certainly promise you that if it's information you're after...you won't be getting what you want." He said as he looked to his captive, then turning and grabbing the remote for the television and turning it on, watching for Luke to somehow escape.

Slowly but surely consciousness came back to him as the tranquilizers wore off. As he woke up, Pat realized that his entire body felt strangely...weak. Any attempts to move his hands were futile, suggesting that he was tied up and he realized that he had been knocked out by some asshole priest. Letting out a low groan, he tried to wiggle around as his eyes adjusted slowly to his environment which was pretty dark actually. Where this was he could not hope to guess, but it was probably the lair of the bad guy or whatever. Someone was shuffling around, the sound of papers being moved as his eyes slowly darted over to what appeared to be the very guy that knocked him out, piling papers it would seem.

"So you're that Khan guy?" He couldn't see why Matt got so angry when he mentioned the guy, but they were probably some kind of evil bastard. That, or just mentioning them reminded Matt of Star Trek, and maybe he didn't like Star Trek. "So what? Are you going to kill me, ransom me, is this going to get really weird or what? Because I'll be honest, I'm not really into the whole priest thing." Quipping helped cope, mostly with the Luke poisoning him thing. If he died, well not like he could fight anyway, His body felt like...well someone worked it over with a bat, too sore to really help him any.

"Fuck! Godddd that hurts!....." Luke yelled out as he patted the fire from his armor, a big hole in it where the super-fire had burned him revealing a red and pink burn. Looked horrible, but he would live.

"Serves my dumbass right for kicking the thing......." Lukas mumbled to himself in a barely audible volume as he watched the zombie burn, making sure it was dead with a few bursts of bullets to its head. He had seen zombie movies......

After that he turned around, a more soft look on his face as he looked to the boys..... Why only boys? He supposed that was beside the point, but it was a curious thought none the less. His grey eyes looked glassy and upset, and he spoke in a low voice.

".....I...I'm so sorry you've had to go through this.... It's time to go home." Drifter said, shooting off each chain and making sure none of them got hurt in the process. He figured at least one would need help walking, so with a max of two he would pick them up and let the other(s) follow.  After that, he walked upstairs and spread the rest of the goo on the door, even if it was metal this stuff would burn through it. He didn't want to set off explosives down here, even fire was risky, so this was the best alternative. Hopefully in a few moments the door would be at least damaged enough for him to kick it down.

Kahn was patient for the most part, until the priest thing was mentioned. His expression turned sour as he looked to Pat and sighed. After pulling at his vestment a little he straightened himself out in order to make himself appear slightly more presentable, though he quickly turned and cleared his throat.

"I believe you're a bit too old for that stereotype, aren't you?" Kahn said, though it was a poor joke it showed he was not without humor. Though the humor being nothing more than terrible truth was besides the point. "Of course you've no reason to believe otherwise. This is understandable. I wish I had a drink to offer you, though unfortunately your friend is likely still down stairs at this moment... I have no intentions to kill you. However, I do intend to exchange you for a particular project of mine. I hope to have this issue resolved rather quickly." Kahn explained as he reached for a bracelet of sorts. Walking over to Pat he showed the wrist device to Pat.

"You have three options. You may be released from your bonds if you agree to put this bracelet on. You may choose to remained tied up. You may also choose to retain your silence and I will apply the bracelet while you're tied up for personal safety." He explained, and honoring the request Pat made...as long as it were one of the three.

-----

Luke tried to pick up the one and he didn't argue, though when he tried to pick up the second they tried to get free a moment.

"S-sorry. I-I-I just wanna walk." They said as they kept to themselves as the blue-haired boy crossed his arms, rubbing his eyes as he looked to the burning corpse. Of course the one young boy definitely needed to be carried, his eyes had dark circles beneath them, they had a strange pallor to them and seemingly unphased by everything around them. It seemed to convey a sense of distance, or as if they aren't fully perceiving things. Out of everyone the kids were all crying otherwise, and many of them looked at the zombie with an intense fear.

Of course Luke could eventually kick down the door and the kids would be let out, the first one getting out immediately went to one of the nearest eating areas and motioned for the others to follow as they wiped their eyes, trying to stay strong, trying to be brave. The brown haired boy sat, waiting for the sickly looking blonde kid down. Once the boy was set down there was a voice over the intercom system.

"I see you've managed to survive. Impressive. Though I'm afraid you'll notice I have your friend. Unfortunately he is in grave danger... most fortuitously you just so happen to have something I want. Bring it." He said, the intercom cutting off.

Pat could tell vaguely from their expression that he had struck some kind of nerve, but then again he didn't exactly expect priests to enjoy any suggestions like that. Not that Pat knew any priests, considering his background was far from religious, but it was just an assumption on his part. A joke, as dark as it was in return was the thing he wasn't expecting, but that did help him get a handle on the situation. Honestly, Pat was hoping the guy would give him an excuse to hate him absolutely, but so far his only tick against them was the whole kidnapping thing. While that was a shitty thing to do, it didn't quite get them a hate stamp as much as a trip down a flight of stairs one. Still, there had to be some diabolical plan brewing within their mind, and something told him he would find out very soon what that was.

They wouldn't kill him however, which he had guessed from them taking him alive rather than just popping a cap in his pale white ass. That then begged the question what he had in mind exactly, and that would be explained. They wanted him to put on some kind of bracelet, though noen of their options ended up with him not having a bracelet on.  Honestly, it scream possibly exploding death thing but he had no choice, save for whether he was tied up during all of this. "Since you're offering me the illusion of choice, I guess I'll have to let you put the bracelet on. Just....take the ropes off, they're really starting to chafe my wrists." Which was true, but then again having rough rope rub against skin like that always had a way of irritating you.

