Dealing With D-Listers (Amused Glint)

Maverick nodded his head when they explained to him the bounty. "My bad, I didn't mean to step on any toes. I figured we were going for the neck. That's usually how I operate." He said as he walked over and kneeled beside C. Master and looked back at Diana. "I mean he's far from dead. He might need some medical attention. How you guys were pursuing him I thought he'd be a higher level threat." Maverick patted his pockets and then pulled out his wallet. "I can pay you back any money you lost on this bounty, only cause I myself don't like when people mess with my money so I should do the right thing and pay you back."

Maverick listened to the news reporter state that she has been trapped here for the past 3 days. "3 entire days you say? That's a lengthy period of time. " He said, trying his best not to make jokes about the fact she hasn't showered or changed clothes over that period of time.

He turned to the skinnier male as he began applying aid to the one he had attacked. "So, basically we came across this place by complete chance, and now we are trapped here as well?" Maverick asked as he looked at them pick up the fugitive and he simply shook his head. "I'm no hero, but I have no mercy for abductors." He mumbled as he began to follow them. His own past was the reason of his hostility against people who abduct others.

As they came into the main lobby, he quietly listened to the three explain the situation. "So, all the exits are shut tight, and no matter what you do you can't open them or break through?" Maverick said and just as he was about to make an attempt himself before Diana failed knocking the knob off.

"Force isn't going to get us out." He could probably just turn his body into electricity and sneak through some small holes or something however he was interested in this group of individuals. He hadn't been bored all night so he decided to just stick around a little longer. "Any suggestions how we exit this place?" He asked as he leaned up against a wall and continued scanning the room.

MAIN LOBBY

The situation presented raised so many more questions than answers. Diana leaned back on the sofa, looking at the ceiling a minute. Using her head was not her strong point, as she overwhelmingly preferred hitting a problem into submission.

Diana felt something off about the place with Shard's breakdown. Still, she needed some proof. It seemed they would have to know more about this place. "We'll need to investigate the place. miss Taylor... Sam? uh, what do you know about it?"

"Well... It's... a cheap apartment where tons of migrants from Europe, Asia and Africa lived for years. This place saw a lot of poverty, a lot hardship. It was condemned for health and building code violations. Not to mention it was a den for petty crime."

Diana tapped her sheathed sword on the floor, making repetitive thud sounds as thought. ARGH! She let out a tired sigh. She'd have to be patient now, and decide what to do.

"Alright. Alright... we should probably take a look around the place. Samantha, the C.Master brought groceries with him when we chased him in here." Diana started suggesting things for people to do.

Samantha's mood seemed to lighten up at the mention of food. "Oh, thank you miss, you're a life saver."

"You know, if you think about it... Chloroformaster did us all a favor bringing his groceries along."

"Right. We'll thank him when he wakes up. 'We ate all your food, thanks alot'." Samantha said sarcastically, leaves the main lobby and heads to where they came in from.

Diana then turns to Maverick to answer his question, taking charge of the situation. "Maverick, see if we can find any office or the landlord's unit. Maybe we can get some info. Or paperwork about this place."

"Shard... I need..." Diana looked at her new acquaintance. They shared a burger just moments ago. "I think you should rest, recover your strength. It's late." Diana hands her her magical shinto sword to Shard, not yet sure if its powers would be of any use but it was alot more help than her ex-assassin butt. And it would be, considering it protected the innocent and pure of heart (good aligned folks).

Samantha returned with C.Master's groceries, nibbling on a bag of Doritos. "This guy eats nothing but junk." She said, dumping the contents onto the coffee table. It was nothing but an assortment of processed and junk food- chips, cheap corn snacks, nuts, jerky, soda, energy drinks. Stuff that would make anyone sick.

"Looks like we're gonna be here awhile, maybe it's a good thing I changed into these jammies." Diana looked at her outfit again. It was actually quite comfortable and breezy, wearing the miko get up. She goes off on her own to begin investigating.

But it looked dumb and Diana hated looking dumb.

When Ronin offered her sword, Shard simply shook her head. Shard did not know how to fight in close ranged combat and she was pretty sure that Ronin had better use for the sword than she did.

"No thank you," Shard responded with a weak smile, "I'm more of a long range fighter. I wouldn't know what to do with a sword even if it's stabbing me in the gut."  She meant that last part as part of a joke, but she hoped that the evil spirit or whatever was in this apartment wouldn't get any ideas. Plus Jade was pretty sure that whatever golden light Ronin had unleashed from the sword would only work in the wielder's hand anyways.  And even if the sword did not work like that, Shard was not willing to take any risks.

The silicone manipulator would then take a deep breath and then think about the situation.   Her powers had told her that there were no other glass in the building when she had first stepped in.  However the three that had been trapped inside had said that there were windows that would not open.  This meant that whatever entity resided in this location had the power to keep them shut and immune to Shard's powers.  And based on what Shard experienced earlier, she was willing to bet that she would have to fight with said entity if she wanted control over the glass in this building.

Unconsciously, Shard began to drum her fingers along the edge of her seat. If this thing, was telepathic then Shard heavily doubted that she would win in a battle of the mind. She was not used to having to fend off a mental attack. Shard looked at Ronin, who was now wearing something that she had not been wearing earlier. What was Ronin's other powers? The sword wielder clearly had more than she claimed. Plus the dress that Ronin was now wearing looked Japanese... despite Ronin's obvious non asian heritage.

"Ronin, that light earlier. What did you do? Or- I mean what did your sword do?" She phrased her question in a way that she would be indirectly asking Ronin if the sword wielder also felt the invasive presence earlier.

Maverick listened more to the news reporter as she described the history of the building. "Something's not adding up. So, these people can suddenly enter a building but can't get out? Someone is opening this place up for more people to get inside. he thought as he simply shook his head and began to smirk. He could tell that they were being watched. They were prey in some hunter's trap. "I'll play the game then." He mumbled under his breath as he pushed himself off of the wall and began to walk closer to the group.

While they planned on consuming the dude's groceries, he himself kept scanning the are. He wasn't quite hungry, well not for food. He was hungry to uncover who has them trapped there and perhaps having a word with them. How unlucky for whoever is behind this. You trapped the wrong fly in your web. He thought as he heard his name being called.

He was being tasked out to look for an office or some type of landlord unit. "Roger that." He said with a smirk as he departed the group, he immediately took off from the group, weaving in and out of open rooms in search of some type of office. He found various other open apartments and janitor's closets but no quite any Landlord's office.

He did entered one room with a desk and a computer and immediately stopped. "Let's see." Maverick said as he sat down in the chair at the desk and he placed his finger on the power button on the computer. The place had no power so of course the system couldn't boot up and Maverick simply groaned in reaction.

He opened up some drawers under the desk to see tons of folders containing various documents and bags with labelled spare keys for various rooms. "This might prove useful." Maverick said as he pulled out all of the folders and start grabbing handfuls of keys and throwing them on the desk. "Hey! Come check this out!" he shouted at the group awaiting someone to come.

MAIN LOBBY

Samantha was clearly hungry, as she powered through the bag of Doritos and gulped down the bottled water. However she tried to compose herself still, offering the heroes food.  

"Suit yourself." Diana ties her sheathed weapon into the Miko outfit's sash, being the appropriate place to carry one's Samurai sword. She was to walk away, then Shard became curious of her power, or rather, her sword's power.

"Some time ago... I got this sword in the mail, no return address. I have no clue who sent it or how they got a deadly- well not really- weapon through FedEx. It came with a poem- in Japanese no less, I had to translate it. 'Nichiyō no namaede wa, seigi ga okonawa remasu' Whenever I recite the words, I transform into a for real Warrior Miko. Now, tell me that isn't the weirdest origin story you've ever heard?" Diana said, slightly laughing at the absurdity of it, all the while making no mention of her previous weapon to Shard. It was probable she'd get into trouble.

MAVERICK - LANDLORD'S OFFICE

Maverick would mostly find paperwork related to the tenants, their families, their rates, their dues, and their accumulating back payments. It would be quite a read to go through it all and analyze it.

Alone, a bit far from the main lobby, Maverick's call went unanswered... by his companions anyway. A voice from the nearby bathroom however, answered him just as Maverick sounded.

"Hello? Daddy is that you?" The voice of a young girl called from inside.

"Daddy what's going on?" She spoke again after a brief pause. A shower fixture turned on. A long minute of silence passes, and then...