"Fuck you!" Luke spat after setting the boy down, yelling the rather clean cut response out to nowhere in particular. Seemed this guy liked to use the intercom system a lot, and he had a zombie in his basement to do the dirty work. Lukas was confident the guy wasn't a metahuman, but his first rule was 'Always overestimate your opponent' after all.

"Ok, so your competent enough to take down Pat, not that that's difficult...... But your hiding behind an intercom system instead of just coming to slaughter me like a meta would. You're probably the type that uses his intellect above all else, only reinforced by the fact your using a hostage to make sure this goes well. You're probably not even my physical match. Considering that, I'm guessing you wouldn't risk going up against me without another playing chip. I'm going to have to find out what that is, or this isn't going to go well for me or these kids. Let the games begin, then." Lukas thought to himself. He brought the kids with reluctantly, but assured them with a look....... They weren't going back into that mans possession.  He walked toward the only part of the building he hadn't really seen, assuming that's where this guy was, kids in toe and one in his arms. He would search around, and likely eventually find both Kahn and Pat. Kahn would obviously notice he left the kids just outside the room, but close enough that he could get to them if need be.

"Let me guess, give you the kid or my friend dies? I'm sure your genre savvy enough to know that never goes well, so do tell me, what else do you have?" Luke said as he slowly and deliberately walked toward where the two were standing, his boots echoing against the sleek floor. A hiss of air could then be heard, he had loaded one of his gauntlets with taser darts, and the other with normal bullets as he didn't want to hurt Pat with explosive shells. He didn't raise his arm, but he was ready

"What's your play?"

"Very well." Kahn said, applying the bracelet to pat, locking it as secure as he could around the wrist. Then he simply removed the one knot and let the tope essentially just fall right off. A person recovering from both poison and minor tranquilizers was not likely to be a threat to him any moreso than his own pet was. This person's friend, however, was an entirely different story. They were not poisoned. They were not drugged. They had a very particular annoyance to them that made even him uncomfortable. It wasn't long before Luke himself was peering in and around, though as Kahn promised Pat had his "freedom" in a slightly skewed way.

  "My play? You'll notice two people have bracelets on their wrists. If my heart ceases to beat, or I activate the remote detonator then there will be a rather serious explosion...most certaily killing not just them, but everyone in this building." That was a kicker to be sure. No doubt what was going on in both minds of the vigilante team was not exactly good. "We exchange the wearers of the bracelets. The one wearing it is a very useful bartering chip that very well may save my life..." Kahn spoke the truth, though the more information they got simply increased the number of ever growing questions. Not that it at all mattered. If Luke looked about he'd notice that the seemingly oldest boy with the shaggy brown hair had bracelet on he was messing around with the pillows on the couch in order to make the very sickly looking boy more comfortable, still shaken from earlier.

  "I also happen to know that you've both recently murdered a man...but I can prove it was a set-up. I can even tell you whom did it." He added, if not for a little extra insight to just how twisted this game they were playing went. "I guarentee you...it's not whom you believed. Or what, for that matter."

With a single tug of a knot, he found the bonds around his wrists falling to the ground all on their own. Either that was an expertly tied knot or he was too weak to require any real attempt to tie him up, which made sense considering how crappy he felt at the moment. With that done they would end up meeting with Luke, who asked about what the guys play was. Considering that he put some kind of bracelet on him, that suggested he was planning to use him as a hostage and their explanation that it was a bomb only made things...harder. Now knowing that his wrist had a bomb actually strapped to it, he found himself even more nervous than he was before. If the kid didn't have a bomb, well he knew that he would have been dead if only because kids lives are more valuable than his own.  

That was when they mentioned someone's murder, the one that he  had accidentally committed somehow, though just the mention caused him to pale even more than he already was. Rather than saying anything, all he did was stare at the floor with an almost blank look.

Of course one of the kids was apart of this. But then again, everyone in the building was considering the bombs. Lukas clicked his tongue with a spiteful look on his face. He hated when explosives were used against him. That was his thing. Now he was in a situation where he almost had to give the boy up, but he would never forgive himself if he did. This man was an absolute monster, Drifter would die first..... Sadly him dying wouldn't solve the situation, however.

He thought of using his EMP generator, he thought of how easy it would have been to just click it and then rip the detonator from the mans hands. After that he could just send Pat and the kid away, the signal wouldn't reach them there and he could kill the bastard..... But then he realized this guy had likely thought of that. He made detonators himself, and he knew that if some of them stopped getting a signal, they would blow. No bomb maker worth his salt would make an electronic detonator without that feature.

He could take his chances and shoot the man with a taser dart, hoping he wouldn't have the balls to blow himself up. But then he remembered the 'he may save my life' line. This guy could have been already dying, or in a dangerous situation where death was a certainty. He was fine with it, because either way he would end up dead. Luke couldn't call the bluff, because it probably wasn't one. His head was starting to drift toward such solutions as cutting the kids hand off and stopping the blood with the tie of a shirt, but that was just nonsense considering he had neither the training or the time to pull it off. And of course the kid would lose a hand....

"St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray.... and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.." Lukas said out loud, not doing anything it would seem. He was on his knees now, praying. He was actually looking for guidance, or perhaps forgiveness for what he may have to do. Though to Kahn it probably just looked like him throwing the whole priest thing in his face.

"Do whatever it is your going to do, but if you take more then two steps toward any of those boys, I'm killing you explosives or not. Sometimes good must parish to exorcise evil. Either hit that detonator and kill us all, or settle in for a long stalemate." Lukas said after a moment of silence and him getting to his feet. No man, even someone already dying, would throw away their life so aimlessly without their enemy actually doing anything. No, Kahn would work this out in a different way, he would have to.