"Daddy?! NO! DAADDDY NOOOOO!" The voice suddenly elevated into shrill, high pitched screams of sheer terror.

"Oh good. For a moment there I thought you were just another Japanese wannabe," Shard said with a tone of humor to her voice.  She was slowly returning to her old self but the trauma she received earlier was still present.

From what Ronin said about her sword though, that meant that her abilities were magical in nature. If the glow of her sword was able to repel the effects of what ever attacked Shard then the assailant must also be magical.  Or the effects of the sword could simply neutralize powers.  Shard thought for a long moment. No, she remembered that Maverick had attacked the man in the closet when Ronin activated her sword.

"Now, I'm not much of a believer in spirits and the afterlife... but... from what I gathered. I just got attacked by fucking Casper." Shard said aloud, trying to downplay the spirit attack that she just received. Doing so helped her feel a tad bit more comfortable with what had just happened. "Hear me out," Shard quickly spoke up before anyone else had to chance to interject, "I was attacked through my psychic connection to the glass in the vicinity. I had assumed that I got mind fucked by a psychic working with Chlorformaster but I was wrong.  When Ronin pulled out her sword and did her light thing that... feeling in my head disappeared completely."

Shard stopped talking to breath and to collect her thoughts. She had reached her conclusion on what was going on with this house but now she needed to present a theory as to how they would get out. The Asian girl turned to Ronin with a hopeful look.

"I have no idea what Miko means in Japanese, but you seem to be the only one here who actually has had any contact with magic. Do you have any ideas how we kill-exorcise-or put this ghost fucker to peace?" Shard swore A LOT but she was particularly offensive this time around because of some resentment towards the ghost that just tried to take her powers from her.

When Maverick heard the voice, he instantly reacted by pulling out his tanto pointing it in the direction the voice came from. "Who goes there?!" He shouted out loud towards the presence. "The hell is going on? He asked as he gripped tighter onto his weapon. The voice itself sounded like that of a child. Maverick began trying to conclude why exactly someone would be calling out for their daddy in a place like this unless it was a child also trapped in the apartment. "Who goes there? Where are you?"

He heard the childish voice ask what's going on. Ironically Maverick was just as confused as the voice. "To be honest with you, I have absolutely no clue. Also, I'm not your father but if you come out I can help you look for him quit hiding I'm not going to hurt you." Maverick had a soft spot for children, especially children separated from their parents just like he was when he was kept from his family as a test subject.

The screams eventually increase in volume exponentially causing a mild shock in Maverick as he stepped back. "The hell is going on around here!" He quickly sprinted towards the bathroom with his superhuman speed and looked at the shower fixture. "This place was empty for a reason. Hey! Where are you guys! Get here quick" He repeated towards his former group hoping they would hear him as he stood on guard waiting for something to occur in the creepy setting.

"Yeaaah... Japanese Wannabe." Diana laughed with Shard on that. Oh The Irony. Diana was quite crossed to learn of the presence of evil spirits. Now it wasn't just her anymore. Shard had seen them.

Samantha decided to offer an alternate theory, being typically dismissive of the supernatural ."Ghosts? Spirits? Are you saying this place is haunted? ...Maybe this is some kind of elaborate prank. Maybe someone locked us all up in here and is recording what's happening to us."

"That wouldn't explain why I can't break the door down. And who would do such a thing? Some Network looking for ratings?" Diana looked at Samantha, understanding that some people were more reluctant to accept the supernatural... when they've never experienced it before.

"That would be highly illegal... I don't know. Maybe some bored rich guys with nothing to do. I've heard The 1% have done some crazy things."

"Believe me, if that was the case, my hands would be wringing some necks by now. Still. We have to be sure." Exorcism. Tortured spirits. Haunted apartments. The gears in that part of Diana's head began to turn, and while she didn't know any spells, she knew a thing or two about paranormal events.

"The first thing is we'll have to learn more about what we're dealing with here. Shard, what do you think about Samantha's theory? Did you feel any cameras aroudn the house?" Diana's voice was filled with doubt over the theory, of course. She and Shard knew the truth. The ugly truth.

"Where's that speedster? He could've searched the whole apartment by now... I'll go look for him. You stay here and watch each other."  Diana went off to go look.


Left alone with the Reporter, Samantha decided now was a good time as any to ask more about their new guests.

Samantha decided to fill in Jade's vocabulary for Diana, seeing as the swordsman was troubled. "Excuse me, Shard, was it? A Miko is a Nun in the Shinto religion. They perform religious rites, blessing, even exorcisms."

She took a moment to clear her throat and wipe her orange fingers. "So... excuse me for asking, but are you guys.... superheroes? I mean... judging from your... get up. So uh... you mentioned you have some sort of psychic connection that allowed you to get in contact with glass?"

"You know, that Miko sort of reminds me of another swordsman... I don't know if you watch the news, but a few months ago I made a special report on the assassin Blood Sword... there were tons of rumors that Blood Sword was a woman." Samantha now went on a tangent with the conversation. It was becoming clear that she too was tense, and talking was her way of dealing with stressful situations.

MAVERICK

Upon entering the bathroom the trap was sprung. He would hear the shower running behind the bathtub curtain. Drawn to it, He would come upon A grisly scene: a bathtub filled with blood, as well as words scrawled onto the wall with red. 'Dont wanna go to b-'

In that moment, a final horrific scream, far more vivid and terrible than the last ones, came from a bloody skeletal figure that sprung from the blood. "DAAAADDDDYYYYY!!!!!" A gaunt thing with bulging eyes and fangs, it grabbed Maverick and dragged him into the tub, submerging him much deeper than it should have been...


The terrible vision would eventually fade, its effects on Maverick dependent on his mental fortitude. Just as Maverick's terror reached a breaking point, and he'd find himself in the bathtub, alone. No blood and no screaming ghouls who want to eat him.

Just a blast of water as his hand turned the shower handle, blasting him and whatever things he carried with icy water.

Five strong knocks came at the bathroom door, which had closed behind Maverick when he entered. "Maverick? Where are you? You on the toilet or something?" Diana said.

Shard wished that this was an elaborate prank by people with nothing else to do.  At least then there would be some form of retaliation for what happened to her.  But as the situation currently stood, there was nothing to suggest otherwise in the apartment and Shard let the others know as much.

"No glass, no cameras, nothing that I could detect anyways."

When Ronin then announced that she was going after the speedsters, things began to click in Shard's mind.  She had always told herself that she would not be the hapless victim in a horror flick if she ever was trapped in one. And now here she was, in an actual house of horror with a malevolent creature who wanted to make her life hell. Fun.

"Uhh.... wait!" Shard called after Ronin as she chased after the sword wielder, and completely ignoring the reporter.  "I don't think that splitting up is actually a good idea.  I mean have you seen those horror movies? People always get picked off when they're alone. And- oh my god. He's black!"  The truth of the matter could possibly be different from what Hollywood could imagine- but this was Shard's first time in a haunted house with an actual spirit that was trying to murder everyone.

As they passed the location where the flame had started, Shard reached out to the glass that she had brought in and drew them to her.  Without her telepathic connection to the glass she felt severely handicap.  To not be able to innately sense the hundreds of billions of silicone felt like she was using her powers while blindfolded.  But nevertheless she lifted what pieces of glass that she could into a rough spear and continued following Ronin.

When the two approached the bathroom door, Shard rolled her eyes and said in an aside to Ronin, "Of course there's still water running in a haunted house. Typical poltergeist..." She chuckled nervously and stood by as Ronin pounded on the door to get the speedster's attention. Shard hoped that she was wrong about the minorities dying first trope. She REALLY hoped she was wrong.

"The hell!" He shouted as he viewed the tub of blood. "What the hell have we stumbled up on?" He asked as he walked up close to the tub analyzing it. Maverick was no stranger to bloody sights, trained to become accustomed to it from his years of training with mercenaries. He looked up and saw some words in red.

As we was reading the texts a figure hopped out of the blood and a loud screech pierced his ears. The figure pulled him in as he screeched out loud from the surprise. As he became engulfed into the cask of blood, the event caused Maverick to freak from just the sheer surprise and revolting conditions.

Suddenly, as he opened up his eyes he appeared back into a tub suddenly he was being hit by cold water causing him to tense up from the low temperature. "Damn it!" He shouted as he turned the handle back to turn the water off and stepped out of the tub. He hated being wet, one of his natural weaknesses and just overall an annoying feeling.

When he heard a familiar voice he instantly rain to the door and opened up and looked at Diana. "This place is freaky man... We need to get outta here as soon as possible." He said to her as he looked around for some type of towel to help dry himself off because while he was wet his electricity would only short out and hurt himself more then anything.

MAIN LOBBY

The Reporter lady took Shard's genry savviness to heart and followed behind. Also, she was a bit miffed she was just ignored. "Wait for me! Don't leave me alone!"

OUTSIDE BATHROOM

Maverick emerged from the bathroom drenched and panicking. Diana used her knife to cut off one of her gi sleeves, and offered the fabric to Maverick to dry off. "Mav, you have to calm down... Let's not freak out, we'll get out of here. Tell me what happened to you." She tried to help Maverick out.

"Oh, and Shard thought you were in trouble. Black Dude dies first in movies thing." Diana decided to jab Maverick with a joke to try and calm him down... which in retrospect, was not a great idea.

"So uh, you find anything?" Diana asked, stepping into the office. She saw the papers Maverick had rifed through, thinking these might have a clue in them.

She hands stacks of financial statements and tenant lists to the Reporter and Shard. "This ...This is gonna take awhile to read through..." Samantha said, looking over hundreds of names.

"Let's all... go back to the lobby then. We should stay together from now on. Don't split up. " Diana found herself yawning, and checked her... purse... her mobile device and looked at the time. It was 1 in the morning, and she'd been hunting bounties all day.

"I'm beat."

"This office has a full bathroom attached to it?" Shard asked, amazed at the luxury that some people had.  She took some of the papers from the reporter and peered through the documents as well, trying to figure out what was relevant and what wasn't. At moments like this, Shard wished that her repertoire of powers involved reading things at a glance, but alas she was fitted with more combat oriented powers instead.

Interesting stuff. There were lease agreements, rent information, housing information, terminations, and much more in the tenant list. Shard realized that perhaps she could glean something important from the documents.  

Silently nodding, Shard followed Ronin and the reporter downstairs where she dutifully sat near Diana (in case some evil spirit decided to make a move).  "Alright, I'll start on these while you look over the financial statements. I think we're bound to find something that links our poltergeist to this place."

As she started reading through the last names that began with 'A', Shard hoped that this spirit wasn't brought on by a gypsie curse or a Native American burial ground.

"This freaking little girl kept calling me her daddy. At least i think it was a little girl. The voice came from the bathroom. So I go investigate and the fucking bathtub is full of blood!" He shouted as he grabbed the fabric she handed him and began to wipe himself down. "Thank you, but anyway as i approach this bloody bathtub i look at some text on the wall. I read "I don't wanna go to bed." Then suddenly some like baby skeleton jumped up and grabbed me and pulled me. Plus that tub was deep as shit but then like I opened my eyes and I ended up in the tub with the water running."

Maverick quickly realized his story sounded quite strange. However in the world they lived in and their current situation he had hoped they would take his word.

Maverick laughed at the joke and nodded his head in agreement. "That's true I guess the odds are against me in this one huh?"

He followed the others and agreed to sticking together. Not trying to endure what had just occurred again. When he watched them finger through papers he decided to stand near and have a watch out for anything or anybody. "It's something crazy in here...you don't see these kinds things in regular abandoned apartments."

"And here I thought you were a tough guy." Diana playfully punches Maverick, trying to get him to buck up and keep focused.

Diana couldn't deny it anymore. A malevolent presence kept them in here, to torment- and likely, kill. But why, she had to know. She grips her sword and once again, they return to the Lobby. Probably the safest place, where they could all stay together.

MAIN LOBBY

Diana sits down and explains her findings to Samantha, who begins spreading out the records on the table. The prospect of reading through paper for hours and hours was so appealing. "So... Maverick mentioned a girl screaming for her daddy... maybe we should see about little girls who lived here, anything noteworthy at all."

Too tired, Diana takes off her gi and uses it as a sheet to lie on the sofa, now only wearing her sporty tank top. and Hakama. She drifts into fitful slumber, leaving the brainy work to the others.

DAY 2

SHARD, MAVERICK

After that haunting, fatigue would settle in eventually as the hours rolled past, completely uneventful save for leafing through papers. The haunting had done their damage to Shard and maverick. Now it was another's turn...

There were obviously so many families with daughters, and many families with irregular payments or behind on rent, or were problems for the landowners. These sort of things narrowed things a bit, but still too many to sort out.

If anyone fell asleep though, they would experience the same dream...

DIANA, DREAM SEQUENCE

Diana found herself waking up on a bed in one of the apartment units. Did... did they all move? Why? Diana rubbed the sleep from her eyes when she realized all around her, she saw everyone dead. Shard. Maverick. Samantha. Francis. Kirk. All dead, the wooden floor coated in blood. Diana reached for her sword in panic.

"No. No. No.... this... this isn't real... this can't be happening..." Genuine panic began to race through Diana's thoughts.

The door to the apartment opened. A figure wearing a thick leather apron and a welding mask came in, wielding a bloodied machete.

"You... you did this?" Diana seethed with hatred, with anger. All restraint left Diana as she draws her sword and attacks, crossing the room in the blink of an eye. She switches to the blade's edge and goes for the throat. The Apron wearer remained standing, even when their throat was cut.

"Who... what are you?!" Diana screamed the question, and the killer removed her mask.

"Once a killer... always a killer... Isn't that right Blood Sword?" The killer in the apron and masked turned out to be Diana too! The surprise puts Diana completely off guard, not to mention all the slain victims now suddenly surrounded her and grabbed her by the limbs. Diana turned to see Shard, her face bloodied, her eyes rolled up to the whites, lunging in to bite her throat...


MAIN LOBBY

"GAAAAHHH!!!!!" Diana screamed as she awoke from the nightmare. She was in a cold sweat and rapid, shallow breathing. She quickly looked around, and recoiled in terror when she saw Shard once more, nearly falling to the ground, virtually pale with fear.

Diana took a moment to realize it was a nightmare, and compose herself. "This... This apartment is... messing with us."

The Reporter was gone, and so were the two men. Samantha told Maverick (or left a note if she fell asleep) she'd check on their patient and the others.

"AH!" Shard's shout joined in with Ronin's as the latter woke up from her nightmare.  Apparently Shard had fallen asleep while peering over the files.  As she rushed backwards the files she had been looking at were scattered throughout the room and the glass shards that she had brought from upstairs rose up, poised to strike.

"Wha- wh..." wide eyed, Shard looked around the room and came to a realization that there was nothing there, "What the fuck?" She breathed as she calmed herself down.  The Asian girl slowly got onto her knees and began to grab at the files that had been sent flying.

As she started to get the files back into the original order, she yawned and rubbed her eyes. Shard hadn't seen how terrified Ronin looked simply because the glass manipulator had been in a state of panic herself.

"Did you have a nightmare too? I think my dream was starting to turn into one until you screamed," Shard yawned again. She had only fell asleep in the past thirty minutes for she had seen that the poltergeist always attacked when everyone was off their guard. "Anyways, I went through these docs and I found ones matching our killer kid. I was gonna go through them to look for any signs of a deceased family member but I kind of..." She yawned a third time, "yeah..."

Maverick's sleep was filled with turbulence. As he lay down his body constantly moving from side to side, a nightmare causing chaos inside of him.

Maverick was inside of a dark room, no lights anywhere except for in the center. Inside the light stood a small figure. "Daddy." A voice said, the same exact voice from the bathroom. "I don't want to go to bed." Maverick groaned when he heard this and instantly reached to pull out his sword except they were on his back at all, neither was his guns. "I'm not your father. I'm no ones daddy kid, so just let me out!" He shouted as the room suddenly lit up to some type of playroom. "I wanna play some more."

Maverick tried to use his super speed to speed off except it was like it was non existent. If anything he was slow by an average human's standards. His breathing was awful, it's as if he couldn't breath at all. He fell to his knees as he clutched his chest and looked at the little girl. "You wanna play tag? Ok I'm it!" She took a step forward and disappeared and instantly reappeared right above him. "Holy shit!" He shouted as she suddenly pulled out a gun from her pocket, one of his guns that was missing. "I love playing." She mumbled as she pull the trigger and the gunshot echoed.

"No!" Maverick shouted as his body sprung up from his sleep. It was all just a nightmare but Maverick knew it was more going down. He rarely had nightmares. He stood up and checked to see if all of his gear was there and he looked over at everyone else that was awake now. He read a note saying they went to go check out the patient and he simply sat down and tried to clear his head. "We gotta get out of here, as soon as possible."